Its coming, the new Nikon D850! Perhaps in a few days (16th of August?!) the official announcement will be made, in the meantime there has been plenty of leaks to keep us interested. They look reasonably likely to be at least close to the final spec with a couple of things that are super interesting. 

One is the potential for 4K Video with no crop! That would be awesome, that would make this camera very handy for both video and photos, depending a little on how the focus can be controlled.

Next is the silent electronic shutter in liveview, that would be a great addition to the camera. I know that some people have suggested that there might be a dual optical/evf thing going on but I think that would add a lot of complexity to the camera.

Here are the full rumoured specs from Nikon Rumours.

  • 45.75MP full frame CMOS sensor
  • New and improved version of SnapBridge
  • No built-in GPS
  • Tiltable LCD (3.2″, 2.36 million dots)
  • Fully functional touchscreen: supports touch AF, touch shutter and touch menu
  • Memory card slots: one SD and one XQD
  • AF system from the D5 (153 points, 130% frame coverage compared to the D810, all AF points @ -3EV,  middle/center crosshair sensor @-4EV)
  • New smaller AF point
  • No built-in flash
  • Back illuminated buttons
  • Joystick selector
  • Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
  • 8K time-lapse video capabilities
  • 4k UHD video in FX format (with no crop)
  • No EVF or hybrid viewfinder
  • Slo-mo full HD 120fps video
  • The SD slot will support UHS-II
  • Improved LiveView split-screen display
  • Improved silent shooting mode: fully-silent, no-sound electronic shutter in live view (6 fps silent shooting, no mechanical movement, can shoot up to 30fps @ 8MP with the electronic shutter)
  • Improved battery life
  • Lighter than the D810
  • Native ISO range: 64-25,600
  • ISO 64 extendable down to ISO 32 (Lo1 = 32, Hi 2 = 108,400)
  • 7fps without grip, 9fps with grip (MB-D18a battery grip and the EN-EL18a battery)
  • 51 images raw buffer at 14-bit RAW
  • 0.75x optical viewfinder (largest ever on a Nikon FX cameras)
  • 180k RGB meter
  • No AA filter
  • Supports for Nikon wireless transmitter WT-7
  • Built-in focus stacking: up to 300 pictures with up to 10 levels of focusing steps (still need external software)
  • Price will be CNY 23,999 or around $3,600 (source: Chinese forum)
  • Announcement date could be August 16th
  • RAW sizes: small, medium, large
  • New 1:1 mode
  • New natural light AWB

Read more at Nikon Rumours.

 

Philip Garnett