This is an answer to my prayers. Having been using Fuji cameras during the past 6+ months, I do agree that Nikon screwed up with the design and ergonomics here. The professional F5 (1996-2004) was Nikon's last SLR to include it.". Ergonomically complete. I found my way very quickly with the Df, quicker than with the D700. I have subscribed to the view for awhile that chasing pixels is not important as getting pixels that perform, the Df provides the optimum. So for comparisons, I always down-sample to the lowest resolution sensor and only provide those crops. This lens features a constant aperture of f/2.8 throughout the range, built-in Optical Stabilisation (OS) technology, a minimum focus distance of 1.2m, an ultrasonic focus motor for quiet and fast AF operation, fixed tripod collar and a dust- and moisture-sealed construction. Another omission is a dual card slot the Df only comes with a single SD slot located underneath the camera (more on this under Handling). I would buy one of them. Having been shooting with different brand cameras and formats for a while now, I realized that some cameras just take more time to get adjusted to. My % of "keepers" rose to over 75% versus previous trips where I used a Nikon D7000 or Nikon D80, where the % of keepers was considerably lower. By now, I have had the Df for the past 4 months, so this review is a summary of my overall experience with the camera during this period. Sports photography tips and settings for Nikon and Canon. There is no built-in flash either. When dealing with noisy images shot above ISO 800, Lola noted that the process of editing images from the D800 can get painful, especially when working on editing skin details. i once opend a Film camera and was studying how it worked. Please keep your contributions constructive and civil. We got to pick what we wanted to do and even check the school cameras out over break. I'm confused what you're supposed to do with this camera. First of all, keep in mind that the flange distance MUST remain the same whether on a film SLR or a DSLR in order to be able to use the same lenses, so there are minimum requirements for the distance between the mount and the film / sensor. When you set the ISO on the dial, that basically becomes the minimum ISO sensitivity. Either way, both introduced more unnecessary steps or slowed down the editing process, which is why she preferred using 12 MP RAW files from the D700 and the D3s instead. Then there are a bunch of buttons, dials and the top LCD screen, which also take up space inside the camera. The rear dial feels exactly the same way as a rear dial on my D800E (and not smaller like on the D600/D610), which is good. I got rid of my longest held lens, a 70-200mm f2.8G, and I replaced it with MF lenses. For example, if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, the minimum shutter speed will be set to 1/50 of a second. maybe that will be worth buying. I also just love the aesthetics of them. Nikon Df Thomas Eisl Photographer great colours and no bloated files for editing. Although I have written about this a number of times before in previous reviews, just take a look at the below viewfinder overlay between the Df and the D800 and see the difference: As you can see, there is not a night and day difference between the two the larger Multi-CAM 3500FX is just marginally better in this regard, by about 1 focus point on each side of the frame. 51,000+ Newsletter Subscribers 1,190+ Featured Photographers 1,200+ Photography Guides & Gear Reviews Nikon Df Review In depth, practical and honest review of the excellent Nikon Df by professional wedding photographer Jay Cassario for Shotkit. But there are sites online (not just dxomark) that show the older lenses are MUCH softer than any of the newer generation of lenses. At the same time, the Nikon Df tries to compensate for those deficiencies in other areas, and weight with bulk are two huge factors in Dfs favor. These lenses are beautiful and produce images that have a character that is somewhat different than the newer models. Auto ISO is alive and well and it is implemented the same way as on the latest Nikon DSLR cameras. I'm looking for a devil's advocate. A lot has been said about how the D600/D610/Df have very small focus coverage in the viewfinder and how the D800/D800E/D4 are so much better. The only thing is, if you need to make big jumps, say from ISO 100 to ISO 6400, then you will need to rotate the dial over and over again, as you have to go through each ISO in 1/3 EV steps. Best camera for sports photography in 2023 | Digital Camera World This will help when subjects may be obscured by their partner, to keep the camera from focusing on the background in the gap between subjects. ?WE ARE NOT MILLIONAIRESI know, I know, I know what you Nikon people wantsyou want us to go and throw the credit card big, yes BIG and then suffer the consequences of the credit card interest that will eat us afteranyway, in three years time ,I will pick up one used at B&H, Adorama or Keh, for a mere 500 dollars, so, "sayonara", i will see you then. Hello, 2023 is calling. What is the point of having the Easy Shutter-Speed Shift option AND the 1/3 STEP on the shutter dial along with the ability to select different camera modes? The confusing Multi selector center button has finally been renamed to OK button thats where you can configure the ability to instantly zoom to 100% view when reviewing images (a very useful and cool feature that Nikon stripped out of the D600/D610). This works with both autofocus and manual focus lenses. Another issue is the location of the memory card slot I dont understand why Nikon decided to move it to the bottom. Since the grip is fairly small and not as protruded, it makes it somewhat more difficult to hold a heavy setup. Got a used Df, with less than 30.000 shots, for a very good price. NIKON Df + 0mm f/0 @ 50mm, ISO 12800, 1/100, f/5.6 Buttons and Controls. One of our readers complained that the exposure compensation dial requires two hands to change and it should have been on the right side of the camera. Designed and executed for the most demanding types of photography, the Sigma 150-600mm 5-6.3 DG HSM OS Sports lens is the new standard for . 