Appeal of Nikon Df

[dgatwood]

I am actually on the polar opposite, I wish they would take stills out of my DSLR and give me an FIT type read off sensor rather than Frame (i.e. so I can shoot 1080 50i) I wish they would give me an inverse square of HD video resolution for ease of downsampling, I quite fancy a 32MP sensor as this would largely negate bayer colour artefacts.

I'd prefer a stacked buffer sensor. IMO, the interline design makes no sense. It wastes half the photosite space on buffers. It would make a lot more sense to use a second layer behind the photosites, simultaneously shift every pixel in the vertical direction, and then shift the data horizontally towards one edge for each scan cycle. More costly, sure, but it's a much, much better design.

 

[Rob.ONeill]

Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

People, am I the only person with this perception. The Nikon D800 never was a competitor to the 5D3. This camera is in a class entirely by itself. This is primarily a landscape photographers dream come true. The 5D3 is an all-around photographers tool. The 5D3 is a low-light and event photographers Holy Grail. These cameras are purposed for different assignments. Comparing them has always struck me as goofy.
But when I consider the talents of Nikon's new Df camera, it is a specs matched camera with the 5D3. This camera will be used for the same purposes as the 5D3; -around, and low-light event photography. The big difference being it's retro body. I'm a long time Canon shooter, but I want one of these! This is an awesome camera. As Canon continues to raise it's prices to the point of usury, while stripping out features, Nikon continues to trump Canon with every new model release. Understanding these points makes it obvious why the Df is priced where it is... To compete not only with the 5D3, but all of the high end ILC's as well. Personally, I'd take the Df over any one of the ILC's. Well done Nikon!

 

[Ewinter]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

My one, big gripe with the Df is how much they crippled it. The D610 af is NOT good enough for this spec camera, and no dual cards either? Such small things that they just didn't put in

 

[Lichtgestalt]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

do we need another nikon DF thread in the EOS BODIES forum.. or any forum...?

As Canon continues to raise it's prices to the point of usury, while stripping out features, Nikon continues to trump Canon with every new model release

sorry but what are you smoking?

the camera has no video, the AF is no competition.. how is that trumping.. in ugly design maybe?

just registered for trolling?

 

[Dylan777]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

Canon will destroy retro - mirrorless market if they release something like this with 35mm sensor

Nikon Df looks :-\ just too many buttons

 

[Lichtgestalt]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

the shutter button on top and that position is just not ergonomical.
i prefer the usual DSLR design. retro is so...old.

and there seems to be not much demand for the nikon DF:

http://petapixel.com/2013/11/08/nikon-cuts-sales-forecast-yet-dslr-sales-stall-df-preorders-come-subpar/

But the bad news doesn’t stop there, it continues to roll with rumors of lackluster Df pre-sales published by Nikon Rumors. NR claims that unofficial info from several retailers has Df demand “not even close” to what D800 demand was when it came out.

To substantiate that claim, NR points out that the Df isn’t even in the top 20 best-selling DSLRs on Amazon, while the D610 (not exactly the most popular release Nikon has ever had, given all of the pissed off D600 users) is up at number 14.

much talk about how great this camera looks and blahblah.. but it seems it is just that.. "talk".
only a few are willing to pay 2750$ just for looks and bad ergonomics.

 

[nda]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3


Nikon Df... DOA

 

[Albi86]

Re: Nikon Df, Nikon's retro 5D3

the shutter button on top and that position is just not ergonomical.
i prefer the usual DSLR design. retro is so...old.

and there seems to be not much demand for the nikon DF:

http://petapixel.com/2013/11/08/nikon-cuts-sales-forecast-yet-dslr-sales-stall-df-preorders-come-subpar/

But the bad news doesn’t stop there, it continues to roll with rumors of lackluster Df pre-sales published by Nikon Rumors. NR claims that unofficial info from several retailers has Df demand “not even close” to what D800 demand was when it came out.

To substantiate that claim, NR points out that the Df isn’t even in the top 20 best-selling DSLRs on Amazon, while the D610 (not exactly the most popular release Nikon has ever had, given all of the pissed off D600 users) is up at number 14.

much talk about how great this camera looks and blahblah.. but it seems it is just that.. "talk".
only a few are willing to pay 2750$ just for looks and bad ergonomics.

