Name: Nikon D850 Vs Nikon Z8 | The Final Battle
Uploaded: 2025-01-15T15:32:53.000Z
Duration: 6 min 53 s
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I once made a video that everyone missed the point of.

That video was why you'll never get a D850 replacement.

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People still don't get it because they either didn't pay attention, they're trolls, or they just didn't finish the video.

I have a feeling that in this comparison, the Z8 is going to slaughter the D850 like day one Leonidas versus Xerxes.

But the point is, you haven't been waiting for a replacement feature-wise.

You've been searching for a way to replace that feeling of having the best camera.

And the D850 was and still is probably the best DSLR ever.

If and only if you're looking for a spec replacement, we've had that for a long time.

Technically, the Z7 II is better spec-wise.

But today, we have the Nikon Z8 versus the Nikon D850.

The D850 was announced on August 24th, 2017 for $3,296.95.

And today, it can still be had new on sale for $2,196.95.

That is a good price for the best DSLR ever.

If you hate EVFs and love lens shopping, get that because the D850 gets one point for lens selection.

And by the way, use the links in the description to buy it because Adorama helps me make these videos with a 2% commission and it costs you no extra money.

Also a point for the D850 because the Z8 launch price was $4,000.

Worth every penny, but one point for the D850.

They both have 46 megapixel BSI CMOS sensors with the same 64 to 25,600 native ISO.

But the Z8 gets in-body image stabilization, which gives stabilization to non-stabilized lenses, but also works in sync.

That's stabilization and that's awesome or double awesome depending on the lens, but one point for the Z8.

The D850 can rack up some points in the following ways. 2.359 million dot rear LCD to the Z8's 2.089 million dot.

It's a DSLR and battery life is marked by days, not shots.

DSLR battery life always beats mirrorless, one point.

Now this is weird, but the D850 is better in three categories, but they are so close that it's almost unfair.

Those are all kind of influenced by the same thing.

I'm just going to give two points, not three.

Now for the Z8, no mechanical shutter, but basically none of the things I hate about electronic shutter. 20 FPS raw versus seven on the D850.

The Z8 will go beyond that, but I generally only want raw files.

The Z8 has blackout free shooting, another point.

Things are about to get funky in the name of not being totally lopsided.

The Z8 has a stacked sensor, which means a lot of things that it can do better than the D850.

Less rolling shutter, pretty much bottomless buffer, etc. etc.

Two points, I suppose, because those are big things.

Now, because I didn't give full points to the D850 earlier, we're going to kind of make up for that now.

We all know that mirrorless slaughters DSLR in video, so I'm not going to give a point for every single video feature that is better on the Z8.

It has unlimited recording limit versus the D850 is 30 minutes.

The Z8 will do 8K versus the 4K on the D850.

It has a full size HDMI port, which may mean nothing to you, but it does to video focused people.

For all that, I'm just going to do two points for the Z8 because it's way better, but some things are really big and some things are just kind of like nice quality of life things.

The Z8 has 493 focus points versus the D850's 153.

The D850 will focus at EV minus four while the Z8 will focus at EV minus 7.5.

And a side note, I regularly use the Z8 in an extremely dark studio with a light behind the subject, so they are literally just shadow.

I let my flash be the only illumination of the subject and the Z8 can track eyes in that scenario whenever I can't even see the eyes.

Nikon finally caught up to the consumer expectation of what mirrorless autofocus should be, so all of the advanced tracking features and subject detection work great.

People still want mirrorless to be smaller and lighter, so this isn't my fault, it is yours.

I don't care about weight, I care about results.

But the Z8 weighs 910 grams and the D850 weighs 1015.

Nikon Z8, X-Speed 7 versus the D850's X-Speed 5.

Also, this may not be a big deal to you, but the range of movement and positions that you can get on the Z8 rear LCD is better than you can get on the D850, allowing for more viewing angles for the photographer.

This is a big deal for me because I have more days where my back is trashed than I do where it feels okay.

I knew this was going to happen, and you probably did too.

We will get some haters in the comments, but facts do not care.

You love your D850 for good reason, and no one is judging you.

No one thinks you're crazy for not switching.

People wanted a real spec replacement for the D850 and Nikon delivered it.

That does not discount how that camera makes you feel, which is way more important than how it performs.

The camera you love will make you shoot more photography than the camera that is better technically.

Time in the field makes you a better photographer.

Now, excluding people that have already decided that they do not like EVF and prefer OVF experience, okay?

If you do not have a camera, or it's time for you to upgrade to a new camera or your first professional camera, and both cameras are in your budget, I do not recommend people enter photography with DSLRs anymore.

Support will fade over time, and I think it's better to start new unless you just, like, film.

Besides that, if you fall into that category, the Z8 is the way to go, in my opinion.

In fact, everyone agrees it's probably the best DSLR ever.

The hunger for a D850 replacement is settled.