I have, like with my Leica S and Hasselblad X1D II set the autofocus to only activate with the AF-ON button, which sits exactly where my right hand thumb rests. This might be different however when using a long zoom lens, or front heavy lens. The camera is lightweight, and has a good grip and balance with the prime lenses I use the camera with. One can buy these online adjusted to fit the Nikon Df. Focussing them is quite good with the standard Df focussing screen, but even better with the K3 split screen meant for the FM3a. I really like using the Df with Ai-S lenses that can be bought new (yes Nikon still produces some) or second hand for not that much money. The Nikon Df works amazing with any Nikon F mount lens you can imagine, Ai, Ai-S, AF-D, AF-S lenses etc. I don’t change it as often as I do shutter speed or aperture.
#NIKON DF ISO#
A dial for ISO looks fun but I don’t mind this to be in a menu. Having a dedicated shutter speed dial is nice. The camera handles quite nicely when you’re used to Leica M, or Leica R or Leica S or any Leica really. But Nikon sold me a camera, and I would have never bought a digital Nikon if it weren’t for the Df coming out. Many Nikon users even were negative about the camera and found it to be a cash cow or niche product no one would buy. But low light performance greatly outperforms the Leica M sensor.Īs a long time Leica user the looks of the Df did not really make me ‘wow’ as much a some of the real Nikon shooters who never even look in the direction of Leica. As a comparison it’s just behind the Leica M (Typ 240) from the same year. Colour bit depth is slightly ahead of the Leica M (Typ 240) to give an example.ĭynamic range of the camera at base ISO is amazing at more than 13 stops of range.
The colour reproduction is stunning and very good out of camera, Nikon has a few RAW profiles that are accessible in Adobe Lightroom and my personal favourite is the NL “Neutral” or PT “Portrait” when selected in camera they will be automatically selected when you import the files into Lightroom.
This is a topic on it’s own and one can read plenty of information on printing online, but in my opinion you only need 300 ppi for handheld photo prints. And to be fair at both A3 and A2 300 or 200 ppi is way more than needed at the respective viewing distances that come with those larger sized prints. When printing at 200 ppi you can print A2 sized. Since the resolution is relative low for a Full-Frame camera this makes small mistakes in focus, or lens aberrations less apparent, this is a good thing for what I like to use the Df for: quick candid shots and reportage style photography.īesides, 16 megapixels is still enough to print A3 size at 300 ppi. The 16 megapixel sensor makes the whole image workflow easy, and lightweight. And in this regard the sensor from 2012 does an amazing job. This results in slightly sharper images when a lens can resolve fine enough. The Nikon Df comes with the same sensor and image pipeline as the Nikon D4 flagship camera, but has a different and less aggressive Anti-Aliasing filter.
#NIKON DF MANUAL#
Which makes focussing even more fun with the manual lenses, or any auto focus lenses in manual mode. The viewfinder is nice and relative large and works pretty good with manual Ai-S lenses out of the box, but I’ve installed a modified Nikon K3 split image focussing screen for the Nikon FM3a in my Df. The buttons and dials are where I expect them to be and it makes using the camera easy. The body is sturdy and has nicely made dials and interface. The camera comes with a really nice 16 megapixel sensor that is also found in the Nikon D4, 16 megapixels is not much and many would prefer 24 or 36 or even more megapixels on their camera, but personally I’ve never cared much for the resolution craze. It’s actually the lightest full-frame DSLR from any brand to my knowledge! The only camera that has the same weight stated as the Nikon Df is the Canon EOS 6D Mark II. Nikon came out with the Z5 at 675 grams, and the Z6 and Z7 at 672 grams but these are mirrorless.
#NIKON DF FULL#
The Nikon Df is the lightest full frame DSLR camera from Nikon at only 759 grams, I weighed it myself.