Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: HSakols on January 27, 2018, 10:44:26 am

Title: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: HSakols on January 27, 2018, 10:44:26 am
Why does Nikon struggle so much to get their cameras to market?  The same thing happened with the Nikon D800.  My guess is they won't be available until April? 
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Schmoe on January 27, 2018, 10:52:30 am
They are available in some places but you have to look around. Your worst chances will be with B&H and Adorama because everyone and their grandma orders there. But I’ve heard of tons of success stories from people who bought locally or from places they wouldn’t normally purchase (like BestBuy or Amazon). I got mine from a smaller online vendor called Bedfords. Great service to boot.  The Nikon D850 group on FB is a good place to hear where stock availability shows up. That’s how I leaned about Bedford.


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Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: David Eckels on January 27, 2018, 03:23:20 pm
Probably not useful but I received my 8/24 order from BH three months later.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on January 27, 2018, 03:52:59 pm
Why does Nikon struggle so much to get their cameras to market?  The same thing happened with the Nikon D800.  My guess is they won't be available until April?

It may be that Nikon is delivering D850s at a respectable rate, but that the demand is stronger than they anticipated.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/nikon-top-full-frame-seller-for-december-2017/

Jim
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Schmoe on January 27, 2018, 05:49:44 pm
Probably not useful but I received my 8/24 order from BH three months later.

I pre-ordered with BH in early Sept. By Nov I got sick of waiting and pre-ordered with Bedford. Got it a week or so later. Cancelled BH.


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Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: armand on January 27, 2018, 06:39:43 pm
I was looking to get one for the last several weeks for my next trip but no such luck. Too late for that.
The advantage is that I can wait now and make a less emotional decision. This might be just going the Sony way instead of expanding my Nikon system.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DougDolde on January 27, 2018, 11:02:24 pm
I found mine at Gene's Camera in South Bend, Indiana a couple weeks ago. My home town incidently though I havent lived there since 1975.  Get the Nikon USA dealer's list and start inquiring
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: jeremyrh on January 28, 2018, 07:14:57 am
The D850 is rare enough but it is pretty common compared with the battery grip!!
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: sc_john on January 28, 2018, 09:04:37 am
Try Service Photo in Baltimore (http://servicephoto.com (http://servicephoto.com)). They had D850s in stock last week. I ordered mine from them during the last week of August and had it by the end of September. The owner, Burke Seim is a delight to deal with; after placing my order, I received weekly updates on status. I have no relationship with Service Photo, other than I am a satisfied customer.

John

Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on January 28, 2018, 11:05:59 am
The D850 is rare enough but it is pretty common compared with the battery grip!!

I got my grip at Crutchfield, and it looks like they're still in stock:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-MFZ5H4MFRPV/p_054MBD18/Nikon-MB-D18.html

Jim
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Eric Brody on January 28, 2018, 03:54:14 pm
The big unknown, as best I can tell, is whether it's constrained supply or overwhelming demand. Either way, they're hard to find.

Last fall, I looked carefully at both the D850 and A7RIII and decided that after a few years with Fuji, the joys of an EVF, and the lack of a need to calibrate autofocus, that mirrorless was the future. I got on the list at my local store and got the A7RIII on release day. I suspect I'd have been happy with a D850; it appears that those fortunate enough to have received one are quite pleased.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DougDolde on January 28, 2018, 08:21:07 pm
I've been blown away with my D850. And that's coming from Phase One, an IQ180. The Nikon has a better sensor, the increased DR is obvious. Here are a few from a couple shoots

http://www.douglasdolde.com/-/galleries/recent-images
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Ray on January 28, 2018, 09:36:42 pm
I've been blown away with my D850. And that's coming from Phase One, an IQ180. The Nikon has a better sensor, the increased DR is obvious. Here are a few from a couple shoots

http://www.douglasdolde.com/-/galleries/recent-images

Beautiful shots. The fine texture of the grass reminds me of a woman's hair.  ;D
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Michael Erlewine on January 29, 2018, 04:18:18 am
I got my order in seconds after B&H allowed it and got it when they first came in. It is the best Nikon I have ever had, and I have had almost all of them back to the D1X.

