Finally moving to the D850... for one reason only.

sk66 · 20 Oct 2018

Live view silent photography... I recently learned that the D850 can record full resolution raw files at 6FPS completely silently. It can also record 8MP (DX crop) jpegs at 15/30FPS. Unfortunately the focus is locked for each burst, but for the situations where this will be useful to me I think I can work with that.

There are many times when photographing wildlife that the banging of the shutter/mirror disturbs/alerts the animal, especially the loud clacking of the D5. FWIW the D5 can also do silent live view photography, but it only records 5MP jpegs (full frame) at 15/30fps ... fine for some things, but not when you're really wanting to maximize IQ.

f/2.8 · 20 Oct 2018

The A9 does it at 20fps

sk66 · 20 Oct 2018

f/2.8 said:
The A9 does it at 20fps

Yup, and the Z7 does it a 9fps with AF. But I'm not switching to Sony (lens investment)... I may very well go with the Nikon mirrorless eventually, it's just not quite good enough yet.

realspeed · 20 Oct 2018

And XQD cards costing a lot

gramps · 20 Oct 2018

sk66 said:
Live view silent photography... I recently learned that the D850 can record full resolution raw files at 6FPS completely silently. It can also record 8MP (DX crop) jpegs at 15/30FPS. Unfortunately the focus is locked for each burst, but for the situations where this will be useful to me I think I can work with that.

There are many times when photographing wildlife that the banging of the shutter/mirror disturbs/alerts the animal, especially the loud clacking of the D5. FWIW the D5 can also do silent live view photography, but it only records 5MP jpegs (full frame) at 15/30fps ... fine for some things, but not when you're really wanting to maximize IQ.

I haven't used silent Live View but I have noticed a difference in using Qc, it is much less likely to spook wildlife.

sk66 · 20 Oct 2018

realspeed said:
And XQD cards costing a lot

Spare change compared to buying a Sony 400/2.8 or 500/4... A full switch to Sony would likely cost me at least $30k

sk66 · 20 Oct 2018

gramps said:
I haven't used silent Live View but I have noticed a difference in using Qc, it is much less likely to spook wildlife.

I'll have to try it.
FWIW, I bought it used with the Nikon grip included for a very good price... otherwise I wouldn't have made the move.

gramps · 20 Oct 2018

sk66 said:
I'll have to try it.
FWIW, I bought it used with the Nikon grip included for a very good price... otherwise I wouldn't have made the move.

I think you will like it ... but don't do a strip-down review!