D750 or D810

The fact that Nikon back ordered the D850 actually makes me believe that they are not going to have the update.

Could be that they, as so many manufacturers, are hindered by the world wide shortage of semiconductors.

A quick glance at this thread leaves the impression: with the D800/D810 and the D750+ camera's and later, the digital camera evolution did reach a plateau!

Before that: every camera was almost a revolutionary step, a most useful upgrade. Since then, it became more a question of more specific needs (video? fast AF? ...).

...Myself happily using my D800 from 2012, back then upgrading from D200 and D300, and now 9 years later still not really needing a stills-photography upgrade!

Ha!

Borrow someone's D850 and come back here afterwards...!

The D810 was a minor update, the D850 was a worthy upgrade.

Trying to find one now, is beginning to get tricky as shooters are picking up second copies incase Nikon don't ever make a better DSLR.

"Trying to find one now, is beginning to get tricky as shooters are picking up second copies incase Nikon don't ever make a better DSLR."

Here we go again! I'm just contemplating selling part of my collection of medium format film cameras, mostly bought in case "They Couldn't Be Replaced/Repaired."

As it happens, they were so reliable I didn't need them.

The D810 is quieter than either the D750 or the D850, and in my experience, has very accurate AF (in stark contrast to the D800). I replaced my D810 with a D850 as I wanted the radio flash (SB-5000) support to work with my second body as well. However, the D850 turned out louder (as it is faster) and probably I should have kept my D810 for that reason. The D850 does have Qc at 3 fps but I feel for timing purposes the S mode of D810 was a good compromise (between sound and delay) whereas 3 fps Qc takes some getting used to (to get single shot timing right).

In practice I use S mode most often with the D850 for this type of shooting, a bit louder than my preference but the delay is short. I use Qc mainly to use EFCS to get better sharpness where timing is less critical. I would use Q (single shot) but it's implemented in such a way that the mirror only comes down after one releases the shutter release button, and that feels like two distinct sounds, the second sound I could never get used to, so I use Qc and try not to do accidental extra frames. ;)

The Z6 II is quieter still and I now use that for situations where I photograph people in close range, for example, at events. I recall that in this kind of contexts people would not notice my D810's sound (there is enough discussion babble to muffle the sound) but the fast DSLRs such as the D5 do get noticed more easily. I have gotten comments about the sound of the D5 and earlier of the D700, but in between those not so much; the D810 in particular was a good semi-candid camera. Yes, the D850 is better for action due to its AF and to my then surprise, the sharpness and general age quality is amazing but the D810 is still very good.

AF-wise the Z6 II does well when photographing people in a restaurant with wide-area AF with face/eye detection, but for people actively moving and approaching the camera, DSLRs do better. Also the sensitivity of the Z6 II to vertical lines is high and to horizontal lines is zero so one has to keep in mind when photographing subjects that have that kind of lines and where face/eye detection doesn't apply.

Overall I am happy that now I again have a quiet enough solution for photographing people in conversation although it is a bit awkward to use with my F-mount 24-70/2.8 lens due to the combined length of the adapter and lebs, putting pressure on me to buy a Z-mount zoom. I noticed the D780 sound feels quieter and more refined than the D750 sound, so that could have been an alternative although obviously the mirrorless camera is quieter still. For indoor photos of people, I prefer the 20-24 MP sensors for their high ISO image quality and more quick and effortless editing. D850 is in my opinion outside of its best domain in such situations, although it certainly can yield good results also at high ISO; it's just that when my internal drives fill up I don't appreciate the extra size of those files especially if high ISO noise dulls the benefits.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I think both the D810 and D750 are well-liked although no longer the latest models of the lineup. I would be quite happy to work with the D810 again and think there is nothing wrong with it. The D750 is not my favorite partly due to its sound but the grip shape is also not as good a fit for my hands. I know a lot of people use D750's or have used it and like it; these things are subjective.