Here is a shot yesterday with the Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar lens.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: armand on January 29, 2018, 04:39:22 pm
I think the lenses will determine the choice of system more than anything else. I'll be traveling with photo as primary goal and because I can't find everything in a system I have to carry both the Fuji and the Nikon which adds complications and probably weight, it would be much simpler with 2 bodies and 2-3 lenses, partially overlapping.

Right now Sony is in the best position with the 16-35 F2.8 and 24-105 F4 for a photo hiking/backpacking trip. Still waiting to hear more opinions on the latter.
Nikon needs to update its similar lenses, not sure if it will as it's moving a little slow; maybe on the new mirrorless?

PS. makes me wonder why Pentax didn't gain more traction for landscape use.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: jeremyrh on February 25, 2018, 04:38:43 pm
The D850 is rare enough but it is pretty common compared with the battery grip!!

And now it turns out that the XQD cards are also hard to find!! This is getting to be a long haul!
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: armand on February 25, 2018, 04:45:45 pm
Every time I'm thinking to go D850 way I hear something like this and it's still not in stock in most places.
The XQD seems will stay a monopoly for the foreseeable future, not good.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 25, 2018, 09:45:22 pm
I suspect I'd have been happy with a D850; it appears that those fortunate enough to have received one are quite pleased.

you'd _NOT_ = as Jim Kasson shows @ http://blog.kasson.com/a7riii/better-d850-autofocus-accuracy-presentations/

(http://blog.kasson.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/a7riii-d850-d5-afs.png)

unless you focus manually using live view on LCD.

Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: dasuess on February 26, 2018, 07:54:44 am
I've been blown away with my D850. And that's coming from Phase One, an IQ180. The Nikon has a better sensor, the increased DR is obvious. Here are a few from a couple shoots

http://www.douglasdolde.com/-/galleries/recent-images

How did you PP these images? I have spent a lot of time photographing in JTNP - the rocks and vegetation do not look like your images here.


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Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: HSakols on February 26, 2018, 09:41:34 am
Doug, I think your impressionistic images are amazing!  Very creative and not boring.  I'd love to see what you can do to Yosemite!
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on February 26, 2018, 12:06:40 pm
you'd _NOT_ = as Jim Kasson shows @ http://blog.kasson.com/a7riii/better-d850-autofocus-accuracy-presentations/

(http://blog.kasson.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/a7riii-d850-d5-afs.png)

unless you focus manually using live view on LCD.

I am quite happy with my D850. There are some lenses with which the AF has some untoward variability in some modes with some lenses. It doesn't correct for focus shift, at least in any consistent way. There are ways to get excellent AF results out of the camera, by the standards of DSLR PDAF AF. Of course, no such system is going to have the accuracy of on-sensor PDAF-with-a-CDAF-tweak AF systems, or of using CDAF under live view on a DSLR.

Jim
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 26, 2018, 01:04:30 pm
There are ways to get excellent AF results out of the camera, by the standards of DSLR PDAF AF.

indeed ... by them, dSLR stardards
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on February 26, 2018, 01:26:58 pm
indeed ... by them, dSLR stardards

This isn't bad at all, especially the 135/1.8:

(http://blog.kasson.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/d850-sigma-50-85-opt-2-135-afs-norm-vert.png)
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 26, 2018, 02:12:09 pm
This isn't bad at all, especially the 135/1.8:

every rule has an exception  ;) ... plus the amount of work to find out how your combo of camera with its PDAF module vs sensor alignment works with your lens (w/ its specifics) simply begs the questions - why'd Nikon design today's lenses with focus shift and why 'd it not use focus shift compensation in D850 (with more of smaller sensels than D5)...
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on February 26, 2018, 02:59:56 pm
every rule has an exception  ;) ... plus the amount of work to find out how your combo of camera with its PDAF module vs sensor alignment works with your lens (w/ its specifics) simply begs the questions - why'd Nikon design today's lenses with focus shift and why 'd it not use focus shift compensation in D850 (with more of smaller sensels than D5)...

With finder-based wide-open SLR-style shooting, the only way that I know of to compensate for focus shift is with LUTs, and, since in general focus shift is distance sensitive, the population of the LUTs can be a lot of work. I know of very few f/1.4 lenses that don't exhibit focus shift in the first place. The is an issue that's been with us a long time, and probably won't go away completely until SLRs use on-chip focus trimming.

