Nikon Df General Discussion

Golf007sd

Ok ladies and gents, now that the Nikon Df is officially announced. Let us have our comments and feed back here.

To begin with, here are some sample image for us to have a healthy conversation about.


Nikon Df 70-200 F/4 1/400 ISO 1000 @ f/4.0
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Nikon Df 70-200 F/4 1/1000 ISO 1600 @ f/4.0 -1/3EV
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Nikon Df 70-200 F/4 1/500 ISO 1000 @ f/5.6
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Nikon Df 70-200 F/4 1/400 ISO 3200 @ f/8.0 +7/3EV
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Nikon Df 50 1.8 (SE) 1/1250 ISO 100 @ f/8 -1EV
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Nikon Df 105 2.8 Micro 1/320 ISO 400 @ f/8 +2/3EV
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Nikon Df 58 1.4G 1/3200 ISO 100 @ f/1.4 +1/3EV
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spraynpray

So, $2750 it is then. Wow. Sure is the prettiest in the line-up though.

sevencrossing

In the UK for the price of a Df you could buy a D800 AND a D7100

but I am please ( for Nikon ) to see demand is predicted to exceed supply

JJPhotos

There's an £873 difference (after conversion) between the UK and US price for the kit. That's a comparison between the prices that Wex (UK) and B&H (US) have on their respective sites just now.

I'd be OK with a price up to about £1800-2000 (still higher than the US) but nudging £3k is taking the pi$$ (quite literally the $$ or rather the ££).

Gareth

This was very close to being my next camera (as I think many are saying). But with 1/4000 top shutter speed and the AF of the D600/610 (i.e. 39 focus points and -1 EV) it's just not for me.

Maybe when they do an update.

henrik1963

I like the idea of a D4 in a smaller body. I would prefer D800 AF. I´m OK with the slower framerate.

I am looking forward to trying the new UI - it may be a good idea to offer old style UI as an option.

Will I dump my D800 for a DF? Don´t think so. Would I consider one as first FX camera? Yes

As for price. Looks fair to price it between D610 and D800. I would not pay more than D800 for one.

Like D800 this camera is not for everyone.

Gareth

As Nikon planned, there is 0 chance of this eating into D4 sales.

sevencrossing

This seems to be an upmarket camera . So why have they given it a second rate AF ???

JJPhotos

Yeah, I'm not sure about the AF choice either. Seems a bit sub-par though it does OK most of the time in my D600.

I just can't get over the mental pricing for the UK.

adamz

as much as I like the concept of this camera I'll say that all of the presented pictures could be taken with basically any currently selling DSLR. nothing that will blow my head off.
why will I not buy it:
- PRICE, it's $750 over the price it should have, for $2496 I can have all what I need for street photography: a7 + zeiss 35mm, and still have some $253 for some additional accessories,
- BATTERY: how big idiot you have to be at Nikon to sell a semipro camera with D5300 battery... if I have to carry another battery, than I can carry another battery from another manufacturer - sony...
- no optional battery grip - at least no information about this

henrik1963

Here in Denmark the price of the Df is $1.500,- more than the D800 - that is plain stupid. Stop smoking that shit Nikon

IShootU

This camera has a small niche in the camera market. Once this small limited and shrinking market is filled the sales will dwindle to nothing. This camera might appeal to photographers that can remember the Nikon F or think they heard of it but younger photogs couldn't care less. A dying market. I followed Nikon up to the F100 and would have loved to a F3 but they went over the hill and down the other side with the F4. I have no desire to go back to those ergonomics. Nikon's superiority over Canon has been ergonomics and they had better put their efforts into continued improvement not retrograde.

scoobysmak

This seems to be an upmarket camera . So why have they given it a second rate AF ???

Here is a couple of quotes from Nikons website:

"The Nikon Df continues that legacy of excellence and innovation. It incorporates our outstanding 39-point autofocus system with 9 highly accurate cross-type sensors that work all the way down to f/8........

When shooting with the LCD display in Live View mode, the Nikon Df uses fast contrast-detect AF, operating at the same speed as the flagship D4, and can display your composition at up to 19x for accurate focus confirmation—perfect for tripod shooting."

I am more asking a question than trying to say the AF is second rate, the only difference I really see is 39 AF points Vs I think 51 AF points in the D4. If the speed is the same and I can focus down to f/8 I can deal with it, normally I only use the center focus point anyway (but in AF 3D tracking mode can help with more focus points). Just my 2 cents.

spraynpray

Yikes yes - at £2749 and 1.5 $/£, it is 50% more in the UK than in the USA. Like @sevencrossing said, you can get a D800 AND a D7100 for that! Go figure. Still, it makes the D800 such a bargain now...

