I"m thinking of picking up a Nikon DF, does anyone have this camera, and if so, what are your thoughts and reviews??
lone ranger wrote:
I"m thinking of picking up a Nikon DF, does anyone have this camera, and if so, what are your thoughts and reviews??
If anything ever happens to mine, I’ll either buy another or stick with my F3 (or F4e, F4s, or F5). Hopefully Nikon will update it with interchangeable finders. There seems to be little middle ground - one either loves it or hates it!
[quote=lone ranger]I"m thinking of picking up a Nikon DF, does anyone have this camera, and if so, what are your thoughts and reviews??[/quote
Many who have never owned or used a Df will respond that they hate the Df. It is strange.
I use three full frame cameras: the 700, 800E, and the Df. I carry the Df everyday.
If I lost mine, I would buy another without hesitation.
If you are over 50 and been involved in photography for a few years, you will love the Df. If you are a newbee and barely know an f/stop from a bus stop, you may struggle with the camera. I learned on film decades ago and have worked in portrait photography, landscape, and most general photography fields. Worked at two daily papers for total of 10 years and shot with a Nikon FM. My analysis would be that the Df is great piece of equipment. It blends manual and automatic features quite nicely. If you have a collection of older Nikon lenses it is a perfect fit. It has the flip-up lens coupler that was available on some of the older Nikons so you can even use old non-Ai lenses. The menu even has setting for non-Ai lenses. You do, of course, have to manually focus those lenses. There is even a menu feature for DX lenses that inserts a frame in the view finder to tell you what you are seeing with the DX lenses. I guess the only downer I have found is that it could require investing in a new bagful of optics. All-in-all, I love mine. I use both it and a D7000. Happy with both.
I agree with Nikon Jon on this one, I don't own one but I'm sort of waiting for the next iteration just to get back to that feel of an old film type camera that I am very use to.
i love my df it is with me all the time
Erik_H
Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana
When I got back into photography a few years ago my major gripe was that the modern digital camera bodies were nothing like the film cameras I grew up with. Then along comes the Df and I fell in love with it on sight. When I'm not shooting 35mm with my Fe, I'm using the Df. Love it!
WayneT wrote:
I agree with Nikon Jon on this one, I don't own one but I'm sort of waiting for the next iteration just to get back to that feel of an old film type camera that I am very use to.
If you want the feel of a film camera, you'll be disappointed with the Df ... there's no advance lever or rewind crank!
Mac
Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.
I love my Df, it is a wonderful camera and if anything ever happened to it I would buy another right away.
What first got my interest was the retro look, but once I got it and learned it I was in love.
It is smaller and lighter than other full frame DSLRs and the controls for ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture and Exposure Compensation are right at you finger tips---you don't have to go in to the Menu to make any of those adjustments.
It does not have a Pop-Up Flash, Video, the Full Auto exposure mode, or Scene Modes. That is fine with me because I rarely used a Pop-Up Flash and never used Video, Full Auto or Scene Modes anyway.
Any negative or derogatory comments you may get about the Df almost certainly will come from people who have never owned, or even used, a Df, or are sour grapes because the camera brand they use doesn't offer an equivalent camera.
Go ahead and get one, you will be happy with it.
I have the DF and D750, most often reach for the DF. Both enormously capable cameras, but I like the (largely) manual access to controls on the DF and the color rendition as well. As others have said, if I lost the DF, I would immediately get another. If a DF 2 comes out and it hasn't been burdened with a lot of features that are useless to me, the D 750 will go and DF 2 move into my kit.
Leitz wrote:
If you want the feel of a film camera, you'll be disappointed with the Df ... there's no advance lever or rewind crank!
There are many film cameras that don't have neither the film advance level nor the rewind crank but of course none of them look like the Df.
Leitz wrote:
If you want the feel of a film camera, you'll be disappointed with the Df ... there's no advance lever or rewind crank!
And please tell me just what purpose those items would have on a digital camera!?
nikon_jon wrote:
And please tell me just what purpose those items would have on a digital camera!?
I fear that an explanation would also go over your head.
There was the Epson RD-1. It was a digital rangefinder with the Leica M mount. It did have an advance level to cock the shutter (yes it's a purely mechanical shutter) and a rewind crank to review your image on the LCD.
Is manual focusing with the DF any different (better) than with any other Nikon DSLR?
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