Nikon D850 Quick start guide

Professional
En
Technical Guide
— Useful Features —

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Table of Contents
Live View: Pinpoint AF ........................................................ 4
Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography) .................... 8
• “Focus Shift Shooting” ..................................................................10
• Before Shooting .............................................................................12
• Focus Shift Photography ..............................................................13
• Suggested Settings .......................................................................16
• Choosing the Number of Shots ..................................................18
• Focus Shift: Tips ..............................................................................21
• Before Stacking ..............................................................................22
• Some Examples of Focus Stacking ............................................23
White Balance Tips and Tricks ......................................... 25
• White Balance Options .................................................................25
• Auto White Balance for Incandescent Lighting ......................27
• Natural Light Auto .........................................................................28
• Color Temperature Information .................................................29
• Measuring Preset Manual White Balance ................................30
Muing the Shutter ......................................................... 32
• ”Quiet” Versus “Silent” ...................................................................32
• Quiet Shutter-Release Mode .......................................................33
• Silent Photography .......................................................................34
• Movie Stills ......................................................................................35

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Focus Peaking .................................................................... 36
Cropping and Zoom ......................................................... 37
On-Camera Batch NEF (RAW) Processing ..................... 38
• The Benefits of On-Camera Processing ....................................38
• On-Camera NEF (RAW) Processing ............................................39
Auto AF Fine-Tuning ......................................................... 43

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Live View: Pinpoint AF
The D850’s live view features a new pinpoint AF-area mode
for more precise focus than ever before.
Pinpoint AF: The camera
focuses precisely on
the intended point (in
this case, the stamens).
Intended focus point (enlarged)
Normal-area AF: The
wider focus area may
result in the camera
not focusing on the
intended point.
Intended focus point (enlarged)

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Follow the steps below to take pictures using pinpoint
AF. Before proceeding, we recommend that you mount
the camera on a tripod and select single-servo autofocus
(AF-S).
1 Start live view.
Pinpoint AF is available in live
view only. Press the a button
to start live view.
2 Select 3.
Keeping the AF-mode button pressed, rotate the sub-
command dial until 3 (pinpoint AF) appears in the
display.

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3 Position the focus point.
Use the multi selector or touch
controls to position the focus
point, or press the center of
the multi selector to return the
focus point to the center of the
frame.
4 Zoom in.
For greater accuracy, press the
X button to zoom in on the se-
lected focus point.
5 Take the picture.
Although you can take pictures using the shutter-re-
lease button, to prevent blur caused by camera shake
we recommend that you use the remote photography
feature in the SnapBridge app or an optional accesso-
ry such as a wireless remote controller or remote cord.

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Live View: Pinpoint AF
Touch Controls
When using touch controls to
position the focus point, note
that at default settings, the shut-
ter will be released when you
lift your nger from the display
(“touch shutter”); for more accu-
rate focus, tap the touch shutter
icon to turn the touch shutter o (X).

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“Focus stacking” combines photos shot at dierent focus
positions into a single image with increased depth of eld.
The D850’s new focus shift feature, which automatically
varies focus over a series of shots, is used to take photos
that will later be combined using focus stacking.
Normal photograph Focus-stacked image
(for camera settings, see page 23)
Normal photograph Focus-stacked image
(for camera settings, see page 24)
Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)

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When shooting is complete, you can copy the photos to
a computer and use third-party focus-stacking software
to combine the areas that are in focus into a single image.
The camera takes a se-
ries of shots (150 in this
example), which are
used to create a com-
posite image contain-
ing only the areas that
are in focus.
Focus-Stacking Software
The following applications support focus stacking. Note that
Nikon neither endorses this software nor guarantees its op-
eration.
• Adobe: Photoshop CC
• Helicon Soft: Helicon Focus
• Zerene Systems: Zerene Stacker

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“Focus Shift Shooting”
The Focus shift shooting item in
the photo shooting menu is used
to adjust settings for focus shift
photography. The following op-
tions are available:
• Start: Start shooting. The camera
will change the focus distance by the selected amount
with each shot.
• No. of shots: Choose the number of shots (up to 300) that
you will need when performing focus stacking.
• Focus step width: Choose the amount the focus distance
changes with each shot. The options available range
from 1 to 10: choose lower values for smaller steps, high-
er values for larger steps.
• Interval until next shot: The time between shots, in seconds.
Select 00 to take photos at approximately 5fps (release
modes S, Cl, Ch, and Mup) or 3fps (release modes Q and QC).
• Exposure smoothing: If On is selected, the camera will adjust
the exposure for each new shot to match the immedi-
ately preceding shot.
• Silent photography: Select On to silence the shutter during
shooting.
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Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)
• Starting storage folder: Highlight options and press 2 to
select or deselect. Choose New folder to create a new
folder for each new focus shift sequence, Reset le num-
bering to reset le numbering to 0001 when a new folder
is created.

