francwoods

I'm starting to save for a full frame body. Any thoughts on which way to go? I'm narrowing down to either Nikon 850 or 780. Not really interested in switching to mirrorless.
I'm mostly shooting landscape and also really closeup / macro-ish subjects. My carry around lens is a Tamron 18-400 and just got the 150-600 for my D7200.
If this is covered else on UHH, please post the link.
Thanks!

rit z Loc: Upstate New York

I have a d5500, (2)d750’s, one converted to super color IR. I debated for a while if the d850 would be worth the investment. Love it, love it, love it. Wasn’t sure I wanted to get into a more complicated body but the 850 is easier to use than any of the others. One thing though is the tamron 18-400 is not full frame

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I'd argue don't waste your money buying a full-frame DSLR in 2021, especially if you have to 'save' to make the purchase. If we can't steer you into mirrorless, can we at least steer you away from paying a new camera price for an old DLSR body?

D850 - released Aug 2017
D780 - released Jan 2020
D750 - released Sept 2014

Would buying a used camera get you into a FF body faster? The D780 and D750 are both 24MP bodies. The D750 shutter is rated to 150,000. The D750s are running around $750 used at online used resellers. Does that bring a FF camera a lot closer? Notice the comment about your 18-400. That's not a full-frame lens. You need to account for what replaces that lens on your FF body.

jccash Loc: Longwood, Florida

There was a person who posted the other day for a used 850 body for I believe $1900 or so.

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

With the price of a D850, I would buy a newer D780 + a very reputable Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S Zoom since you don't have a FX wide-angle zoom.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

If you are looking for a "starter" Full Frame, one "to grow on", you almost need to be thinking mirrorless. It pains me to say that. I love my Nikon DSLRs and know that my current gear will last me "to the grave". BUT, the plane-and-simple truth is, camera makers like Nikon are not putting much time, effort, or money into DSLRs. With the whole world "crazy for mirrorless", if they want to make money (duh), they have to "go with the flow" which right now is mirrorless. Will it always be? Who knows. "The future is promised to no one." With the gear they have made to this point, either a D850 or D780 can be a great "system" for another several decades. But there will always be innovations and, at this point, I'd say they will have "mirrorless" stamped on them.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

I'd go with the D850. I have one and love it.
--Bob

Bill_de Loc: US

If DSLR is your target, I would go with the D850. With landscapes the high megapixels is a plus.

I have both mirrorless and DSLR bodies. The D850 is my most used body.

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ELNikkor

D780 with 28-300 will approximate your current D7200 with 18-400, though not nearly the reach. Hang onto the DX equipment; it is excellent as a back-up. That said, the D850 will render more detail to your landscapes. A Tamron 90mm Di VC macro lens is awesome and will give you the macro you want.

BebuLamar

If I have to choose? D850. Simple.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

All I can say is I love my D850. But I did keep my D7200; it's still a great camera.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

People who have D780s love them. For good reason, I think. Those of us who have D850s question why anyone would want any other camera, mirrorless or not. I feel like we have pretty good reason for feeling that way, as well. And even with respectful deference to Paul, it is not an issue with us that it dates to 2018 or so (the time when you could actually get one). The resolution is nice, the sensitivity is nice, the dynamic range is nice, overall operation is wonderful.

But I'll tell you that sometimes, for some things, the resolution can just be too much. The files can just be too big. The camera offers several ways to deal with that. There are some lower resolution options available while still using the full dimensions of the sensor. There is a DX option that will deliver beautiful 19MP images. and there is a 24x24cm square format that delivers a 30MP image and can use any of your DX lenses to do it. It works great. I've done it multiple times.

I've looked at the D780 a little bit and read about it quite a bit more, but I have not used one. I cannot and will not tell you which camera to buy. I believe that either one would have many years of productive life for you, and the price difference is smaller than it once was. I can say for a fact that the D850 offers several really good ways to use your DX lenses until you have opportunity to get some full frame ones. (You're probably not going to want to use the 150-600 all the time.)

I'd suggest that you go to the NikonUSA website and do some reading and studying. Here's the link:
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/dslr-cameras/fx.page

Have fun choosing.

therwol Loc: USA

You may want to rethink not going mirrorless. Nikon is slowly discontinuing F mounted lenses, the kind you need for the D850 and D780. (This isn't to say you couldn't find these lenses used or third party lenses.) Another reason is that the Z mount lenses are said to be better than their F mount equivalents. I would not be surprised at this point if the cameras mentioned are going to be the end of the line for their full frame DSLRs, and some of the DX models are already gone.

https://nikonrumors.com/2021/05/12/nikon-is-slowly-discontinuing-more-nikkor-f-mount-lenses.aspx/

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

The operative word in your link is rumors.
--Bob

Bill_de Loc: US

The key word might be slowly. From Nikon ...

Nikon has maintained the basic structure of the mount for the 50 years of its use, and currently some 400 different NIKKOR lenses are compatible with the system.


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