Today marks Nikon's 100th anniversary, and we didn't think the company would let this landmark event pass without some kind of product announcement.
While some rumors had suggested we might see a new full-frame mirrorless camera break cover, the news that the D850 has been officially confirmed is still pretty exciting.
Nikon hasn't actually released any specs for its long-awaited replacement to the brilliant full-frame 36.3MP D810, (or a picture for that matter), only saying that the 'D850 will be a formidable tool for those who will not compromise on exceptional image quality and versatility, including aspiring and professional photographers, and hobbyists who capture landscapes, commercial sports, fashion and weddings, as well as multimedia content creators'.
The only thing we can glean from the short teaser video below is that the new camera will be able to shoot 8K timelapses (so 4K video).
What we hope/expect to see
When the Nikon D800 (and D800E) arrived back in 2012, its 36.3MP full-frame sensor was a game-changer. Nothing like it had been seen before, and it was the camera to buy for detail resolution if you didn't want to make the move up to medium format.
With 2014's D810 keeping the same resolution, the likes of the 50.6MP Canon EOS 5DS (and 5DS R) and 42.2MP Sony Alpha A7R II have overshadowed (the still excellent) chip in the D810. To that end, we reckon the D850 will get a decent jump in resolution, with the rumors suggesting it'll be somewhere between 45MP and 46MP.
The autofocus system should also get a noticeable bump in performance, with the 51-point AF system in the D810 making way for the same sophisticated 173-point AF system used by the flagship D5.
We think CompactFlash compatibility will also disappear, with the D850 featuring both an SD card slot and XQD slot. We wouldn't be surprised to see the pop-up flash disappear as we saw with the D500, while we might also see a vari-angle touchscreen, again as on the D500.
Nothing has been confirmed yet, so we're in the dark about full specs, pricing and availability, but as soon as we hear anything we'll let you know.