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Before Shooting
Use an AF-S or AF-P lens. After mounting the appropriate
lens, choose an exposure mode of A or M so that aperture
does not change during shooting (recommended). Once
settings have been adjusted to your satisfaction, close the
viewnder eyepiece shutter to prevent light entering via
the viewnder interfering with photographs and expo-
sure.
Before shooting begins, mount the camera on a tripod,
disable lens vibration reduction (VR), and select a release
mode other than E. To ensure that shooting is not inter-
rupted, be sure the camera battery is fully charged. If in
doubt, charge the battery before use or use an AC adapter
and power connector (available separately).
Focus shift is available at all image quality settings. Note
that focus shift is unavailable in some situations, includ-
ing when multiple exposure or HDR shooting is in prog-
ress, the camera clock is not set, an incompatible lens is
attached, or no memory card is inserted.
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Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)
Focus Shift Photography
Follow the steps below to take photographs using focus
shift.
1 Rotate the focus-mode selector to AF.
Focus shift is not available
with manual focus lenses.
2 Focus.
The camera takes a series of shots starting from a se-
lected focus position and continuing toward innity.
The starting focus position should be slightly in front
of the closest point on the subject. Do not move the
camera after focusing.
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3 Select Focus shift shooting.
In the photo shooting menu,
highlight Focus shift shooting
and press 2 to display focus
shift options.
4 Adjust settings.
Adjust settings as described on
“Focus Shift Shooting” (page 10).
For more information, see “Sug-
gested Settings” (page 16).

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Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)
5 Start shooting.
Highlight Start and press J.
Shooting starts after about 3s.
The camera takes photographs
at the selected interval, begin-
ning at the focus distance se-
lected at the start of shooting
and progressing out toward innity by the selected
focus step distance with each shot. Shooting ends
when the selected number of shots has been taken or
focus reaches innity. To end shooting before all shots
have been taken, select O for Focus shift shooting in
the photo shooting menu or wait until the camera is
between shots and then press J or press the shutter-
release button halfway.
During Shooting
During focus shift photography, the
Q icon will ash in the control pan-
el. Immediately before the next shot,
the shutter speed display will show
the number of shots remaining.

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Suggested Settings
For focus shift photography, we recommend that settings
be adjusted as described below.
Aperture
For improved contrast out to the edges of the frame, we
generally recommend an aperture 2 to 3 stops from the
maximum for the lens.
ISO Sensitivity
We recommend that you select O for ISO sensitivity set-
tings > Auto ISO sensitivity control and do not change
ISO sensitivity while shooting is in progress.
Focus Shift Settings
No. of shots: You may need over a 100 shots for a close-up
or an insect or other small object, while only a few are
required when photographing a landscape from front to
back with a wide-angle lens. We recommend taking more
shots than you think you’ll need and winnowing them
down during focus stacking. See “Choosing the Number
of Shots” (page 18).
Focus step width: A value of 5 or less is recommended, as
higher settings increase the risk that some areas will be out
of focus when the photos are stacked (page 21). Try experi-
menting with dierent settings before shooting.
Interval until next shot: 00 is recommended unless you are
using a ash, in which case the interval needs to be long
enough for the ash to charge.
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Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)
Exposure smoothing: O is recommended if lighting and other
conditions will not change during shooting, On when pho-
tographing landscapes and the like under variable lighting.
Silent photography: Choosing On (recommended) limits cam-
era shake and reduces power consumption and wear on
the shutter. Choose O to prevent icker when shooting
under uorescent or mercury-vapor lighting (if icker per-
sists, enable Flicker reduction in the photo shooting menu
or choose a shutter speed adapted to the frequency of the
local power supply: ¹⁄₁₂₅s, ¹⁄₆₀s, or ¹⁄₃₀s for 60 Hz; ¹⁄₁₀₀s, ¹⁄₅₀s,
or ½₅s for 50 Hz).
Starting storage folder: We recommend that you select both
New folder and Reset le numbering. Each sequence of
photos will be numbered from 0001 and stored in its own
folder, which you may nd helpful when copying the im-
ages to a computer.

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Choosing the Number of Shots
The recommended number of shots varies with the lens,
aperture, subject size, focus step width, and the distance
to the subject, measured from the closest point on the
subject to the focal plane mark (E) on the camera body.
The gures given on pages 19 to 20 assume that the cam-
era and subject are positioned as shown below.
Subject size
Distance to subject
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Focus Stacking (Focus Shift Photography)
Table 1: AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60 mm f/2.8G ED, aperture f/5.6,
distance 20 cm (7.9 in.)
Focus step width
12345678910
Subject size (in.)
1110 110 90 80 50 45 40 30 25 20
5— — 240 200 135 110 90 65 55 45
10 — — 300 250 170 140 115 85 65 55
15 — — — 275 185 155 125 90 75 60
For example, around 135 shots would be needed to photo-
graph a 5-inch subject at a focus step width of 5.
Table 2: AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60 mm f/2.8G ED, aperture f/8,
distance 20 cm (7.9 in.)
Focus step width
12345678910
Subject size (in.)
1120 80 70 60 40 35 30 20 15 15
5— 200 165 140 90 75 65 45 40 35
10 — 250 210 175 115 95 80 60 45 40
15 — 275 230 190 125 105 90 65 50 45

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Table 3: AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105 mm f/2.8G IF-ED, aperture
f/5.6, distance 35 cm (13.8 in.)
Focus step width
12345678910
Subject size (in.)
1130 80 70 65 60 55 40 30 25 25
5— 220 200 185 150 130 100 85 70 60
10 — 300 270 255 200 175 135 110 90 80
15 — — — 290 225 195 155 125 100 90
Table 4: AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105 mm f/2.8G IF-ED, aperture
f/8, distance 35 cm (13.8 in.)
Focus step width
12345678910
Subject size (in.)
195 70 60 55 45 35 30 25 20 20
5250 175 155 140 105 90 75 60 55 45
10 — 230 205 185 140 120 100 80 70 60
15 — 260 230 210 160 135 115 90 80 70