Nikon DF

[Sejanus.Aelianus]

So long as good men do nothing, the evil will continue.

That being the case, I'm going to stay on the dark side and enjoy myself 😀

 

[tunalegs]

One thing that strikes me about the DF marketing is that it's the first camera specifically marketed to the older Baby Boomer generation, retirement aged people. For everything that has gone before, cameras and most all consumer goods have aimed at a vibrant young audience by using attractive, youthful models in exciting lifestyles (surfing, skiing, etc.). But for the DF we get a lone camper not doing much of anything around his campfire... and the promo videos are of AARP members like McNally and Krist rather than Chase Jarvis chasing snowboarders.

Not to make you feel old or anything but I bet we're going to see a lot more of this as the boomers hit retirement. While hipsters may desire this camera in the same way they want Lomo Petzvels, most of them simply can't afford it... where gramps simply has to cut back on his meds or sell a few painkillers to raise the coin.

Maybe not the first camera but perhaps the first Nikon? I doubt there are many pros, or 20-somethings buying M9s anyway.

 

[steveclem]

I just confirmed the price in Australia.

$3,500 with the lens. 🙄

Just over £2k, so how come we get to pay another £700 on top for the combo? I reckon there's more enthusiasts in the UK than Australia per capita. Someones taking the mickey.

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

Just over £2k, so how come we get to pay another £700 on top for the combo? I reckon there's more enthusiasts in the UK than Australia per capita. Someones taking the mickey.

Import taxes are one thing, VAT is another. In Spain, VAT is 21%, in Belgium it may be as high as 33% (25% VAT plus 8% "luxury taxes"). I would have to check if the VAT in Belgium is still as high, but I doubt it has come down recently.

Thus 3,000 USD easily becomes 3,000 Euros or more.

About 20 years ago I visisted Japan and bought a 105mm micro Nikkor. It was half the price of what I would have paid for in a Belgian shop. The difference in price paid for my trip and two weeks stay.

 

[Harry Lime]

Because Nikon wouldn't make much money from selling manual lenses.

They only still make a handful and I wouldn't be surprised if they are new old stock or made from existing parts.

But I doubt that is the reason why. After all it even supports metering with non-AI lenses and they are pushing that in their advertising. It just doesn't make any sense that the screen is fixed and can't be swapped. This has been a unpredictable trend with Nikon since the D700. It just seems like an incredibly bad design choice.

 

[Harry Lime]

It works different - most noticeably, the focus area and confirmation do not coincide, you have to look somewhere on the margin LCD to see whether you are in focus and which way you are out. That is ok - or even superior - for critical tripod focusing, but it is next to useless for manual focus handheld work. From the F4 on all new Nikons I got in the past twenty-something years had a electronic focus indicator - I have purchased and used a split finder screen on all of them nonetheless.

I second that.

FWIW, I am quite convinced that the screen on the DF will be (supposedly service) replaceable, as it is on the vast majority of Nikon DSLRs - if Nikon does not offer a split screen, third party makers will jump in, just like they did on all the consumer/prosumer DSLRs so far.

To make matters worse Nikon is restricting the sale of spare parts to third party shops, so it is unlikely that a company like Katz-eye will ever be able to develop a 3rd party upgrade. This is why they were never able to produce a split prism screen for the D600 and probably never will. That is directly from them via an email.

 

[Harry Lime]

So the new camera is no easier to focus ai glass on than a D800, 700 or D600? Or am I missing something?

You can swap the focusing screen on the D700 and D800 for a split prism. Works like a charm.

The D600 has a fixed focusing screen and there is no third part alternative available.

 

[hans voralberg]

Off topic but Harry how do you replace the D800 screen, I cannot find any 3rd party screen for it.

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

They only still make a handful and I wouldn't be surprised if they are new old stock or made from existing parts.

But I doubt that is the reason why. After all it even supports metering with non-AI lenses and they are pushing that in their advertising. It just doesn't make any sense that the screen is fixed and can't be swapped. This has been a unpredictable trend with Nikon since the D700. It just seems like an incredibly bad design choice.

Nikon discontinued most of their AIs lenses years ago. I'm happy I bought several during the early 2000s and kept all the others I've accumulated since the 1980s.

My guess is that, in the short term, Nikon wants to sell this camera to those with a stock of manual lenses and get them to buy their first Nikon DSLR or upgrade from another "older" DSLR. That would mean they stick with Nikon and don't run over to another manufacturer like Sony or Fuji, to name but two.

In the long term, though, few will stick with manual lenses only on their DSLR and eventually buy more glass, this time AF-S. In the end, Nikon is a company that needs to make money to stay in business.

