Nikon D850 = 4 x 5 view camera

Ten years ago in April of 2009, I wrote a blog piece about the image comparison between the then-new Nikon D3X and my Tachihara 4 x 5 view camera.

Since then a lot has changed, at the time I didn't own the 24 megapixel Nikon D3X, a friend owned one. Recently I bought a 45 megapixel Nikon D850 digital camera. I still have a 4 x 5 view camera, not the Tachihara now an Ebony RW45, I still have a 120mm Schneider lens after the previous one is now in pieces after trying to do a self-repair (another story). In 2009 I was working as a photographer in the newspaper business, today I have parted ways and I am doing some non-newspaper freelance work including work for Outland Design Architecture. I needed a camera that was a cut above what would have been sufficient for newspaper work. I opted for the D850 because I already had a number of Nikon lenses and besides I have shot Nikon since the beginning of my photography career 43 years ago.

I'm extremely impressed with the D850 camera, the images are beyond my expectations. I have been a long time film user and have enjoyed using various formats from 35mm to 8 x 10. I chose the view camera mainly because of the superior image quality from the big negatives. When I worked in the newspaper business the paper provided my digital equipment so I saw no need to buy a lot of expensive digital camera gear when only had so much time to shoot on my own, on my days off and holidays, I enjoyed using my film cameras, it seemed like a good balance.

I am giving it some serious thought as to it to produce my artwork. Being of a curious nature I wondered if I were to shoot a similar scene with both my film cameras and the new D850 what would they look like? The short answer is that I see no real difference in terms of image quality from images made with the digital D850 and my 4 x 5 view camera. It's quite surprising just how much detail that the D850 is capable of capturing all things considered given that the Nikon's digital image sensor is the same size of a piece of 35mm film at 24mm x 36mm.

Along for the ride I threw in my 65-year-old Rolleiflex with a 75mm fixed lens and my 50-year-old Leica M4 fitted with a 35mm Summilux lens of similar vintage. On the Nikon, I used the newest 35mm ƒ1.8 G lens. I know that these kinds of tests can be difficult to decipher and are only considered a guideline in terms of real day to day image quality. There are so many variables and these comparison tests can get bogged down in "what if I used this film or this lens."

For cameras and film materials, I used what items I had on hand, my collection of film cameras and film I already had and was using on a regular basis. In the roll film cameras I used some Kodak T-Max 400 rated at 200 ISO along with some Kodak Ektar ISO 100 and for the 4 x 5 view camera I had some outdated T-Max 100 sheet film but still very useable. I processed the film myself using Kodak HC-110 Developer. The older T-Max 100 needed longer developing time due to it being outdated (1997). As a matter of interest I "scanned" the film images with the Nikon D850 and a 60mm Nikkor macro lens set up on a copy stand with an LED light source, this is something I have been doing for a while now and it works very well. The digitally copied negatives look every bit as good as what I could get out of my flatbed scanner and better especially with 35mm film.

Perhaps it will make more practical sense to carry the digital Nikon, especially on longer hikes. With my 4 x 5 set up I generally carried a tripod, three lenses, 120mm, 180mm, and 270mm plus up to nine film holders. That can add up to a fair amount of weight including food, and water. My digital outfit in which I still take a tripod consists of three lenses, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm which all fits into a lighter and smaller sized backpack, I figure about 8 pounds in weight savings. It will be interesting to see what kind of art I can create with this new camera, there might even be some colour images too.