Are You Ready? Nikon Launch Event! Could It Be The Successor To The Nikon D850, The Nikon D880?

Nikon Launch Event 05/10/2023

The countdown has begun for the Nikon new product announcement on 05/10/2023! Most people are assuming this announcement pertains to the Nikon Z8 and I agree that that is the most likely scenario. However, could it be that a new successor to the D850 is on the way? With the emphases on the number 8 in the above screen capture from Nikon’s website, if it was the successor to the D850, it most likely would be called the Nikon D880. I base this on the fact that the successor to the D750 was the Nikon D780. If it was a new D850, what new features would it have?

Let’s speculate together as to what would be new with an updated Nikon D850. I think the most prominent new feature of the Nikon D880 would be the addition of a live view option with real autofocus, much like the one used in the D780. This would essentially make the D880 a hybrid camera, having both mirrorless and DSLR characteristics. The D780 has become my primary event photography camera due to its low shutter noise (see my blog post on Nikon DSLR shutter noise levels ) when used in mirrorless mode (live view). I think bringing the D850 up to the spec level of the D780 would be the overall goal with an updated D850. Essentially, any D850 update would be the equivalent of putting the current D850 sensor into a D780.

What if Nikon went further than just adopting the specs of the D780. What about a faster frame rate? The current D850 shoots at 7 frames per second and with the vertical grip and larger EN-EL18 battery, the frames per second increase to 9. Let’s bump up the base fps to 8 and with the larger battery and vertical grip, 10 fps. What else could we do with the D850? How about when in silent view, we retain full autofocus options, just like the Z9 (which is always in silent mode :)). What about a larger viewfinder. It’s currently at .75. Let’s increase that to a viewfinder magnification of .80. And last but not least, the current D850 has an EXPEED 5 Image Processor. Let’s put in an EXPEED 6 and all the benefits that come with that processor.

What else can we do with an updated Nikon D850. What about the image sensor, currently at 45.7 Megapixels. Do we keep it at that same spec, change it out for a better one at the same resolution or increase it to (fill in the new resolution here). Let me know in the comments below what you would like to see in a Nikon D850 replacement.