The comparison with the D610 is a bit pointless, since the price gap is very big. If you compare the sales of the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the 50mm L, then one should also infer that the latter is a flop.

The comparison with the D800 is much more interesting, since the price is pretty much the same. There are, however, 3 things to be considered:
- the Df is arriving only 1.5 years after the D800, 1 year after the D600, and a few months after the D610, meaning that at this point people are not likely to be still looking for a new camera.
- the Df, most honestly, is not bringing any significant improvement in IQ or functionality on the table.
- the Df's (very much) retro design will be loved by some, but frowned upon by the most.

Nikon here has done a very big design mistake. This sort of camera (for its concept and price) can be only aimed at enthusiasts and pros looking for a leisure-time second camera, but the spec sheet doesn't make the target customers salivate. In many ways it is inferior to the D700.

 

[Eldar]

Every now and then a product is launched that IMHO is totally pointless. This is clearly one.

 

[candc]

i would buy one if fd lenses would work on it

 

[moreorless]

Every now and then a product is launched that IMHO is totally pointless. This is clearly one.

Yup!

http://nikonrumors.com/2013/11/07/nikon-df-demand-not-as-strong-as-the-d800.aspx/#more-67160

That seems a pretty pointless comparison to me considering how much of a success the D800 was and why that was the case. You look at the amazon DSLR chart and the Df seems to be doing pretty well to me with 4 different options all in the top 50.

Really what it shows for me is the position we've reached in the camera market, as we get into the realms of diminishing returns for more users it makes sense to go after the niche markets. The question is IMHO whether manifacturers can do this in a way that earns money, you look at the new Sony FF mirrorless and along with a whole raft of new lenses the investment involved must be massive, the same with Fuji's X system. I'm guessing Nikon spent a tiny fraction of that on the Df, really the only thing they needed to spend on was a new body design and some dials, no new sensor, no new AF system and most importantly no new lenses.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Initially I was excited about this camera, but the below reasons put me off:
a. the price tag, considering the limited features.
b. I do quite a bit of video and not having video on a modern DSLR is a no no for me.
c. I was expecting it to be smaller in height.

However, I do like:
a. "Retro" looks
b. I can use my existing Nikon glass without having to use any adapter.

 

[DaveMiko]

All I have to say is: Canon rules!!!!

 

[sdsr]

http://photographylife.com/announcing-the-nikon-dfb-burberry-edition#more-63460

Too bad they went and ruined it with the bit in bold italics at the end.

 

[sandymandy]

looks like it was designed by somebody who isnt a photographer.

 

[brianboru]

I voted "butt-ugly".

At first glance, I saw the top of the camera and the retro knobs and had a brief "Oooh shiny" moment. Then the rest of the camera sank in - too tall, too many buttons on the front, and the back has no retro at all. (A 60D-esq pivoting screen should have been there so the user could have pretended they were time-traveling.)

Additionally, the newly released "retro-lens" has no retro to it. Even Ken Rockwell, who proves daily with his web-site to have almost no design esthetic in him, chose a vintage lens for the picture candc cross posted.

 

[Pinchers of Peril]

This camera is kind of cool looking at first glance, but I HATE how they put all that black around the top by the pentaprism/hotshoe... bleh. I dont' know why you would buy this when you could just buy the BEAUTIFUL Fuji x100s for cheaper.

 

[dtaylor]

The silver Df doesn't look like a classic SLR. It looks like a caricature of a classic SLR. Fuji's stuff has a retro look that works. This just looks silly, almost like a toy camera.

The black one looks a bit better, but still not right.

 

[iam2nd]

Voted. It would be much MORE appealing to me if it were much LESS expensive. Whether it's made by Nikon or Canon doesn't matter to me.

Would I use it every day? Likely not. But I know many people, young and old, that would think it's "cool" if I shot my next event with that camera. It would be a talking point and open the door for conversations. But that's the only reason I would buy it, honestly. And for that "privilege", I could never justify the cost.

 

[candc]

I hate to say this but I agree with Ken Rockwell on this statement:

Nikon has gone so far to show us an image with the Df and two F-Mount lenses, the 55mm f/1.2 (a good lens) and the classic Nikon 43-86mm f/3.5 (1963-1976), which is actually Nikon's poorest-performing lens of all time; a lens so optically awful that it single-handedly gave all zoom lenses a bad reputation for the next two or three decades.

But hey, it's all about the marketing and it looks good