How HUGE is the DF? Look and see!

[Chris Bail]

The Fuji is an interesting camera. A good friend has a couple of them and really gets some great images.

I haven't seen the sony but can't say I care for the mirror less cameras that I have seen. The x pro 1 is nice because it has a very good optical finder as well as the electronic. I'm a big fan of fuji optics too having owned several of their medium format cameras and some view camera lenses.

I really like the pictures out of my NEX-5 with the crop sensor, particularly for using my LTM and M lenses. I can't say that I've been impressed with the images that I've seen out of the A7 with Leica lenses. Particularly the edge smearing would not work for me.

I was really hoping I'd be blown away by the images, but I suppose I'll keep dreaming of a future M9/ME. I miss shooting full frame digital.

 

[kshapero]

http://camerasize.com/compare/#495,487

Also check out Digitalrev on the Df ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHNm54U1nQ4

It a whole lot bigger than my Fuji X-E2

 

[dcsang]

I really like the pictures out of my NEX-5 with the crop sensor, particularly for using my LTM and M lenses. I can't say that I've been impressed with the images that I've seen out of the A7 with Leica lenses. Particularly the edge smearing would not work for me.

I was really hoping I'd be blown away by the images, but I suppose I'll keep dreaming of a future M9/ME. I miss shooting full frame digital.

Edge smearing occurs mainly with the A7r vs the A7.

I haven't had many issues going as wide as 21mm with the A7 but YMMV.

It all comes down to what you shoot. If you put subjects in corners OR you shoot landscapes or such then corner sharpness may be important.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Frank Petronio]

Might be helpful to post some photos of a DF next to a FM or F3 since the target market most likely has a Nikon film arsenal.

 

[Chris Bail]

Edge smearing occurs mainly with the A7r vs the A7.

I haven't had many issues going as wide as 21mm with the A7 but YMMV.

It all comes down to what you shoot. If you put subjects in corners OR you shoot landscapes or such then corner sharpness may be important.

Cheers,
Dave

I see. I must have only seen a test of the A7r then. At any rate, it was enough to make me not consider the Sony.

I do like the look of the Df though...and have missed my D700 at times...

 

[dcsang]

I see. I must have only seen a test of the A7r then. At any rate, it was enough to make me not consider the Sony.

I do like the look of the Df though...and have missed my D700 at times...

It's about the same size as the D700 if I remember correctly. I just found the ergonomics on it were "huh??" - dials that really didn't "do anything" unless a certain mode was engaged etc.

Just reminded me of a Pentacon or Kiev.

That said, it has the D4 sensor so. . . . .

Cheers,
Dave

 

[SausalitoDog]

I was all set to switch from DSLRs a couple of years ago...lucky for me that no one had an M9 in stock.

When I finally got to put my hands on one a year later, I was SHOCKED...the darn thing felt heavier than a Nikon D3 (it may not be, but it felt that way and certainly felt "denser" ). There was no way this would be my ideal walk around street camera with that much heft (oh, I was yearning for my old Nikon S2, long since sold).

I finally "settled" for an x100 and then xp1 from Fuji and don't regret it a bit.

Leica is surely the standard, but not the best choice for everyone.

 

[Ronald M]

I never had to send a Nikon in for RF alignment. I did repair one myself. A relative had to send one in for dead pixel line. Never heard of a Nikon doing this.


OTOH the lenses I never had to fine tune a Leica lens. 35 V4 50 1.4 ASPH 75 APO
90 macro I consider superb lenses.

Both are good and bad.

 

[x-ray]

I never had to send a Nikon in for RF alignment. I did repair one myself. A relative had to send one in for dead pixel line. Never heard of a Nikon doing this.


OTOH the lenses I never had to fine tune a Leica lens. 35 V4 50 1.4 ASPH 75 APO
90 macro I consider superb lenses.

Both are good and bad.

The M9 isn't even close to the nikon gear in reliability or performance. The current lenses are exceptional but they don't do you much good if the body is in the shop all the time.

 

[swoop]

The M9 isn't even close to the nikon gear in reliability or performance. The current lenses are exceptional but they don't do you much good if the body is in the shop all the time.

How often has your M9 been away for repair in the 4+ years you've had it?

 

[x-ray]

I've only had it 18 months and this is the third trip to Leica.

 

[Godfrey]

Nice to see ... it looks approximately F3 sized, not FM sized, which is fine.

You know, I still haven't had the chance or motivation to go look at one in person. It's the "dials and dials and dials and dials" styling that puts me off. I think they went a bit overboard on the dials stuff.