1 Nikon Z9 Check Price 2 Canon EOS R3 Check Price 3 Sony Alpha 1 Check Price 4 Sony A9 II Check Price 5 Canon EOS-1D X Mark III Check Price 6 Canon EOS R7 Check Price 7 Fujifilm Nikon has created a special edition of its AF-S Nikkor 50mm F1.8G to match the 'retro' look and feel of the Df (optically it's identical to the standard version) and this is available separately for $279, or bundled with the Df for $2999.95. combining a retro style on a DSLR takes much space on the camera body itself with its gears for the ISO, Shutter and Aperature. Lets start out with the dual ISO / Exposure Compensation dial, which is located to the left of the pentaprism / viewfinder. Speaking of the top LCD, while it does show some of the vital information like shutter speed, aperture, frame count and battery life, it is too small to accommodate such settings as shooting mode, focus mode, etc. Sports photography tips and settings for Nikon and Canon. Makes sense, since ISO is regulated through the top dial and not the camera menu. First of all, you can easily set exposure compensation with just the left hand, again, without the need to move your eyes away from the viewfinder. If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below: disassembled an A7R and you can see exactly what I am talking about, Boost High ISO Sensitivity: 25,600-204,800, Metering System: 3D Color Matrix Meter II, Body Build: Top / Rear / Bottom Magnesium Alloy, Shutter: Up to 1/4000 and 30 sec exposure, Autofocus System: Multi-CAM 4800FX AF with 39 focus points and 9 cross-type sensors, LCD Screen: 3.2 inch diagonal with 921,000 dots. Got one used a few months ago. I have never used one, but I guess Nikon wanted to bring the old way of the shutter release on the Df in its full retro spirit. Which settings should you use depending upon which sport you're photographing. While it's true that many potential Df owners might not care about video, if you can add a function, why not do so? The concentric dials for ISO/exposure compensation should be reversed; the ISO on top, the compensation on bottom.4. Looking at the much smaller Sony A7R/A7 mirrorless cameras, one can easily see that the flange distance is very short, which is why the cameras are so thin. When shooting pairs skating events, increase the lock-on time. By clicking Sign Up, you are opting to receive promotional, educational, e-commerce and product registration emails from Nikon Inc. You can update your preferences or unsubscribe any time. But then I started remembering times when exposure compensation was too loose and changed accidentally on those Fuji cameras and then I realized that it was not such a bad decision by Nikon after-all. While I agree that it would have been nice if Nikon included the Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX AF system with 51-points, I do not find the 39 point AF system to be insufficient or lacking for the Df. Lenses used: AF-S 24-70 2.8 mainly, AF85mm1.4D Haven't tried my Sigma 100-300 f/4 HSM yet. The Shutter Speed dial is the one that probably received the most negative comments on the Df and rightfully so! When shooting sports with subjects that move or change rapidly (for example in hockey or when alternately framing the pitcher and a runner when shooting baseball from the bench) reduce the lock-on times for improved response. Seems like Nikon wanted to keep the current way of changing shutter speed and aperture instead of fully committing to the retro style, so it just mixed it all up together. That said, prices change at different rates in different markets so, once the initial rush of customers has subsided, the prices might begin to look less unreasonable. The Df features a usable 1:1 Live View, which is a world better in comparison to the ugly interpolated Live View of the D800/D800E. Go on to ebay, get one for about $800 (make an offer! Photographing Sports Indoors and Out | Tips for Shooting Sports | Nikon What about focus point spread? A resounding YES! If you look beyond the Df's outward appearance, another aspect of its appeal is the relatively inexpensive access it gives to the image sensor used in the company's flagship DSLR, the D4. These scores, trusted by the industry, are backed up by exhaustive protocols that gather hundreds of measurements run in DXOMARK's state-of-the-art laboratories. And it's Nikon's first full-frame camera with a twist. This camera ticks not a single box for me personally. And here is another shot of the same coyote, but at a much closer distance. Plus, in low light, its 16-megapixel sensor has slightly better high ISO performance than any other Nikon camera at