In 2017, I finished writing the site’s Nikon D850 review. This camera is exceptional in so many different ways. But at the time, I was ready to move on fully from DSLRs. In fact, I had already done so. But in 2025, I really started to believe that the cameras we use today are shaping our minds and doing too much of the work for us. So towards the end, I bought a Nikon D850. And since buying it, I think that I made one of the best choices for me because it forces me to be so much more intentional about my work. And combined with the color profiles you can load, it’s truly something special.
There are lots of great cameras on the market right now. But very few of them really feel like a camera built for a photographer. The Leica M cameras feel that way perhaps more than anything else. But with the Nikon D850, there’s far less blurring of the lines between something designed for photography and video both. Instead, it’s aiming to mostly shoot still images.
If you look at Nikon today, they’ve purchased RED and they dove really hard into shooting video. In fact, not very long after purchasing RED, Nikon made a camera that had RED’s logo on it. Crazy to us that even though many things take four years for them to do, we can see that Nikon can surely sometimes move fast when they see money on the horizon.
With that said, the Nikon could surely make a mirrorless camera squarely aimed at photographers instead of the hybrid crowd. But they’re playing around.
So why buy the Nikon D850? First off, I got it for dirt cheap from Adorama. Second, the Nikon Z8 and Z9 are essentially the same camera but more hybridized. The mirrorless cameras don’t have a shutter and therefore also suffer from issues with rolling shutter and more. And believe it or not, they also don’t recieve some of the latest benefits that cameras like the Nikon Zf have. So why get the newer cameras if they’re essentially just the older camera with scene detection and a new lens system?
Well, that’s something I asked myself. And ultimately, I’m very happy I bought the Nikon D850. I missed the feeling of a real shutter as well as the sound that accompanies it. Plus, I missed the feel. Something about hearing the autofocus beep also just speaks to be so much different than it would be with a mirrorless camera. Additionally, I like seeing the world through an optical viewfinder because I’m so sick of staring at screens. Screens are the reason why I became legally blind in the first place and everyone’s vision is getting worse and worse. the EVFs in cameras aren’t making it any better.
Outside of the Leica M cameras, there aren’t many devices primarily designed to be for photographers anymore. And many of them are exorbitantly expensive. Plus, the used market is super saturated with lots of good camera gear.