Comparing The Specs of the New Nikon Mirrorless Z8 and Z9 to the Nikon DSLR D850
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OK, I was wrong! in my prior blog post, I said that there was a slight chance that the new Nikon camera launch on May 10th would be the successor to the Nikon D850, possibly a Nikon D880. I know, wishful thinking. OK, back to reality. As we all know now, Nikon announced the Z8, a slimmed down version of the Z9.
Nikon has mentioned that the Z8 is the mirrorless version of the D850. While they may spin it that way in their marketing approach, I’m not convinced of this. Within Nikon’s current line of DSLRs, the D850 is the high resolution camera and the flagship D single number series (D6) have lower resolution but have higher frame rates. Within their Z line of cameras, this pattern is not the case. The Z8 and the flagship Z9 both have the same resolution sensor and frame rate. Now, if Nikon used the 61.0 MP Sony sensor found in the A7 RV camera, then I would say the Z8 is the mirrorless version of the D850.
Now, let’s move on to what the title says this article is about: A specification comparison of the Nikon D850 and the Nikon Z8.
Comparison between the Nikon Z8, D850, and Z9
Let me know in the comments your thoughts. Is the Z8 the successor to the D850 or just a slimmed down Z9?
After receiving the Nikon Z5II, I immediately took it out for a test drive. I could not be more pleased with the results of this little gem of a camera. Check back often since I will be adding to this collection periodically.
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.
I was reminded recently that the winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy were only 2 months away. And 2 months seems like a reasonable timeline for the release of the Z9 II in 2026. What better timing I thought than right before the Olympic games!
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Nikon just posted another Ambassador on Ambassador interview. This time with Rod Mar and Joe McNally. Enjoy!
Robert G Allen Photography sits down with Nashville photographer Chris Hershman about his photography journey and his departure from the Nikon Ambassador program.
Overall, I highly recommend the Nikon P950 camera for what it’s intended for, zooming in on a faraway subject. If your subject is in good light, and you make sure AF is locked on, you will be rewarded with photos that are perfectly acceptable for website use, social media and even for making prints to frame and hang in your home.
As I have written before, with the release of the Canon (R1) and SONY’s (A1 II and A9 III) flagship cameras, Nikon now has the receipt they need to make sure the Z9II eclipses both of those competing flagship cameras. This sounds easy enough since they now have the answer as to what specs the Z9II needs to have. But, both SONY and Canon cameras abilities are not static due to the option of firmware updates. And that’s exactly what just happened with both of SONY’s flagship cameras.
Within a few days of taking delivery of the complete professional f/2.8 zoom trio, Nikon announced the new NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S II, replacing the original NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens I had just purchased. For now, I’m staying with the original 24-70 f/2.8 Z lens for now, mostly due to the price difference. Once the novelty wares off and the price comes down on the new version, I’m sure I will eventually purchase the II version and sell the original one.
This latest release takes the version number from 1.9.1 to 1.10.0.
The following changes are included with this update:
October 7th was the annual harvest moon. Where I was located, the atmosphere was very clear so I thought I would take out the Nikon COOLPIX P1100 and see what I could capture. This image has not been cropped and the P1100 was fully racked out at 3000mm. It was run through Topaz with noise reduction and minor sharpening.
Using his Nikon Z9, photographer Prasenjeet Yadav gets the October 2025 cover shot for National Geographic Magazine.
From Nat Geo: “Prasenjeet Yadav had one goal: capture the perfect image of a pseudo-melanistic tiger for his story on India’s Similipal Tiger Reserve. Easier said than done.” Well maybe easier said than done with another camera, but not if you have the Nikon Z9.
Welcome to Robert G Allen Photography. I'm a professional multi-disciplinary commercial freelance photographer based in the Pacific Northwest and a Nikon DSLR Enthusiast.
While my career has primarily been as an event photographer, this website represents other areas of photography for which I have professional competency and enjoyment. The resulting front page gallery and single subject galleries are the result of a combination of client assignments and personal areas of interest.
Let me know in the comments below (no sign-in required) what you think the direction of Capture One is going is positive or negative.
This update brings the version number to 16.7.2. No catalog update is need when updating your current version to this latest version.