Teasers are over: new retro Nikon FF Body finally outed

[xps]

meet the new Nikon Df ... erm the Nikon DOA

Steampunkt design without any functional advantage. Still need both hands to operate it. And best of all: no video, no video! AND expensive as hell. Conclusion? It won't sell. hehehe!

D800 is currently at 2000 Euros - including 20% VAT [Germany]

Wait a little bit, claiming to have no video... Maybe there will be an extraordinary IQ. Then everyone will buy it. Even if Nikon sells it at 4000$....
Or: This is a new trend. One body for video, one for stills... So Nikon will earn a lot mor money. (Ts,ts,ts... Canon - You are to late! Normally Canon optimizes the profit, not Nikon.)

 

[mackguyver]

It will cost $2746 for the body only $3k with 50mm kit lens:
http://fstoppers.com/amazon-goofs-prematurely-publishes-nikon-df-product-page-pricing

 

[ahsanford]

It will cost $2746 for the body only $3k with 50mm kit lens:
http://fstoppers.com/amazon-goofs-prematurely-publishes-nikon-df-product-page-pricing

That's a DOA price. This can't cost a penny above the D610 and be viable unless there is something better under the hood that they haven't mentioned yet.

- A

 

[Loswr]

That's a DOA price. This can't cost a penny above the D610 and be viable unless there is something better under the hood that they haven't mentioned yet.

Nothing new under the hood is needed. What everyone apparently fails to appreciate here is that Nikon is following the oft-quoted ice hockey maxim of skating to where the puck is going to be was a long time ago hasn't been yet. It's not really their fault they think the puck will slide across the ice to the middle of the Sahara Desert.

Actually, it's a reasonable strategy, but they blew the timing. They should have waited until after Apple made retro cool by launching the completely redesigned 2014 iPod...inside it'll have 128 GB of flash memory, outside it'll look like this:

 

[jimenezphoto]

Just saw this....... 16 mp ???????
http://www.cameraegg.org/nikon-df-price-2746-95-was-available-for-pre-order-at-amazon-com/

 

[RAKAMRAK]

I like the look and the manual controls.

If Canon comes up with something like this I shall surely buy.

 

[AvTvM]

Just saw this....... 16 mp ???????

yep. Nikon is re-using the D4 sensor and CPU. 16 MP, Expeed 3. Hi-ISO up to 204800.
Coupled with D600/610 AF and electornics (4s to 1/4000s shutter speeds).
Wifi as an optional WU-1 wart. ["no clutter. No distractions" said the teaser].
Plus a record number of wheels all over the camera.
And leatherette all the way up to the flash-shoe. [FE style]

ROFLMAO

 

[AvTvM]

I like the look and the manual controls.
If Canon comes up with something like this I shall surely buy.

and I shall surely puke.

 

[Loswr]

I like the look and the manual controls.
If Canon comes up with something like this I shall surely buy.

and I shall surely puke.

Just not in the camera shop. Remember...you puke on it, you bought it.

 

[unfocused]

Sorry to repeat myself. Not sure which thread is likely to be the most viable, but I can't resist these comments.

16 mp sensor: Funny how when Nikon wants to emphasize image quality, they go with fewer megapixels. Maybe they know something about the big megapixel Sony/Nikon sensors that DXOmark doesn't know?

No video: At last, all those who complain about paying for video they never use have an option available. Buy the D800 with video or buy the Df and save yourselves $50. I guess I was wrong and you guys were right. You are are paying more for video capability. Spend that $50 any way you want.

 

[Ivar]

Nice camera, I like it.

I also own a Fuji x100s, might replace that for Df.

 

[AvTvM]

No video: At last, all those who complain about paying for video they never use have an option available. Buy the D800 with video or buy the Df and save yourselves $50. I guess I was wrong and you guys were right. You are are paying more for video capability. Spend that $50 any way you want.

hehehe .. were I live the D800 is currently at € 2000. The new Nikon DOA will be at least € 3000 body only. So no video will cost 1000 € .. oO. That's not the way it's meant to be! ;D

 

[sdsr]

I just don't get it. It's got a prism and optical viewfinder, so it will not be small. It's just a vintage film camera hiding modern tech beneath. This is a fashion-skinned DSLR.