And no, not everyone with a real interest in this camera is a baby boomer about to retire, as some have pointed out. I haven't even turned half a century yet. Most of the cameras I use are older than me. 😎

 

[steveclem]

Import taxes are one thing, VAT is another. In Spain, VAT is 21%, in Belgium it may be as high as 33% (25% VAT plus 8% "luxury taxes"). I would have to check if the VAT in Belgium is still as high, but I dout it has come down recently.

Thus 3,000 USD easily becomes 3,000 Euros or more.

About 20 years ago I visisted Japan and bought a 105mm micro Nikkor. It was half the price of what I would have paid for in a Belgian shop. The difference in price paid for my trip and two weeks stay.

I have family in Australia so it was a moot point, nevertheless, I object to being fleeced on a regular basis and then told there's no money in the pot but that's veering off topic here. 😀:bang:

 

[Highway 61]

Off topic but Harry how do you replace the D800 screen, I cannot find any 3rd party screen for it.

http://www.focusingscreen.com/

Caveat #1 : don't use any metal tool to install the screen. Get a pair of disposable contact gloves at a pharmacy and use your fingers and thumbnail.

Caveat #2 : many third-parties screens are terrible. I don't know about those. Katzeye Optics screens are excellent. But there are none for the D800.

And no, not everyone with a real interest in this camera is a baby boomer about to retire, as some have pointed out. I haven't even turned half a century yet. Most of the cameras I use are older than me. 😎

Exact same here. But - can you be a poser before you turn 50 ? I'm afraid I own a Tivoli One wireless already... 😀

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

But - can you be a poser before you turn 50 ? I'm afraid I own a Tivoli One wireless already... 😀

I didn't have a smart phone until some weeks ago, and that was mainly so I could check my emails for work. In the end, technology will catch up with all of us. 🙂

 

[Keith]

the whole controlled leaks and youtube teasers backfired on nikon. people's expectations were raised unrealistically, everyone expected a digital fm2, what they got instead is neither retro nor modern, its a bling camera.

Sony's A7 at half the price is 8mp more with focus peaking and light weight --- nikon is in trouble.

That's an interesting statement but aren't you kind of putting the cart before the horse? We'll know whether the DF is a 'backfire' soon enough when it hits the shelves but to say something like this before the camera is actually available seems a little preemptive to me.

 

[jonasv]

Import taxes are one thing, VAT is another. In Spain, VAT is 21%, in Belgium it may be as high as 33% (25% VAT plus 8% "luxury taxes"). I would have to check if the VAT in Belgium is still as high, but I doubt it has come down recently.

Thus 3,000 USD easily becomes 3,000 Euros or more.

About 20 years ago I visisted Japan and bought a 105mm micro Nikkor. It was half the price of what I would have paid for in a Belgian shop. The difference in price paid for my trip and two weeks stay.

Sorry, that never was true. There are 4 VAT rates in Belgium: 0, 6, 12 and 21%.

For luxury goods such as cameras, it is 21%.

Plus, professionals can recuperate the VAT, so it's usually 21% less than advertised.

 

[Sparrow]

^^ ... perhaps it's a rumoured backfire?

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

Sorry, that never was true. There are 4 VAT rates in Belgium: 0, 6, 12 and 21%.

For luxury goods such as cameras, it is 21%.

Well, thanks for correcting me, it was not my intention to mislead anyone. I've checked it and it is now indeed 21%, on par with Spain, which are the only two countries I've ever purchased new equipment in. Incidentally, Spain went from 18 to 21% maybe two or three years ago.

However, it has been 33% in Belgium during the late 80s. I must have some bills from that time that I could check. This article here in Dutch clearly states the differences that used to exist (see page 11 of the pdf document) : 33% in Belgium, 18.5% in the Netherlands, 14% in Germany and 12% in Luxemburg.

http://www.greens-efa.eu/fileadmin/dam/Documents/Publications/Carrouselfraude-juli2011-Final.pdf

It would be interesting if someone could shed some light on the VAT situation in different countries, so that we know what we are paying exactly.

Unfortunately, I can't recuperate VAT as I don't make a living taking pictures.

 

[NazgulKing]

A review video that goes through some of the motions of the camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lM0M-l6eu0#t=159

 

[ronnies]

VAT in the UK is 20%. So the UK price for the kit (only option) before VAT is £2290.83. That's still $3665.33 at an exchange rate of £1 = $1.6.

Ronnie

 

[ray*j*gun]

Interesting,..... zero discussion about focusing manually except the point about non-interchangable screens..

 

[Keith]

It is big!