The Nikon Df - My thoughts. Steve Huff.
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Just a quick look at the Nikon Df camera which I feel is the best Nikon DSLR made today for MANY reasons..size, weight, image quality, low light performance, speed, and overall quality/pride of ownership. Don't let the naysayers sway you...this is an amazing camera.
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I've owned this camera for two days and absolutely love it, low light is incredible. Sold my D700 after many years happy use. Best camera I've owned.
Great review! I love mi Nikon Df. I enjoy shooting it and even though I own a D-800 I find my self using this one 90% of the time. It's a great camera for traveling, for workshops, portraits, etc.
I have been using the Df for a couple of weeks now and so far find it to be a wonderful light weight camera. There are many pros and cons but this is what i consider the evolution of my D700. For me it fits the bill. Many folks fail to note that the D700 was almost as expensive when it was released. Cost across the board for all manufactures have gone up. You may not like it, so its not for you. I would rather have choices than not.
Loved this review and, as a result went out and bought the Nikon DF. I did feel a little guilty as I only purchased the D7000 a few months ago. However, so far, I am not regretting it one iota. I love the look and feel of the camera and although I am still not confident with the manual controls I have been blown away by the picture quality at high ISO. This is my life time camera. Love it
First review I've watched or read that I can understand why you bought it other than 'it looks great' so well done!
Finally! someone reviewing the Df through fair eyes. This camera is for (in my opinion) a true photographer. Stills only, amazing image quality and versatility with Non AI and AIS lens compatibility. Now switching to and from my F3 is a breeze. Thanks Nikon. people get so bogged down in features and new technologies now, they forget the importance of the art.
Karl Hendry an fm2 is for true photographers
once i get a dslr the size of the fm...thats when ill be happy
Karl Hendry an fm2 is for true photographers
once i get a dslr the size of the fm...thats when ill be happy
The first and 'only' good review of the Nikon Df I've seen!!
some long try to persuade me without any sample or good technical explain about why this expensive is better then another one. all these buttons on every centimeter of the small body - how to hold it ? *****
Victor Bezrukov Too much crammed into such a small space on top. When you see the back, it looks just like any other digital camera.
the question is how it possible to "sold" it like something different. every available DSLR has same manual management ability. the vintage look ? for me the Fuji looks much better and stylishly *****
Victor Bezrukov ua-cam.com/video/5lM0M-l6eu0/v-deo.html
sounds much better :-) *****
I'm in love with the Df, thank you for a wonderful review
Thanks for your review of the Nikon Df camera and your opinion about price or look of the DF camera. I think it is a good camera and bold from Nikon to do this and it has got a lot of people talking about it on the internet.
Great looking camera love the old fashioned dials
lot of people asking about how it does for landscape and portraits and events. just a few years ago, I was making a living using a d200 and D2x, if you are in agreement that the DF is far better than those cameras then you should realize that it can handle everything that came before it and then some!
my absolute favorite digital nikon ever made! functions like my F3 but has a built in motor drive. im done with every other nikon now. Im selling my "pro" models to buy more of these.
Awesome camera. Thanks for the review Steve. Good job as always.
Thanks for your review. I am trying to figure out what to buy. It's so tough with all the naysayers on the internet ! I suppose the price is why there are mostly naysayers. This is definitely more what I am looking for between D800 and D4. Why do people keep saying it's the worst of 2013.. ?
You, of all people, made me enthusiastic about a DSLR.
Steve, what is your take on Nikon's decision to not put a split prism or not providing an ability to incorporate one after-market? Also, since Leica is little bit out of my budget, what DSLR would you suggest that has (or can be had) split prism capability that I can combine with Zeiss lenses for pure manual control?
Looks just like my Nikon FE.
Still a lot of people blindly bashing. I wonder why people get upset, no one forcing anyone to buy anything.
I think the theme music is the same as TheArtOfPhotography
Yes it is.
