Reviews |Nikon D850 vs Nikon D810: specifications compared

Nikon D850 vs Nikon D810: specifications compared

Nikon D850 vs Nikon D810 Spec compared
Review

The Nikon D850 has been hotly anticipated with several leaks and teasers coming over recent weeks. Many Nikon D810 users will be wondering how it compares to their camera and whether they should upgrade.

According to Nikon the D850 will sit alongside the D810 as some of the differences are so significant that they can exists together in the marketplace. It’s a fair point as the D810 remains an excellent camera, however, many Nikon photographers are likely to be tempted by the D850.

So let’s take a look at some of the main differences between the Nikon D850 and the D810’s specification.

Sensor

This is the most obvious difference, the Nikon D850 has a much higher resolution sensor with 45.7 million effective pixels vs 36.3 million on the D810’s sensor.

The D850’s sensor is also backside illuminated which means that the photoreceptors can be made bigger than they would be if the D810’s sensor design were used.

Both cameras are without an optical low-pass filter to boost detail resolution.

Continuous shooting

While the Nikon D810 has the Expeed 4 processor, the D850 has the Expeed 5 engine. This enables the new camera to cope with its larger pixel count and have a maximum continuous shooting rate of 7fps. What’s more when the optional MB-D18 Multi-Power Battery Pack is attached this can be boosted to 9fps. The D810 is limited to 5fps at full resolution.

Autofocus system

This is a key difference, the D850 has the same AF system as the flagship Nikon D5. That means there are 153 points available helping photographers to pin-point their subject and following moving objects. The D810 has a very good, but nevertheless more limited 51-point AF system.

And the D850’s AF is fast. Very fast.

Storage

Both cameras have dual memory card ports but instead of the CF card port of the D810, the D850 couples SD card compatibility with XQD. Using an XQD card facilitates faster writing times than are possible with a CF card.

Also, whereas the D850’s SD card slot is USH-II compliant, the D810’s is UHS-I compliant.

Screen

Again Nikon has borrowed from the D5 for the D850 as it has the same touch-sensitive 3.2-inch TFT device with 2,359,000 dots and it’s mounted on a tilting fracked to make it easier to see from above or below. The D810’s 3.2-inch screen is fixed, not touch-sensitive and has ‘just’ 1,228,800 dots.

Significantly, the D850’s touch-control extends to menu navigation and setting selection.

Video

The hot news here is that while the D810 can be used to shoot Full HD (1920 x 1080) movies the D850 can produce 4K (3,840 x 2160) video at 30, 25 or 24p with no cropping so you get the full impact of Nikon’s wide-angle lenses.

Design and control layout

The control layout of the D850 is much closer to that of the D500 than it is of the D810’s. They are quite similar but there are a few small changes including the mini-joystick controller on the back of the D850 to speed AF point selection.

Also, the mode button is moved to the four-button cluster above the release mode dial on the left of the D850’s top-plate. Meanwhile the ISO button is located by the shutter release button it’s within convenient reach when you’re looking through the viewfinder.

 

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