the moment. Roger Cicala and his team at LensRentals disassembled an A7R and you can see exactly what I am talking about by looking at some of the pictures there is a lot that goes behind that sensor! Best Nikon Cameras for Sports Camera sensor rankings The DXOMARK scores in the rankings below reflect the device's performance and the quality of the user experience. So when my parents told me that I was getting a camera for graduation. Other users will put more weight on A, M or even P. Here is an image that shows the sealed areas on the camera: Obviously, one should be careful in handling cameras when moving from very cold to warm temperatures condensation could cause permanent damage to circuitry (which is why Nikon always lists 0-40C as the operating range, even for the high-end D4). I down-sampled the image to 2048 pixels wide and did the same type of post-processing as the previous image: Once again, the focus is spot on and the amount of detail in the shot is impressive. Best Nikon Lenses for Sports Photography in 2023 - Camera Times I have built up a pretty nice set of AI and AI-S lenses. Even without those aspects, the well-respected low-light capabilities of the D4's sensor should lend some appeal to the Df. Instead of the 1/3 step option on the Shutter Speed dial, Nikon could have added another A (Auto) mode, which would set the camera to either Aperture Priority mode or Program Mode. Behind that heatsink, there is a large PCB, or what I refer to as the motherboard that houses the imaging processor, memory (RAM and ROM) and all sort of connectors to memory slots, battery, etc. I have been using a D700 for the last 4 years and I STILL cannot get used to them. Just because you would never buy one does not mean a lot of us WOULD, myself included. Every Nikon Full-Frame Camera (FX) in 2023, Compared - Photography Life At 710 grams, the Df is Nikons lightest full-frame camera. Nikon user for 30plus years digital since D100. Although I did my best to explain that down-sampling/resizing images during the export process reduces noise significantly, the underlying message was that they would rather work on smaller resolution images that are clean, rather than deal with all the extra steps. The coyote is perfectly in focus and the timing is good right when the coyote was launching into air to catch a field mouse (and it did catch a few that day). The problem with 1/3 stop Shutter Speed increments is already addressed through the Custom Setting Menu->Controls->Easy Shutter-Speed Shift (f11) (once turned on, the camera allows to go 2/3 of a stop up and down the selected shutter speed, similar to what Fuji cameras do). New Nikon Df Goes Back To The Future - Outdoor Photographer These classes were needed to fill my schedule and at first I didnt really know if i would like them. So if you like Nikons Auto ISO feature (which I personally love), it is still perfectly usable and not any different than Auto ISO you will find on other DSLRs. On the Df (and many old Nikon film cameras), the shutter release is on the top plate of the camera, so when you put your index finger on it, the strap can get in the way of other fingers that hold the grip. The ideal arrangement exists on the Fujifilm X100F. Lola typically extracts the same wedding several times (once for producing smaller files with copyright / logo for social media and once for larger print-size files), so larger 36 MP files definitely do make her wait much longer. That brings up a slew of questions, specifically in regards to the Auto ISO function. However, the moment you mount a manual focus manual aperture lens (pre-AI, AI, AIs), the Shutter Priority Mode becomes completely useless, no matter what Shutter Speed you set it to the camera will automatically set the shutter speed and will disregard the set value on the dial. Each photographer has to set up the camera for his or her main usage pattern and even though I mainly use the Df at M, the other settings have definitive advantages for special cases. I have a 200mm f4 that came from an estate sale. It provides you with increased "hand-holdability," delivering dramatically sharper images in a wide range of conditions. I HATE menus, always have. The playback and trash buttons are to the left of the viewfinder, the right side is occupied by the AE-L/AF-L, AF-ON buttons, and a rear function dial. The Df's optical viewfinder is very large - the same size as the D800. So it is not just the slow speed at which RAW files are rendered, but it is also the speed of working on images directly. Many were furious with Nikons decision to use the same autofocus system as in the budget D600/D610, since the Nikon Df is supposed to be a premium camera. So you can see why making the Df as small as a film camera would be an impossible task to achieve! ), We use cookies and similar technologies to recognize your repeat visits and preferences, and analyze traffic. Nikon Authorized Dealers - Sport Optics (PDF), Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I sold my Nikon and bought a Sony, the interface is so elegant and straight forward I have never opened the manual. While other Nikon SLRs, such as the D4, are clearly aimed at the professional and enthusiast markets, with all the attendant features of modern D-SLRs, the Df is clearly a "classic" camera approach, intended for "purists." That may be the reason why the Df offers no video capabilities, for example. At first