Nikon D850

£3,249/$3,297 (body only) It’s Nikon’s all-time greatest SLR

The D850 packs plenty of wow factor. It has a 153-point autofocus system with 99 cross-type points that can operate in low-light conditions down to -4EV, matching the Z 7 and beating the Canon 5D Mk IV. The same goes for its metering system, shared by the D5, which works down to -3EV. Despite the data throughput demanded by a 45.4MP image sensor, and the physical ‘impairment’ of a reflex mirror, the D850 has a maximum burst rate of 7fps (rising to 9fps if you fit the optional battery grip), and a cavernous buffer that can keep you shooting for between 29 and 200 shots in raw quality mode, depending on colour depth and compression settings.

Unlike the Canon cameras on test, 4K movie capture comes without the restraint of a crop factor, so you can use wide-angle lenses in all their glory. The flip side is that, with no phasedetection autofocus facility in Live View or movie capture modes, the autofocus system is relatively ponderous and prone to hunting.

The build and control layout feel consummately professional, and the 1,840-shot battery life gives the camera over five times more stamina than the Z 7. The pentaprism viewfinder is a beauty and, surprisingly, the tilting touchscreen has a higher resolution than that of the Z 7. The D850 also sports two memory card slots, combining QXD with SDXC UHS-II.

The only real downside is that the D850 is relatively heavy at 915g before you add a lens. High-ISO image quality is rather noisier than from any other camera on test.