Product Comparison: Nikon D780 vs Nikon D850

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Nikon D780 Digital Camera

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Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

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General Specifications

Brand

Nikon

Model

D780

D850

Origin

Thailand

About the Product

The tough D780 boasts a fast, dedicated Hybrid-AF system for Live View shooting, and a fast, powerful 51-point Phase-Detection AF system for viewfinder shooting. When shooting in Live View, photographers and moviemakers benefit from the same AF system as found in the acclaimed Nikon Z 6 mirrorless camera.

The D850 puts staggering image quality and impressive performance within reach of working photographers everywhere.

Key Specs

Sensor Resolution

24.5 MP

45.7 MP

Sensor Type

CMOS

Lens

Body

Viewfinder

Pentaprism

Sensor Resolution

Size & Weight

Height

4.6 in.

4.9 in.

Width

5.7 in.

5.8 in.

Depth

3 in.

3.1 in.

Weight

29.7 oz.

32.3 oz.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Nikon D780 Digital Camera

Great ergonomic grip. Lightweight compared to my D5 and D850.
It's light for its size.
Lightweight and compact. Great camera.
It has a nice feel, good size.
The weight and size is comfortable.

Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

Super well designed, comfortable, if not a tad on the heavy side. It's a beast of a camera though, so I can absolutely forgive the weight, and it's by no means uncomfortably heavy.
The body is just about the same size as the D810 and the weight seems similar in my hand.
With respect to size, I did get a chance to shoot it side by side with my friends D810. The D850 did sit better in the hand than the D810. The D850 felt a bit heavier, but more comfortable to hold.
This camera is heavy. Its the first Nikon I have owned where it has felt heavy in my hands.
The d850 is a little heavy, but out shines any camera I have ever owned.

Imaging

ISO Settings

Auto: 100-51200, Extended: 50 - 204800

Auto: 64-25600, Extended: 32 - 102400

Burst Mode

Yes

Low Light/High Sensitivity

Yes

Face Detection

Yes

Image File Format(s)

JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG

RAW, JPEG, RAW + JPEG

Low Light/High Sensitivity
Face Detection

What customers say about "Imaging"

Nikon D780 Digital Camera

Excellent picture quality.
Picture quality is excellent. Focus is excellent.
Good low light performance.
The camera takes very quick bursts.
Excellent ISO performance, superb low light photos.

Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

If you know anything about the D850, you'll know that the autofocus in the body is industry leading.
A huge number of autofocus points, incredible focus speed, it's absolutely incredible.
This camera is a beast. It's got a whopping 45.7 megapixels. This was a major upgrade for me, coming from the 24.1 megapixels in my D5200.
It has great low-light capabilities, and the autofocus works surprisingly well even in low light.
The low light performance isn't great and as a whole... it lacks the finer points of higher end cameras.

Display

Display Type

TFT-LCD

Screen Size

3.2 in.

Screen Resolution

2359000 dots

Touch Screen

Yes

Vari-angle Display

Yes

What customers say about "Display"

Nikon D780 Digital Camera

The screen is very nice.
Great screen quality, I highly recommend it.
Love the flip out screen.
I like the large size and the quality of the display.
Excellent touch screen, responsive.

Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

I was skeptical that I would ever use the touchscreen aspect of the screen but I must say I was wrong. I use it very often. The screen itself is large, bright, and great resolution.
You can pinch to zoom on your pictures and zoom in to see some incredible detail this camera takes.
Screen tilts up and down, a really handy feature that I forget about too often.
I especially love picking focus points on the rear touch screen -- so much easier than doing so using the buttons on the camera.
That rear screen. It is so clear and bright it pushes me to make more use of Live View, And about time Nikon offered a tilt screen.

Features

Water Resistant

Shock Resistant

Panorama Mode

Shooting Modes

AUTO, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Custom, Program, Special Effects

AUTO, Program, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual

White Balance Modes

Auto, Color Temperature, Manual, Shade, Cloudy, Direct Sunlight, Flash, Fluorescent (7 types), Incandescent, Natural Light Auto

Auto, Cloudy, Direct Sunlight, Fine-tuning, Flash, Fluorescent (7 types), Incandescent, Natural Light Auto, Shade, Preset manual, Color Temperature

Shutter Speeds

30 - 1/8000

Water Resistant
Panorama Mode

What customers say about "Features"

Nikon D780 Digital Camera

I have previously owned the D750 and love the amazingly quick and accurate Autofocus algorithm incorporated into the D780 from the high-end models!
It's an amazing camera with many great features.
Auto mode is easy to use.
This is a solid camera with many features.
The camera is very versatile and scads of great features.

Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

The weatherproofing is excellent. You can watch tons of review videos where you'll see them leaving the camera on a tripod in rainy weather to do a timelapse, and then they simply dry it off with a towel later.
Having come from the D5200 I feel like the controls are much more intuitive and better placed so as to be more ergonomic.
As a person who loves to do astrophotography, one of my favorite tiny improvements is the illuminated buttons! I don't know how I survived without that before this.
The ergonomics -- a lot of people have commented on the deeper hand grip. A real positive for handheld.
The Fn buttons are useful for setting quick commands (note, if you don’t see an option, scroll down…there are pages and pages of options for each button!) This is very nice!

Connectivity

PictBridge Enabled

Yes

NFC Enabled

Yes

Integrated GPS

Output(s)

USB Type C, HDMI Type C, 3.5mm jack

USB 3.0, HDMI Type C, 3.5mm jack

Number Of Memory Card Slots

What customers say about "Connectivity"

Nikon D780 Digital Camera

So nice to have the UHS-II speed available in two cards!
Love the WiFi features.
Great connectivity options.
The 3.5mm microphone jack is useful.
The wireless connectivity is great.

Nikon D850 FX-Format Digital SLR Camera Body

Buy the high speed SD cards. They are crazy expensive, but they will fit directly into most computers while allowing you take photos almost as fast as you can push the button.
The SD/XQD Card door is a little easier to open and close if compare with my previous camera, and it feels nicer to the touch with a textured rubber cover.
The bluetooth hasn't been a problem. Use the camera menu to turn it on and, if the phone/tablet is paired, it will quickly connect.
The iphone wifi sync feature is incredible-- you can see what the camera sees on your phone and control the shutter.
The WIFI connection was a big disappointment, so slow and a lot of disconnections.

Power

Battery Model

Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL15b

Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL15a

Battery Life

2260 frames

1840 frames