Steve is a much better more honest reviewer, though. the art something is a Nikon fanboy.
Video was great. Info and reasons for purchase were fair and beyond surface level marketing hype. Still though the camera itself came in the mark a year or two too late. Pure photography? Get me a Daguerreotype...
As for price, why not put the D610 in the "pure" photography body of the Df. Comparing the Df to the D4 in terms of price and usability is a bit of a stretch since the D4 is a beast of a workhorse.
I'm a Fuji X and Leica M shooter for my personal work (DSLRs for paid work) so it's not really the manual aspect of the Df that throws me off. It's mainly the marketing hype and the fact that it does not offer technical capacity that other cameras don't already. This camera's main selling point has been its looks and its knobs...Easy sell if one cares about how one looks with their camera on their shoulder.
In the end the craft of photography is about the right tool for the right job. Maybe I need to think more about what kind of job the Df is supposed to be doing other than selfies with a mirror. Landscape? D4 or D800 will live through desert heat and the North Pole (D610 will also do just fine). Photojournalism, including sports? D4 will work under fire in Afghanistan or under attack by Raiders fans.
Social Documentary?Anything from a Leica M and Fuji X to true and tested DSLRs already mentioned (and Canon equivalents).
Street? Leica M to Fuji X, Ricoh and even an iphone.
What kind of job is the Df supposed to be doing? Making people care more about how their camera looks than how good their photos look?
Sorry for the rent but marketing hypes are a sad trend in this industry...
Steve,
Thanks for all your time and effort in reviewing the Df. I like your reviews and am always keen to see what you think but I must say I totally disagree with you on this one. I am a Nikon shooter (D700, D800E, D4) and I LOVE the look of the black Df but I found the ergonomics to be rubbish. It does surprise me how many people are polarised by this one. It is as if Nikon have forgotten every thing they learned over the last 35 years in UI. (I LOVE the UI on the D4 with the D700 coming 2nd in my experience).
I would have really gone for smaller, high quality D4 sensor based camera. The lack of video does not worry me. The price is OK. It is the silly UI (I very much dislike the "feel" of the control nobs on the Df) and the poor quality AF system.
Suppose I will wait until Sony put a viewer in the RX1 or Nikon fix the Df...
Regards to all.
Dave
Steve thanks for your honesty and beautiful voice, I love your voice and your reviews.
Hey Steve just wondering what wotancraft bag do you carry this with?
Steve, you said it beats D3S slightly, can you be more specific? one stop better?
Based on my own experience with the camera, I have to agree with Redzo79 that the Df hunts in low light. It seems like Steve claimed the opposite for attention because the whiners over at DPreview are crying endlessly about the AF.
I love this camera, but I feel like the top plate is really crowded with all those dials
awesome reviews, just wish the filming camera was stabilized.
Nice review Steve as always. Df sure looks nice - but I predict it will not be a big seller due to Price - and the fact that the Pro's who might have the money to buy it will rather keep their DSLR bodies with better grips - as the dilemma with FF is large lenses and heavy lenses like the 70-200mm F2.8 - I just think the little grip on the Df will hold up well for the Pros.
So will do OK with some Nikon fans and collectors and advanced users who can afford it. Also it is not for everyone similar to the Fuji XE-1/2 and X-Pro1 and X100s with no Mode Dial and auto modes etc. Beginners will get lost in the manual dials :)
I personally would opt for the Sony A7/R due to it many features including video - but lenses are a real issue there as well - Sony has not fast zooms and will not for some years and the little A7/R body just will have a hard time holding up heavy and large lenses - Same issue even with NEX E-Mount - no fast zooms there either -
But for a street shooter with a prime the DF looks really sharp and IQ great - but it is a bit large compared to say the GX7 or OMD-5 or OMD-M1 or X100s -
If I had money to buy to just for my collection I would but I do not think it would get much use over my M43 and Fuji X seris and NEX series
I am a Canon guy. Could you do some Canon reviews?