The more I work with the Olympus E-M1, the fatter the M9 feels in my hands. Sigh.

G

 

[NIKON KIU]

IMO the biggest difference in the two bodies is the mirror box and prism of the Df. Actual body size is about the same with the M9 just a tiny bit smaller. I don't see it as a HUGE difference.

This is not a fair comparison!
The Nikon is black and the Leica is silver, you need a silver Nikon!

Just Kidding.


3rd trip? Ouch!!

Kiu

 

[GaryLH]

I haven't had many issues going as wide as 21mm with the A7 but YMMV.
Cheers,
Dave

Out of curiosity, which specific 21. Leica, Zeiss or cv? I ave both the Leica 21f2.8 and the cv 21f4.

Gary

 

[GaryLH]

I've only had it 18 months and this is the third trip to Leica.

Ouch 🙁

Gary

 

[sparrow6224]

My Nikon collection includes the F, F2, F3, EL, FE, FM2n, FA, F100, D5100, and D700 [just sold to help pay for my newest baby, the Df].

This conversation is interesting to me because my reaction to the Df is that Nikon wanted a non-professional prestige/nostalgia camera Just Lke the M9. I became more convinced of this when I learned that the camera was first thought up and initially designed in late 2009. It does for the NikonHead (tm) exactly what an M9 did for the LeicaMensch (tm), ie, provides a full frame enthusiast worthy digital camera to the user of the traditional / original camera that made the company's fame, with as many of the same interfaces as could be managed while having it be digital. It goes for much the same market -- while $2700 looks very pricey to current Nikon DSLR users who know you can get a D800 for basically that amount and a D610 for $900 less, it's an affordable premium price for the nostalgist with bucks who is the Nikon equivalent of the LeicaMensch.

Size: it's smaller than the D700 and F100 (which were practically the same size). It's about a quarter inch thicker than the F3 but the same as the F3 in all other dimensions. It's lighter than the F3. It has the High Eyepoint type prism housing of the F3 which contributes to making it look bigger than it is, somewhat as when a man wears a substantial hat.

To a D700 user the Df feels small and light -- a little too light, some have said, though I quickly got used to it. It does not feel as if it was intended for, or could hold up to, serious professional use. But it's a full frame camera that takes the pre-Ai Nikon F lenses, some of which, as the 85/1.8, have a very special look. I cannot quite find the words to tell you what a pleasure this camera has been to use, how right it feels in my (small) hands, what a pleasure it has been to have a full frame digital camera with which I feel as I'm still in charge of taking the picture.

Is it in fact Nikon's M9? Basically, yes, with a much better sensor at half the price. I wouldn't turn down an M240 however.... which is not as large as the M9, correct? And whose sensor is rated (DXOMark) very close to the Df's.

 

[sparrow6224]

If you are interested, a recent Df shot -- my first raw shots were in this sitting, which was largely an investigation of whether the lens I was using suffered from focus shift (AI-s Nikkor 50mm f/1.2, and no). It took Adobe until a week or so ago to update Camera Raw so that it could process Df raw images. Anyway this is a 100 percent crop, Nikon Df, AI-s Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 at f/2.8, 1/30, ISO 800. You might recognize the dude.


01062014 Spiderman 100percent crop 02 by balsosnell58mm, on Flickr

 

[ChrisLivsey]

Not a fair comparison the Df should have the 50mm on as well as the 105mm because I can't buy it other than the bundle :bang:

And why is that M9 not a Solms/Wetzlar waiting for parts ??

 

[c.poulton]

I was all set to switch from DSLRs a couple of years ago...lucky for me that no one had an M9 in stock.

When I finally got to put my hands on one a year later, I was SHOCKED...the darn thing felt heavier than a Nikon D3 (it may not be, but it felt that way and certainly felt "denser" ). There was no way this would be my ideal walk around street camera with that much heft (oh, I was yearning for my old Nikon S2, long since sold).

I finally "settled" for an x100 and then xp1 from Fuji and don't regret it a bit.

Leica is surely the standard, but not the best choice for everyone.

What also surprises me is not so much the size of the Nikon Df but the thickness of the M9! It looks like the Leica has been eating all the pies! 😉

 

[dcsang]

Out of curiosity, which specific 21. Leica, Zeiss or cv? I ave both the Leica 21f2.8 and the cv 21f4.

Gary

Gary,

I'm using the Zeiss Biogon (ZM).

Cheers,
Dave