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Either you fully misunderstood what I meant or this is totally false. Most 1.4 lenses will start hitting their diffraction limits at F8-9.5 while a Schneider Fine Art XXL 1100mm F22 for 20x24 format won't hit it until a bit after F64. At one time I had both a Hasselblad 120mm F4 Makro Planar that went to F22 and a Hasselblad 120mm 5.6 Makro Planar that went to F32. When I tested both, the 120mm 5.6 at F22 was sharper than the 120mm F4 was at F22.

With an electronic shutter, regardless of what speed is selected, the shutter is no longer a source of vibration. As long as everything else is taken care of, stable tripod, no wind, no ground vibrations and ample settling time using the self timer instead of a wired release, there will be zero vibration when the exposure is made. As far as diffraction, with a 5.6 lens, diffraction is likely not starting until at least F16 or so. This is why a 4x5 format lens like my Schneider 350mm F11 is showing stellar sharpness even at F32. I prefer slower glass for landscapes and macro for this reason, moving the diffraction limit down 1-2 stops so that greater depth of field can be taken advantage of.

You might find this kind of interesting then. I just got back from hours of shooting some B&W imagery for a client who wants local mountainscapes to illustrate a new hotel going in. It was stormy out today and I did fairly well at getting lots of mood. But the really cool thing was when I used my D850 with my 200-500E. I figured out I could use the electronic shutter during a longer exposure and use the self timer to trigger it. That means that if I have no wind, I can use a settle time of about 5 seconds and get flawlessly sharp images. I have simply never even thought of doing this because it was not previously possible. So I shot this and many scenes at 500mm, F/9, 1/10th of a second at a tonally plentiful ISO 64, no remote, just 5 second self timer with live view and the electronic shutter. This new camera is simply in another league for me. The full frame and then a 100% crop...

Iin prepping for a shoot, I just tried it in both A and S modes and it worked fine. It did however made odd but fairly quiet noises in S mode, perhaps the aperture was it. Interesting, I am thinking the opposite. But to be fair, these are not at all toys but tools for me and just the advances in AF, AF fine tune & one stop better high ISO range make a big difference in how I am able to execute photographs. The added resolution is always welcome, I get requests for images that are to be reproduced 5-10' feet wide.

On another note, AF fine tune via live view is just fantastic. I took the time to do all 12 of my AF lenses and it was such a pleasure to do it that way that I now can't decide whether to wait for an uprade to the D750 or just sell the 750 and 810 and get another 850. And AF on this thing is really good, even with the 200-500 + TC14III. I have not tried it on tracking yet but the AF feels really robust, even in fairly low light. I think the 750 is better than the 810 in this regard so I think my 810 is going soon. Now, on yet another note, I did a decibel test at 20 feet away and found that the 750 and 850 are about even. The 750 has a sharper clack noise that is about as annoying as I would ever want in a camera but the 810 came in at 3db less, it's truly the most quiet SLR I have ever used, film, digital, etc. Only my Leica M240 was quieter by another 3db. So I am a bit bummed about the louder shutter on the 850 but I am thinking / hoping that silent shutter mode will eliminate that in many situations.

Just to check in / touch base, I have had the camera for a week now and really like it a lot. I do need to see how viable the silent shutter is in some of the LED light I work in. I have converted much of my house to it and I am getting rolling shutter on nearly all of it at all shutter speeds. Hopefully pro LED lighting for broadcast will not be as much of an issue? I got my D750 back from Nikon yesterday for the shutter recall and now have some numbers to share in terms of high ISO comparisons. Overall from ISO 3,200 and up the 750 is about 1/3rd of a stop better than the 850 at pixel level. If I export the 850 files in ACR to be the same size as the 750, that number flips to the 850 being about one third stop better. Compared to the 810, I had more time and got into it quite a bit more so here goes. How I base my opinion is that I use a formulation of how the grain looks, how the color noise looks and how smeared are the details. I used Adobe ACR CC updated, synced Luminance noise at 15, 40 sharpen, .5 pixel radius, 40 fine details, all else at default. At ISO 3,200 the 850 is around half a stop less grain, maybe 2/3rd stop less color noise and a half stop less detail smearing so a conservative bet would be 2/3rd of a stop improvement to the 850. At ISO 6,400 it is again, about a half stop finer grain, a full stop less color noise and a full stop less smearing of details. In other words, a one stop improvement overall to the 850. At ISO 12,800, it is 3/4 of a stop less grain, 1-1/3rd stop less color noise and 1 stop less smearing of details, a solid one stop improvement overall. So the overall numbers are what the image feels like in broad terms compared to the other ones. The breakdown helps to see how it changes as the ISO is ramped up. I have not experimented with using more luminance noise reduction to even out the greater details of the 850 to be on par with the 810 but I suspect if I did, it could bring the overall number to appear that the 850 even has less noise. I tend to not use a lot of NR in post because of loss of detail. I also have all my camera's high ISO NR set to low.