I am more and more taken by the looks of it every time I look at it - beautiful.

moreorless

There's an £873 difference (after conversion) between the UK and US price for the kit. That's a comparison between the prices that Wex (UK) and B&H (US) have on their respective sites just now.

I'd be OK with a price up to about £1800-2000 (still higher than the US) but nudging £3k is taking the pi$$ (quite literally the $$ or rather the ££).

Sadly nothing new for UK pricing, hopefully it'll drop relatively quickly like the D600, D800 and Coolpix A. The list price will always be higher in the UK of course due to it including VAT.

Talking about the camera itself there are a couple of things I don't understand from the specs...

1.What is the "manual focusing mode"?

2.Will it be possible to change ISO via the normal back dial as well as the top plate?

moreorless

I am more asking a question than trying to say the AF is second rate, the only difference I really see is 39 AF points Vs I think 51 AF points in the D4. If the speed is the same and I can focus down to f/8 I can deal with it, normally I only use the center focus point anyway (but in AF 3D tracking mode can help with more focus points). Just my 2 cents.

The real difference is more the spread of the AF points, the D4 and D800's covering a wider area. Personally for me though this seems like less of an issue with the DF than it is with the D610 as the camera clearly isn't setup for fast action.

JJPhotos

Moreorless, the difference between the US and UK pricing is normally noticable but not so plainly a rip-off. Even with VAT it doesn't account for the difference.

Msmoto

Cute…..but, I am still missing the point, I guess.

Postman

UK price includes VAT @ 20%, which when you take that off brings the comparable price down to about £2,199.

That being said, that is still as near as makes no difference $3,500 in the UK, a good $750 (about £460) more expensive in the UK than the US!

NSXTypeR

This seems to be an upmarket camera . So why have they given it a second rate AF ???

Cost savings? There's also no flash- either it went away because of the pentaprism design or it was another cost savings too.

I can see this as a D700 replacement- nice looking outer shell and a D4 sensor in a D610 body.

But I can't justify this purchase. I can certainly see the appeal for people who don't want 36 mp though.

moreorless

Moreorless, the difference between the US and UK pricing is normally noticable but not so plainly a rip-off. Even with VAT it doesn't account for the difference.

As I said it is still more expensive but taking VAT into account the difference isn't as extreme.

Really I'd argue you can see a trend across lots of Nikon high end releases, the price in the UK starts high but then falls further than the US(taking out VAT) faster. If you imported a US Coolpix A or a D800 into the UK today for example and paid VAT on them it would cost more than buying them here.

The lesson is surely...

Killerbob

I think Nikon will get the feedback via sales... because they certainly didn't ask the right people ahead of launch... It is a very well looking camera, and I am sure it takes great pictures, but to position it "above" the D800/D800e??? I don't think so! And, it is simply too expensive.

As for the European prices, it is downright stupid. For the price in DK, I can travel to NY, pick up the camera, unpack and use it so it doesn't look "new", and take it back to DK (avoiding the VAT), and still have money left (after ticket and hotel costs)... I live in Greenland so I do not have any VAT, but for my European friends that is an option.

However, even at the US price, it is still too expensive, for a camera which is not technically superior to the D800/D800e, and not a good "second" camera (as the handling and accessories are entirely different), it is a pass for me. I'd rather by a D610, save the money, and have a good backup to my D800...

Looks nice though - but face it, if it was looks we went for, we wouldn't run around with big clunky DSLRs in the first place:)

moreorless

You'd think so but again they did the same thing for so many other releases that you have to conclude that it works for them. Rip off the early adopters so you can drop the price lower afterwards.

Killerbob

Sure, but it will have to come down CONSIDERABLY. Down to the level of a D610 (which is what I compare it to - technically), and it won't.

sevencrossing

Killerbob because they certainly didn't ask the right people......

Read NFR the most common complaint about the D800 is that it has "too many mega pixels"

so they do read NRF after all

will the moaners about "too many mega pixels" buy the Df ? of cause not, they cant even afford a new computer let alone a new camera

Killerbob

Nope, because they have figured how to live with it... After a while the many mega pixels is actually pretty nice. It exposes details that would otherwise be lost, and the bigger files just put a bigger demand on your workflow and/or computer system. Most D800/D800e users have decent computers in their workflow by now.

Anyways, for the price difference you could buy a brand spanking new MacBook Pro (fully loaded), and then 40MB vs 100MB files makes no difference:)