Nikon Z8 vs Nikon D850 - Image Quality Review

How does the Nikon Z8 compare to the Nikon D850? In this video we compare the image quality of these two fantastic Nikon cameras. We also look at the ISO performance and dynamic range of the Nikon Z8 and the Nikon D850. We compare some side by side images in Lightroom and I give my thoughts on how these two cameras perform.

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📖 Video Chapters
00:00 - Intro
01:49 - Image Comparisons
04:00 - ISO Performance
12:00 - Underexposure Tests
14:43 - Overexposure Tests
17:55 - Summary

#nikon #photography #landscapephotography

[ZJMichaels]

Check the video description for gear discounts, my gear list, and more. Thanks for watching!

[ccgtrep]

I got the D850 new in September 2017. Never looked back, brilliant camera, use mainly for landscape, timelapse and astro. I love my D850! Thanks for all your effort to make the video BTW.

[jb-xcoh]

Where I live a D8 costs $5, 000 but a brand new D850 costs $3200. The D850 is a well made beast of a professional camera. I don't do sports, wildlife or me the D850 wins hands down. I don't have much use for all the tech wizardry and features in a mirrorless camera and I dislike the viewfinders on most of them.

[brianloveslight]

I love having the "latest and greatest" gear, but the hard truth is, while the technology advances, the outcomes are so minimally different that it's rarely worth the upgrade until a "game changer" comes along. The D850 was a game changer. The low light capability was better than every other camera in its class at that price point. The large sensor gave unprecedented dynamic range and the ability to crop images while retaining remarkable detail. The form and function of the body and controls were near perfection, and the bottom line is it still produces excellent images that are making me money every day of the week. :)

[kimharrison]

Thank you for your video. Your efforts have just helped me to finally decide to get a new second D850 body. I've got so much beautiful glass I've collected over the years and I'm going to leave it at that - and take my iPhone 15 Pro max wherever I go for my portable camera in a pocket. Cheers!

[rakutzimbel]

I wondered if it was worth the money to trade my D850 for a Z8. I rarely shoot video, so I don't think I would win much, thus I'll stay with my D850, which might be the best DSLR ever made for landscape and portrait. For wildlife and macro I use a D500. The image quality is superb and the extra reach due to the crop factor is a big bonus.

[OmarFadul]

You have to underexpose the D850 a little bit. Something like -0.3 or -0.5 to match the Z8. If you match the exposure correctly, you will see that there is no difference at all!

[georgecastan]

Awesome comaparison video.
As a d850 owner I was really curious the differences between the 2 in the matter of image quality only.
This video helped me a lot. Thank you.

[zamalek]

What. agreat comparison video, deserves more likes! One thing to note is its hard to recover OVERexposed shots, its best to be underexposed as shadow detail can be recovered but blown out info is missing and hard to recover.

[MrFQchannelTV]

Dynamic range is slightly better on the D850 as I can appreciate on these images you are showing.

[morgankarno]

I own both I use the z8 for wildlife and the d850 with Zeiss glass for everything else it is more enjoyable to shoot and has deeper blacks and I prefer lenses not to be auto corrected in camera when I want total organic incredible image I bust out the incredible DF with ai lenses.

[pierpaolocavalieri]

congratulations very interesting video..maybe I'll look for an 850

[Stop-All-War]

Indistinguishable images
Prefer D850 robustness & usability & way less expensive Lenses..

[dennischamberlain]

This was excellent - thanks! The only additional comparison I would have liked would have been shooting at 800 or 1600 ISO in a very low light situation. That of course is when the high ISO is actually used, and I wonder if the differences between the two cameras would have been more pronounced.

[LDam-pflx]

You can equalize exposure of a set of images by selecting the set of images. Then press crtl+alt+shift+m. That will then adjust all the images to have the same exposure, as the image you have in focus.

[hectormpagan]

10% is the gear and 90% it's the photographer, ask all Magnum Photographers.

[enolamns]

No Progress in Sensor Power, thats disappointing. I was surprised that even my old D800 can keep up that well with the new Cameras. AF and Video is another story, but for photography, damn they seem have come to a stop in terms of sensor performance.

[dtcho]

The commentary keeps on essentially stating that the photos between the two cameras look pretty much the same. However, to me, the colors on the D850 looked consistently more vibrant, while the Z8 looked more muddy. Also, for the dynamic range, I give the slight nod to the D850. However, the Z8 clearly would be far superior for wildlife, action, sports, and video.

[ssprods]

Those two newer cameras look almost as good as my D800

[MMB.__]

I think the D850's dynamic range is slightly better so dark areas seem a little brighter and maybe a hint noisier. But nothing to worry about. I would not buy any of these cameras for high ISO performance though.