Very good review.
Unlike DigitalRevTV reviews in general...
Love the look, & while I am just good enough a photographer to feel competent with my D7000 & think it is all I need at this time... I am in love with the look & covet the manual features of this camera you review. It is something that I wouldn't mind spending that amount of cabbage on so I can enjoy the hobby that much more.
Heck, I drive a '71 Toyota Corona while I am able to afford something much more, so what does that tell ya;~`)
Keep up the excellent work!
A camera is like a hammer; it's a tool, nothing more and the best possible camera is the camera is the one you have with you; meaning the one you don't leave behind. If it works for you, it works. No loss if it doesn't. Never looked to my cameras for inspiration, plenty of that in the world out there. Find something that works for you, invest in lenses that help you look at the world through new eyes and never buy something because someone else said it was cool. If it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work. Simple no?
well said!
Totally agree! Although sometimes the camera you have with you is not the best ... I just carried a heavy camera around for 1000km on a motorcycle, and it broke down before I even took one shot. It may be time for an upgrade ...
any idea what this is like for landscapes?
Camera tech these days are advancing so fast, take a look at the Sony A7. Tiny, huge sensor and all the bells and whistles a gear head could want. To me it's a mini-computer and there is a bit of a disconnect there with the photo taking experience. DSLR's are moving in that direction as well. Some even have EVFs now. This Nikon Df brings it back to what I feel a photography tool should look and act like. This is something I felt only existed in a Leica M but now there is a more affordable option thanks to Nikon. I even hope they bring out a DX version in the future.
I feel you. one of the things I love about shooting with my NEX6 is not that I can shoot with live view... "yeah i'm one of those guys" but that I can shoot waste high standing up by flipping the screen up. Someone saw me do it the other day and thought I had just invented something new...I'm like really?
Thanks for review. After examining Ken Rockwell's review and seeing his headlight photo along with many hours studing the DF along with the D800 on what to buy, I can agree with you fully that the D4 sensor is fantastic. I personally feel with my D300s, that the video is useless being too hard to focus. I have never use in for any assignments and hate the all in one cameras now needing every bell and whistles to be, "current". Perhaps the dislike for this camera we see is from the generation gap we have? Older film guys that did not need a computer to get good shots, to the ones that now do that never have had shot film. Remeber zone focusing? Metering the grass? To be safe a touch less light if not sure for slide film.
Why most Nikon show the "E" on the LCD ?
What camera did you make this video with? It's amazing.
What do you shoot with all those cameras?
pictures of his other cameras
Great review, Steve. I think there's a Df in my future as I own the other most despised as overpriced Nikon, the D3X, which is used only in the studio. I think the retro look of the Df is spot-on, but what really piques my interest is that D4 sensor and the high-ISO performance. This could be a great street cam.
I'm thinking about the 50/1.4 AF-D instead of the SE 50 for the Df. If I they allowed for different focusing screens, I'd go for a manual like the 50/1.2.
Has anyone told you you sound just like the voice actor Steven Blum?
Df is not revolutionary is RETROlutionary.
Not for those who want to make money from photography.
Great for those who want to enjoy photography and spent time with it.
With D4s time is money.
With Df time is pleasure. It provokes to spent more time with it.
if it had video, i would move from canon to this.
I love my Df
What strap it is?
Really liked and enjoyed your review!
Is that silver section real alloy or aluminum, or is that just plastic?
Real aluminium I think, it's full metal.
/ˈnɪkɒn/
It probably means that I'm a terrible pedant and that I'm (sometimes) much too concerned about small stuff without any consequences, but it's not spelled Nai-kon.
At least not in Japan.
(like I said, small stuff without any consequences)
Steve, can you please try hard not to say bad things about Canon all the time? We get it you hate number one dslr manufacture. We don't need to hear about it in every review you make. It really steals all the pleasure from reading you.