To say an SLR is a bad camera (and maybe I'm misinterpreting the thrust of your remarks) because it doesn't do some things as well as mirrorless is, IMO, going too far. It's like criticizing a horse for not being a cow.

Of course, I love the accuracy of ML/LV AF, and use it whenever I can on my GFX, a7RIII, and D850.

Jim
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: BAB on February 26, 2018, 03:33:58 pm
Doug
Have you tried lumenzia? It would eliminate all of the halos between sky and rocks in your images.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 26, 2018, 04:02:02 pm

To say an SLR is a bad camera


of course it is ... alignment (focusing screen - mirror & submirror - PDAF module - sensor) issues, mirror shock, oil spattering, shutter shock (now EFCS in OVF shooting for unknown reasons) and so on...
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: kers on February 26, 2018, 04:48:17 pm
of course it is ... alignment (focusing screen - mirror & submirror - PDAF module - sensor) issues, mirror shock, oil spattering, shutter shock (now EFCS in OVF shooting for unknown reasons) and so on...
Not to mention, while making great photographs ;)

My observation of the d850 tells me shuttershock or whatever-shock is a non issue, also without using the electronic shutter/ first curtain...
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: BernardLanguillier on February 26, 2018, 06:24:21 pm
of course it is ... alignment (focusing screen - mirror & submirror - PDAF module - sensor) issues, mirror shock, oil spattering, shutter shock (now EFCS in OVF shooting for unknown reasons) and so on...

Interesting how D850 users are all super happy about the performance of their camera, including its AF that remains the second best after the D5, while people not owning one appear to know better it just cannot work.  ;D

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 26, 2018, 06:56:32 pm
Interesting how D850 users are all super happy about the performance of their camera

usually they don't know better ...

, including its AF that remains the second best after the D5

by that you of course mean for erratically moving targets only ... and not @ 1.4 either mind you


Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 26, 2018, 06:58:32 pm
Not to mention, while making great photographs ;)

great photographs are orthogonal to the gear...

My observation of the d850 tells me shuttershock

get analog oscilloscope ... and shoot it's beam drawing a strait line (I bet JKasson did).
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: BernardLanguillier on February 26, 2018, 08:59:46 pm
usually they don't know better ...

You have absolutely no ground for stating this.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: armand on February 26, 2018, 09:17:22 pm
What DP is saying is provocative BS and I hope he’s aware of it otherwise he has issues.
Apparently he has a love relationship with mirrorless, m43 in particular maybe and definitely not Fuji despite it being mirrorless, and he cannot see clearly anymore. While mirrorless will be the future currently they all have various issues and are not there yet.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: kers on February 27, 2018, 07:32:15 am
get analog oscilloscope ... and shoot it's beam drawing a strait line (I bet JKasson did).

Of course it can be measured and it will turn out so low that you do not have any problems in real life.
At least that is my observation using it for 4 months and also testing it for any shuttershock problem.
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on February 27, 2018, 12:12:27 pm
of course it is ... alignment (focusing screen - mirror & submirror - PDAF module - sensor) issues, mirror shock, oil spattering, shutter shock (now EFCS in OVF shooting for unknown reasons) and so on...

The combined effects of the first mechanical curtain and the mirror are moderate in the D850 -- these effects exist to a greater or lesser degree in all DSLRs:

(http://blog.kasson.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/4-modes-v.png)

Details here:

http://blog.kasson.com/d850/nikon-d850-mirror-shock-with-otus-851-4/

Jim
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: DP on February 27, 2018, 02:48:51 pm
The combined effects of the first mechanical curtain and the mirror are moderate in the D850

that was on a tripod... how about hand hold it and plot vs the range of exposure times ... A7R3 with IBIS & EFCS vs D850 w/o IBIS and w/o EFCS  ;)
Title: Re: Why still no Nikon D850's
Post by: Jim Kasson on February 27, 2018, 03:04:28 pm
that was on a tripod... how about hand hold it and plot vs the range of exposure times ... A7R3 with IBIS & EFCS vs D850 w/o IBIS and w/o EFCS  ;)

I've found that it's very difficult to make handheld tests repeatable, and the required sample size is burdensome. However, I'd be interested in seeing your results.

Jim