I love that 50, LOL. Yes, grey EN-EL15a batteries, I have three. I'll speak more about it all a bit later, got to head to bed. But so far, loving it!

Yes, today at mid-day, NPS order via the Nikon store. I have not done a lot of comparisons yet because I am still setting up the camera but when shooting in low light at ISO 6,400 and 12,800 with both my 810 and 850's noise reduction set at low in JPEG, I am seeing a good solid stop improvement in noise reduction on the 850. I also see no color noise at all and a lot more details. Now, when I take the NEF files images into Adobe CC RAW, I still see an easy one stop gain on the 850 compared to the 810. And again, color noise is pretty much gone on the RAW 850 shots at those ISO's. On the 810 at 12800, I see some magenta in the shadow areas and some lack of uniformity in otherwise even areas of color. In the 850 file, it is totally even and there is not a trace of magenta cast lifting the shadows. I had to go into a closet with just a bit of light creeping in, about 1/125th at 1.4 at ISO 6400. Everything else seems really nice on the camera, I'd call it a very nice upgrade from the 810. With the new card type in it, man does this thing fly through data! And 7 FPS is going to be *plenty*. I'm headed out with my wife tonight, I am bringing the 850 and a 50mm F2 Milvus. I'll see what I can dig up...

Yeah, was pretty impressed with Adobe's action on this, have it installed which is good since my D850 is out for delivery.

When I went from the D700 to the D800 the difference in color inter-tonality meaning the rendering of subtle colors, micro tonality in terms of edge detail was like looking at a 35mm slide next to a 6x7 medium format slide, it was huge. So even the difference between my D750 and D810 show a fair difference in this regard although it might take a more trained eye to see that difference. So I think in the OP's case, going from a 24MP DX sensor to a 36MP FX sensor will feel entirely different, a real significant improvement in how the whole image feels in terms of realism and it's color nuance.

I think going to FX from a DX sensor will make a remarkable difference in the feel of the photos you take, most of the young photographers I mentor at this program find that to be the case as well. The jump from 24 to 36MP also really opens up the tones a fair bit and lets the colors, the whole image breathe a lot more. Given the prices of used D800's, I would say heck yes, do it!

I have used my NPS priority ordering on new equipment since the F5 was announced and never really had many issues with equipment and when I did like the D750 shutter thing, I just had a loaner sent out in addition to having at least one other body to work with. I think the likelihood that there could be an issue with the D850 is not out of the realm of possibility but since I have backup gear, it never really weighs on me that heavily and the first couple weeks with new digital bodies are discovery mode anyway. I just got notification from NPS to confirm shipping info on my order and to reply in that regard so it looks like they are moving right along. I ordered a 105mm 1.4 that gets here tomorrow, that and the 850 ought to be superb for the Winter lifestyle shoots I have coming up. The excitement builds.....

I take DR on paper with a grain of salt due to my own direct experience with it in the real professional world. For example, my D810 on paper has more DR than my Leica M240 and my Hasselblad CFV50c digital back. But in actual use, the M240 files edge it out slightly in real usable DR and the Hasselblad back ends up being a lot more pliable in post, both especially when it comes to highlight headroom and a fair amount of color and tone leading up to those highlights. If the D850 ends up exceeding all my other digital equipment in terms of color, tone and usable range, I will be happy. But it would in no way cause me to ditch either the Leica body and especially not the Hasselblad back since that entire V system is in league of it's own.