Photography lifestyle camera* Yes, the camera looks nice, but like a leica, that's about the only thing it's good for. It's an expensive accessory, not a tool for making good photographs.
+Zhida Zhou Any modern camera is a tool for making good photographs, the camera that you feel most comfortable with is the best camera for you
Put a f1.2 on this !
great review on this camera thanks and 1.2 glass would be prime time!
You can get the df on sale now with the lens kit on dslrcam.net/shop/nikondfkit for anyone looking for it.
Video?
That camera does not shoot any video, if that's what you're asking. I would imagine that the vast majority of people who would buy this camera would not use it for video, and obviously Nikon agrees.
There's tons of other cameras that shoot video. Not this. This is as pure as you could get to photography, as opposed to "videography".
You can always buy a Black Magic and a Lens for that and still be less than the price of a D4... Frankly with the exception of "photographers" I see very few videographers buying SLRs for the Video. The 5D MK2 was popular for video, NOT because of the video quality, but because of the lens system and affordability. Now with Black Magics, RED, Canon's Video line, and Sony's most videographers buy cameras for the video quality, not for picture taking ability. So why are photographers hung up on a camera's video capture ability over its picture taking ability. It reminds me of when the iPhone 4s came out. Most awesome phone on the market at the time that did almost everything... except it kept dropping calls... Lets get back to FUNCTION FIRST.
No video. What do you think Df stands for? Doesn't Film!
from the initial 3 mins of intro of the buttons. it already shows how complicated the controls are... hold button to do iso change, hold button to do compensation change ... couldnt they have simplified it abit by implement the lock for the same switch..pretty sure u dont need individual locks for both iso / compensation change, the switches definitely aint that loose.. for something that is designed to be for pure photography, it should have had been designed to be simpler, cleaner. something like leica m9. too many controls all over the place. looks wise, i find that it is 50-50 for me.. if ur comparing it to likes of nikon FM2 etc series, or even leicas it is just fugly honestly.. if ur comparing to like of dslrs, yes it does looks sexier.
Nice review,But not for $3000 if you take pictures for living great but not the everyday person.
Check out street prices, I got mine for 2.3K.
I'm really happy with it. Can't do some things as fast like U1 & U2 modes but feels really nice with a really nice click.
if you take photos for a living this isn't nearly as good as a D800
Andrew Peters
It's fine for event photography. Even relatively good for weddings.
I agree it would be better with 36MP for family posed pictures but depending on how premium you want it to be, I'd say you can still make a decent living with it.
Heck, most pros I know are only using 12 mp cameras. Typically D3s for the super lowlight performance.
I think it is obviously overpriced, D4 sensor is very good, but D4 is not expensive because of its sensor, it s because of the build quality, reliability, the burst rate and other body function, Every brand makes their price because of the body and function so that is why A7 and A7R are so cheap. It is definitely overpriced , and the price in HK keeps going down now. I think 2000-2100 is reasonable, no higher.
I agree that this is an amazing camera, but it doesn't compete with the D4. There's no video mode, the auto focus is not that great and some other things. It's a good everyday camera.
This actually focuses quite slow in low light :(
The PASM dial is a BIG fail. I used to like steve's reviews, but I really can't take him serious. The DF is huge! The ergonomics are idiotic. You can override the dials with the PASM dial, which render the dials useless . They should have copied the Fuji x100 style dials with "A" mode. And at least get rid of 20% size and weight. If the sony a7 can fit a FF in a small body, why not Nikon. A camera like that would sell like crazy!
WoW this things is really ... Ugly! It looks plasticky, like a toy. I love the old film models but this camera is ill-designed imho. But the image quality probably rocks. Great review!
***** Maybe an excessive reaction? just a little?
No video killed it for me, you're paying more for less what lol?
Garbage. Dont shit for the price.
looks awesome feels cheap ..
digital failure - just buy a Leica