Speedy Resolution

In terms of positioning, the D850 takes over from the D810 as the “extreme high resolution” camera of the Nikon family with its 45.7 MP BSI CMOS sensor.

- Marcus Wong

That’s quite a bit more than the 36.3MP of the D810, and overtakes the Sony A7R II (and the new A7R III) while still falling a little behind the 50.6 MP of Canon EOS 5DS R from 2015.

It’s also the first Nikon DSLR to use a backside illumination sensor. This design allows light to reach the photodiodes on the sensor more efficiently, which means better low light performance as the you get a better balance between sensor sensitivity and the volume of light information captured. As such, the D850 has a native ISO range of 64-25,600; expandable to 32-102,400 equivalent.

Like the Nikon D5, it also uses the EXPEED 5 image processing engine, which offers both superior noise reduction and the ability to do high-speed continuous shooting at 9 fps with the optional MB-D18 Multi Power Battery Pack or 7 fps with the regular EN-EL15a. 7fps may not seem like much compared to the Sony A9’s incredible 20fps, but given the camera is essentially moving about 46MB of data with every shot, is most impressive indeed.

It also gets the autofocusing system from the D5 camera, giving it a total of 153 focus points, with 99 cross-type sensors. That’s a massive upgrade over the D810, which only had a total of 51 points, with only 15 of the cross-type variety. When using Live View mode, the D850 also offers a smaller focus point for more precise selection.