Choosing Between Nikon 850 and Sony A7RIII

I'm having a hard time deciding between the Nikon D850 and the Sony A7RIII. The Nikon has slightly more resolution and when used at 32ISO, has the best dynamic range and color. But once the Sony hits ISO 50, it seems a little better from there. Also the Sony has pixel shift which when shooting still subjects, will give a way sharper picture and again slightly more dynamic range. My lenses are for Nikon, but I can always get an adapter for them for the Sony. I may even use some Canon glass on the Sony if I go that way. The fact the Sony doesn't use a mirror doesn't concern me, as I'm used to both SLRs and Mirrorless cameras. I still shoot film too. The Sony is 300 dollars less expensive here in Canada, but I'd nullify that by buying the lens adapter with it. I'm not even sure the lens adapter works with all Nikon G type lenses. Or Sigma for Nikon. I'm not sure which camera I like better for color. Not sure which one shows sharper images, if the same lens is used. I'm not in a rush to buy, as I may wait till prices come down a little from intro pricing. Our Canadian dollar sucks right now too for exchange rate.

I shoot with both Sony A mount, A900 and 700 and Sigma SD 15 and older SD9s, I have been looking at the A7Rii or the A77 as my next body. I not sure how I will like a mirrorless body, just too use to a SLR. The Sony A to E mount adaptor is about $300, and there are adaptors for MF M42 and Miranda, the A7 has good adaptability. On the hand the Sigma new mirrorless bodies take all of my Sigma SA lens, I have M42 adaptor, it works fine on the SD 9, only so so on the 14, don't know how well it would it work on the new bodies. Sigma has great color, the Favon sensor is very different from the Sony sensor, but has really poor low light performance. On the other hand if I had Nikon I would likely keep with Nikon, don't see much to gain with a A7 over an 850.

If at all possible, try them out in person. You can compare, and fret over, specs, but handling them in person will give you a better idea which you prefer. The two cameras couldn't be more different. One is a dSLR, the other is mirrorless. Nne is big; one is small. I doubt you'll be able to tell the difference in the images, but the handling will be quite different.

+ 1 with faberryman. Take two cards and label each. Use one in the Nikon and one in the Sony and take identical images with both. You can take the cards home with you and compare the results. I wouldn't worry over the specs since it is the end result that counts. How often do you actually shoot at low ISO ? I think it would be more helpful to test both at 100, 400, 800 and 1200. Also try both on and off a tripod.

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I'm in the same boat. I'm leaning towards the A7RIII due to the increased dynamic range (which is something I could really use), but am kind of turned off by the whole star eating thing (I do enjoy a bit of astrophotography). I'm also leaning towards the Sony because I have a whole bunch of Pentax, Canon, Minolta, and M39 rangefinder lenses as well, and with the Sony, I could incorporate them more easily. That, and my current DSLR is a Nikon, and I'm not too thrilled with Nikon's new AFP lens scheme. They've been good in the past about making stuff that was backwards and forwards compatible, even if you occasionally lost some functionality. But Nikon's new AFP lenses won't work at all on most of their older cameras, and that put a bad taste in my mouth. It says to me they're leaning more towards a "planned obsolescence" business model in their future, and that's not good for the consumer (at least not for consumers like me). But there are a lot of very good Nikon lenses out there that can be had for cheap on the used market, and I already own quite a few. So the Nikon would save me a good bit of money because I already have a decent collection of glass for it.

Anyway, let us know what you go with and how it worked out for you.

How many Nikon lenses do you have? More than $300 worth? You can use these, and other, lenses with an adapter on the Sony- what functionality will be lost?
Using them on the D850 will match your experience with using them on a Nikon body. Will they retain wide-open metering/ autofocus/3D metering with the Sony?

jim10219 said:

I'm in the same boat. I'm leaning towards the A7RIII due to the increased dynamic range (which is something I could really use)...

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If you beleive DxO, their tests show that the A7RIII has a dynamic range of 14.7, while the D850 tops out at 14.8, for all intents equivalent performance.

I was under the impression that both used Sony sensors, ought to both be in the same ball park.

The Nikon 850 does not use a Sony Sensor. It is made by another manufacturer. Design might be copied from the Sony though. I have really only two lenses for the Nikon at the moment, but was planning on buying two more Nikon mount lenses. I still want to be able to use them on my film cameras as well as the digital. This is why I'm not looking at Sony lenses at the moment.

Your right a Nikon design outsourced for manufacture. I just bought a used Sony E 3000 along with a M42 adaptor, from another vendor a Miranda to Sony E adaptor, see how well it works in manual mode, might get the Minolta A to Sony E adaptor, if I the adaptors work as well as I hope will get the A7.