It's like they are going after (a) film users and (b) Fuji users who still want to look cool but with a larger sensor. Or -- big reach here -- Leica users who really want autofocus? (Surely they'd go with the new Sony rigs, right?)

So you *do* get it! I like the idea of it, but unless that's an amazing sensor it's overpriced (though not, of course, in comparison with a D4). And while I like the look of some retro cameras (they strike me as far more attractive than most other stuff designed in the 60s-80s), this could do with a dose of elegance (someone should send them an Olympus EM5...). The fact that it's not small isn't a problem - it's FF, so it needs to be a decent size to support all but the smallest FF lenses, unlike the new Sonys; unlike the new Sonys, there's a better array of native lenses to attach; and maybe it will prove less of a chore to use than Nikon dslrs, with their convoluted ergonomics.

It would be interesting to know just how important all the stuff I consider extraneous is to dslr-buying public; every time I see a list of features in an ad or review I lose interest half way through (I'm always amused by lengthy reviews which leave image quality to the end and explain that while the camera is ahead of the competition in every way, the photos don't look anything special). Will people be put off by the "less is more" list of features here? How many people willing to spend $2700 on a Nikon a camera body will want a sensor with fewer than half the number of MPs of a D800, fewer AF points than a D800, no video, etc.? (Repeat the question in comparison to a D600, for that matter.)

Maybe it will do well and encourage a competitor to come up with something similar, but more elegant and more competitively priced....

 

[Rocguy]

It looks cool I admit that. Looks count! 8)

But 16mp? Really? Really??

 

[docsmith]

...why do I get the feeling that camera companies are groping in the dark looking for anything that might sell....

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

...why do I get the feeling that camera companies are groping in the dark looking for anything that might sell....

I think you are right. Mirrorless was the big up and coming thing, but after a quick start, sales took a big nosedive, so now we may see limited edition big ticket items that appeal to the hardware collectors, and will sell for 4 or 5X the production cost. Times are tough, and perhaps some unusual measures are in order.

Canon seems to be content to compete based on pricing, their production costs are low and they can undersell and still make a profit.

 

[Steve]

May attract hipsters.

Yeah, I think that's kind of the point. This isn't a camera for the working professional, its a lifestyle accouterment. Just look at those teaser ads with the ruggedly handsome, unshaven man in the fashionable, heritage sweater walking through the autumn woods, capturing scenes that perfectly represent the idyllic life of the affluent and trendy. Who cares what the camera does, just look at how cool it is and imagine how cool your life could be with it. Nikon has always kinda been the Apple to Canon's Microsoft, the brand the cool kids buy to show they know whats up. This is just taking it a bit further.

That said, it is pretty cool looking and I hope camera companies continue to consider form as well as function. I love my 1D4 but its an ugly brick. Those Fuji XE-1's and X-Pro's on the other hand are handsome little cameras that look sweet hanging next to some raw denim jeans and a Filson coat...

 

[RAKAMRAK]

I like the look and the manual controls.
If Canon comes up with something like this I shall surely buy.

and I shall surely puke.

Indeed. Then I need to get a vomit bag and some pepto bismol with me when I go to buy that camera. Thanks for the heads up.

If I remember correctly, time and again I have seen posts (may not be by you but by other forum members of course) asking for "still only" and "easy manual control" camera. Interestingly or unfortunately (depending on the view point) Nikon came up with something of that sort and canon did not. Do I sense some vain frustration?

 

[mjbehnke]

The only thing I can say about this camera is that it does not look like the nice expensive DSLR's. It looks like one of those old cameras that a thief won't even want to steal. That's the good thing about it...... and that's about it.

 

[sanj]

What a fantastic looking camera!