If DXO data is accepted:
- The D850 has more dynamic range (at base ISO) and greater color depth. The differences, in fairness, are not very large. For instance, 1.2 stops of base ISO DR will not let you leave the ND grads at home / abandon the practice of compositing multiple shots for tripod landscape work. Further, the gap between Canon and Nikon has been dramatically reduced here -- the D800/D800E/D810 models were a wowzer-like 2.5-3 stops better than the 5D3 on this front.
- Though the D850's high ISO score isn't quite up to the 5D4's, it's not far off. I haven't seen a 45 MP file downsampled to the 30 MP of the 5D4 for comparison yet -- it's possible at downsampled D850 file might be cleaner than a 5D4 file.
So it's a little better depending on how you look at it:
Detail: Considerably better
Base ISO DR: Slightly better
General DR away from Base ISO: Similar
High ISO noise: Slightly worse (45 MP) to perhaps equivalent (30 MP downsample)
But there's nothing in the sensor data that I've seen thus far that the D850 will be
an overall better camera in real world use. The D850 sensor captures more detail and conditionally outperforms the 5D4 in a few areas, but that drives right past AF, handling, LiveView/video use (where DPAF is a nontrivial consideration), etc.
As I said before, the D850 (like the D500 before it) is a spec sheet juggernaut, but it needs to work well in real use and reviews are needed to get into that. That said, I have much more faith in Nikon than Sony to deliver the potential of that spec sheet.
- A