glance, the Nikon Df seems to be ideally suited to sating that need, however in practical use its abundance of dials and switches hinders more than it helps. It is absolutely my favorite Nikon ever, digital or film, even the beloved FM2n. He is recognized as one of the leading educators in the photography industry, conducting workshops, producing educational videos and frequently writing content for Photography Life. Get a classic D700 or a newer D750. With a 50mm f1.8, not even the f1.4 lens. What sets the Df apart from other Nikon DSLRs, is lack of certain features that have more or less become a standard on advanced / full-frame cameras. If left inactive for four hours, or by holding the colour selection or brightness buttons, it'll switch off. I am more or less neutral to the On/Off dial, along with the Shutter Release button. More on Sports Score, Copyright 2008-2023 DXOMARK. To learn more about cookies, including how to disable them, view our. I really like the way Nikon designed the Shooting Mode dial instead of the traditional rotary dial with a lock, this one is a switch that goes from Single (S) shooting mode to Mirror Lock-Up (Mup). Yes. Well, I believe the D3X has a foldable Ai indexing tab. Simply press the button with the left index finger and use the middle and thumb fingers to rotate the dial. How does it all roll into the shooting experience? The pentaprism bump stands. Nikon D5 (or D4 or D4s) for full-frame sports photography at a lower price than the D6. While thats certainly not the case (since it is similar to the Nikon D600/D610 in size/bulk), I do agree with one thing the Df was definitely made to be used with smaller primes instead of large and heavy lenses. there were only 3 of us for photo 2 so technically the class shouldnt have gone but it did because 2 of us were seniors and everyone else dropped the last day before break first semester. The 'pull-to-change' buttons should be changed to 'push' or maybe just have spring-detents; whichever and wherever they are.2. Sign in or create an account to access your information. Looking at the front of the Df, I realize that there was just no place to put it the left side is already occupied with the timer light, while the right side has the front dial. 20.8 is just under the 24 megapixel standard and a far cry from the 45.7 megapixels of the Nikon D850.. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR Lens The Ultimate Indoor Action Sports Zoom Lens The Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens is an extremely impressive and one of the best zoom lenses - the 70-200mm range works well for many indoor sports purposes. In summary, Nikon should have done a better job of implementing the retro design and should have completely eliminated the PASM dial to make the controls more meaningful and usable. They are kept for good reasons. Compared to a DSLR, the sensor on the Sony A7R/A7 is really close to the mount, located approximately in the middle of the camera (in width). The Nikon Df is designed exclusively for taking still photos, enabling high reliability, advanced functions and elegant camera control in our thinnest, lightest FX-format D-SLR. The Df has the same sensor as the top of the line Nikon D4. In this case, set the AF-C Priority Selection to RELEASE, AF-Area Mode to DYNAMIC AREA AF (21 points) and Focus Tracking with lock-on to 3 (normal). A thin implement is needed to push down the lock pin and access the battery slot. While the AF system is not as robust as the one on the D4/D800 and the Df is limited to 5.5 fps, it can still do a very good job, as demonstrated in the shots above. AF-C Priority Selection should be set to RELEASE or FOCUS + RELEASE, AF-Area Mode to DYNAMIC AREA AF (9 points) and Focus Tracking with lock-on to 3 (normal) to 5 (long). Hence, writing a review a week or two or even a month after handling the camera is something I try to avoid doing. Every lens, including the new ones, has it's own particular set of strengths and weaknesses. Dedicated mechanical dials for shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, exposure mode and release mode let you focus on what mattersachieving your creative vision. Owned a D700 and now only use the DF. As we got closer and closer to the release date, enthusiasts from all over the world started speculating on the features of the yet to be released Nikon Df and pointed at possibilities of seeing a mirrorless camera, electronic viewfinder and a myriad of other technologies we now come to expect from modern mirrorless cameras. Nikon D7500 "Real World Review" the BEST Beginner Sports / Nature Photography Camera? PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels, By Nasim Mansurov 109 CommentsLast Updated On April 30, 2023. The metering system is the same 2016-pixel 3D Matrix Metering & Scene Recognition System that's found in the . For her, it was a frustrating experience that made her return to the D3s pretty quickly. ?what you manufacturers are thinking?? There is no way to make that PCB super small, as there are lots of components housed on it. After reading this review and all these comments, I'm very excited to purchase the Df as my first full frame camera. When my good friend Tom Redd called me for a photo shoot a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take the Nikon Df and test it out with my favorite Nikkor 300mm f/4D lens.
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