jens_krause

I usually print at 300 dpi Exquisite detail is extremely important to me. For the D800E to get to exactly 300 dpi, I would need to print at 62,3 cm x 41,6 cm. Thus, my usual print size is 60 x 40 cm, allowing for a little room to crop. For the D850, to get to exactly 300 dpi, I would need to print at 69,9 cm x 46,6 cm. As Shun suggested, the resolution advantage is not that significant in actual use. Higher frame rate, better autofocus, backlit buttons, a one-stop advantage, less battery consumption, a bigger viewfinder, and a higher resolution monitor are the other main selling points to me, also in nice-to-have territory. I cannot say I am limited in any way by the D800E. AF works generally very well with the D800E after the adjustment for the left focus issues. This serves as a reminder for me to wait with a possible purchase until possible kinks are corrected.

Fortunately, I do own the MH-26a battery charger and two EN-EL18a batteries already to use with the battery pack. Still, the D850 requires its own MB-D18 battery pack (approx. 440 Euros). I would probably also need a new L-bracket (approx. 190 Euros). To take advantage of the high speed, I would also need XQD-infrastructure: A 64 GB XQD-card with a USB 3.0 reader is currently available at a big internet retailer for 110 Euros. That is 730 Euros in addition to the 3800 Euros of the D850. That would be about 4500 Euros to get to a shooting style similar to what I currently use with the D800E.

My D800E is well over 5 years old which is hard for me to believe considering how current it still feels. I do not think I would ever trade it in. It is worth far more to me than what I would get on the used market. Still, the D850 looks very tempting. However, with prime nature photography season not starting until April 2018 again around here, I will have a few months to make up my mind (and to wait for the price of the D850 to come down).

My D200 is converted for UV/IR photography, so is anything but obsolete. I use a 32 GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CF Card (UDMA 7, 90 MB/s) in mine. When I shoot IR panos, smaller cards can be limiting. As they say on the internets: Size does matter :)