In one of my previous blog entries, I outlined what I hoped to gain by upgrading from my Nikon D800 to the D850.

When purchasing a new camera, it takes a lot more than just the cost of the camera to make the transition. Several other accessories are also needed to realize the full potential of the new camera:

• The D850 uses XQD memory cards. To enable the camera to shoot at the highest 9 frames per second rate, I purchased a large (128 GB) high speed XQD card. My D800 used a CF card. So, memory cards (including the SD cards) needed to be replaced and/or upgraded to handle the bigger files and faster frame rate of the D850.
• Now that I had my XQD memory card, I needed to purchase a XQD card reader!
• The vertical battery grip for my D800 doesn't fit the new camera, so I purchased a new grip. It took months before the new grips were available...and the orders for the D850 grips still haven't been completely fulfilled.
• The vertical grip for the D850 takes a different battery than the D850 in order to achieve the greater power capacity for higher frame rates. These high powered batteries aren't cheap!
• What's even more expensive is the new charger required for charging the new batteries.
• Now that I had my Nikon D850 (with vertical grip) driven by the high powered batteries and high capacity memory cards, I needed a way to connect the gripped camera to my tripod's ballhead. That meant purchasing a new L-bracket! The L-brackets were just recently made available through a couple manufacturers--and I had a nightmare experience getting my new L-bracket to work with my ballhead. Ultimately, the Kirk bracket did the trick. More on that in a later blog entry.

I'm pleased to announce that after four months and quite a bit of money, my transition from the Nikon D800 to the D850 camera is finally complete! Now, it's time to get back out there to do some shooting.