I replaced the clunky and not very well built 14-24 2.8 with the 20mm 1.8 and love it. I use it a lot on documentary and lifestyle shoots but it is killer for stars as well. This is last week in Wyoming while out shooting the eclipse, about 25 seconds at 1.8, ISO 6400 with my D810, red headlamp on the trees:

I liked the built in flash a lot since it was very fast and intuitive to use. There is also a certain look it gave, especially when holding the camera upside-down. I'll live without it but I did use it now and then when I had it.

NPS pre-oder in, we'll see how long this takes.... I use the in camera crop modes a ton, 45+ MP will make this even easier.

I was hoping it would be the size and weight of the D750 but it is what it is. I wonder how battery life is using silent shutter and live view? Waiting on my email from NPS to pre-order it.

I made the trek out to a friend's ranch at 8,200 feet above Dubois Wyoming and in addition to some wonderful observing time at night, shot the eclipse using some black and white film. I used a Hasselblad 501CM, 60mm F3.5 CFI lens @f8 for 1/15th of a second ( for this exposure ) with Kodak Tmax 400 pushed to 800. I also used a mirror which I will be replacing with a first surface one this week. The whole apparatus moves in a unified manner as to keep the mirror perfectly true to the frame of the camera. I just ran the film today, got two printable frames.

I hope the merge goes well, I know it has been a long time coming. I think it will be good to be able to toggle between mediums, I would hate to lose the ability to take a full break from anything having to do with digital, It has really been a great refuge in that regard on the days I just don't want to hear about the stuff at all.

I shoot very little color film but all film for black and white since I can see the entire process through without the use of computers. I still love the look of mellow contrast color films in medium format but once I am out, I don't think I will be buying anymore. So yeah, color is digital for me.

Nah, my world is all good, I have never been doing better in my career and craft, mentor dozens of young photographers per year though legitimate academia as a means to give back and keep it real. But once and awhile, the love-fest of the inter webs with all its empty praise and likes needs to hear a different opinion. I stand by what I see and believe, since the use of computers in altering photographs has gone mainstream, there is a TON of garbage out there. And you know what they do with garbage right? They generally put it in a landfill, which can be a hole. And when one looks up from a hole, everything above it might *seem* to be on a pedestal. Just like photoshopped pictures, all might not be what it seems.....

Because I don't want my work to ever to be associated with someone else's lunch break fantasy photoshopped garbage. And a lot of the stuff out there is truly garbage, no long term value, no social value, no artistic value, no talent required, just complete give-all-the-credit-to-the-software trash. Thankfully people in the art buying world care too and just laugh at the billions of garbage computer images out there.

I have had that lens twice, sold it once when raising funds for a zoom and regretted it. Then I bought one brand new from B&H in 2002 and use it all the time on all of my Nikon bodies ( F3, FM3A, F100, D750 & D810 ). It's a spectacular lens, including wide open. It's also very small and works great for moving through tight crowds. Here is a shot from the 2017 World Cup Ski Finals of Lindsy Vonn in March at F2.5 with a D750:

And I know quite a few young people that I mentor who are using film because they are not entirely convinced of what they have all been sold as the next great thing, IE digital. None of them started with film but use it with great success and enjoyment because of how different the journey is with it and how utterly beautiful the results are. You should get to know more young people, they are not all looking to do things to be cool but because they really believe in their choices. I started using digital when the newspaper I was working at in 1994 was one of the first three in the country to move towards the use of it. But I also knew that it would never really replace film for me, only add on another tool option. I use it more now than ever, my largest investments in my business and largest invoices are with projects shot on film.

The site's founder emailed me back and had this to say: "http://LargeFormatPhotography.info had complicated software issues requiring migration to new server. Hopefully back in a few days. Because the machine is down, we cannot post anything. The best place for updates is my twitter account https://twitter.com/terragalleria Tuan" So hopefully it gets all worked out in a few days?