Replacing old with...old? D-90 to D850.

[davehicks]

Nope. In fact, I see very little reference to it in UW photo chatter.



The 2.8 is the macro one, right?


Just FYI, I am contemplating buying a Nikon camera kit and have narrowed down my lens choices, but I haven't bought anything Nikon yet. I am waiting to see what new higher-end cameras (Z8ii, Z7iii, and Z90) come out in the next few months before I decide what to buy.

I have been doing a lot of research on the Nikon kit over the past many months and getting myself educated on the subject. I checked all of the Nauticam port and lens charts for Nikon. I, of course, follow you on INTG and FB very closely

I have narrowed the lens choices to: Z105mm macro, Z50mm f/2.8 Macro, Z24-50mm (your favorite), Z14-30mm, and possibly the newest version of the wicked expensive Z24-70mm lens.

I would suggest a good first UW lens selection would be the z105, z25-50 w/WWL-C, and the F-mount 8-15mm FE w/140mm dome. A 50 or 60mm lens is nice to have (for me) but might be essential for Black Water, which I have not done yet. You can use a single flat port60 with a 20mm extension for both the 60 & 105 lens.

I have the F-mount 60mm which I occasionally use for macro combined with a Kraken KRL-09 wet wide flip lens.

The other lens I have but don't use underwater anymore are the F16-35 and 8" Nauticam dome port.

As for new Nikon bodies, I guess they will always be in the pipeline but I don't see a deficiency with the current lineup. Between the Z8 and Z6III I think you have excellent options. The Z8 has seen major firmware updates periodically that added significant and useful features. It is really nice to see meaningful upgrades with free software updates without having to buy new hardware. Nikon is pricing much lower than Sony as well for similar tier hardware.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

There is one area where the D850 clearly outshines the Z8, that's shooting blackwater. There is a clear difference in shooting the D850 with 60mm lens vs the Z8 (with the FTZ and the same 60mm lens).

What have you noticed? I see a lot of incredible blackwater photos with the D850. They are sharp, well lit, and the colors look very natural. The blackwater shots I've seen from the Z cameras look over saturated and over sharpened. I wasn't sure if it was the camera or the Photoshopping skills.

 

[PatW]

I shot with the D800 for years. It was a nice camera.

I shoot with a Z8 now.

Advantages: faster auto focus. Focus points from edge to edge instead of center only. Focuses well under much lower light. Better lenses - the “kit lens” is an F4 and the old “pro” lenses were F4 and bigger. Really the sole drawback is the number of shots per battery charge. It is listed at 200 (I think it is more than that). 200 gets me 3 dives. Also far better video. I found with the D800 that shooting with a micro 105 was frustrating on auto focus. There was all sorts of hunting. The micro 60 shot great. The Z8 with a z105 macro hunts some but all I need to do is focus on something the same range as the subject and all is good. Well except for pearly jaw fish. They are so smooth that the camera wants to focus on the background. You can get the shot but it takes some care.

Now the D850 was the finest DSLR ever made. Its autofocus is better than my D800. So it will take nice shots and you can get old lenses used in great condition relatively cheap. I think you can pick up a Nauticam housings used and get it refurbished. If money is a constraint, the D850 should do you fine.

 

[davehicks]

I shot with the D800 for years. It was a nice camera.

I shoot with a Z8 now.

Advantages: faster auto focus. Focus points from edge to edge instead of center only. Focuses well under much lower light. Better lenses - the “kit lens” is an F4 and the old “pro” lenses were F4 and bigger. Really the sole drawback is the number of shots per battery charge. It is listed at 200 (I think it is more than that). 200 gets me 3 dives.

About the Z8 battery. I routinely shoot up to 800 frames across 3 dives on a single battery. I have yet to fully drain the battery or even get it down below 20%.

It is not as great as the bottomless D850 but is much better than the estimated rating in our underwater use case. Probably because the LCD screen is off when used in a housing?

 

[BoltSnap]

Probably because the LCD screen is off when used in a housing?

Which consumes more power, the LCD screen or the EVF?