[Adam]

I've just posted the DB entry for the Nikon DF. Even though it looks somewhat bulky in the pictures, it's actually lighter than the K-3, surprisingly.

Nikon DF - Nikon DSLRs - Nikon Camera Database - Camera Database - NikonForums.com

Adam
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[Boris]

Let's hope that other manufacturers will follow this trend setting camera, and introduce similar models to their users. If I were Nikonian with enough money, I would certainly have been very tempted.

[rawr]

Eww. The SD card appears to sit alongside the battery on the bottom plate. You have to open the battery door to change SD cards.

Is that right? Some NEX's have similar. It's quite awkward sometimes.

[cmohr]

This should "SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" much have had a Pentax Logo on it.


Great looking camera, I've never wanted to jump ship from pentax for any other offering from any other manufacturer, but for this....

[konraDarnok]

Nikon Df First Impressions Review: Is this retro done right?: Digital Photography Review


Harsh preview.


And it's right. This is not the future. This is selling the past, whilst making the camera harder to use. Which is some trick. I played with my first Nikon this past weekend, a D7100, and that thing is an ergonomic nightmare. Uncomfortable to hold and incomprehensible menus -- the guy who owned it didn't even know how to operate it.


Meanwhile the glowing user reviews of the K-3 keep rolling in.

[konraDarnok]

it's actually lighter than the K-3, surprisingly.

Don't you wonder what's under that huge pentaprism hump? Considering it's just a crumby .7x viewfinder it must be mostly plastic filler.

[tuco]

I played with my first Nikon this past weekend, a D7100, and that thing is an ergonomic nightmare.

I don't question your experience. I do, however, question your understanding of the camera. I'll boldly say you can not understand a camera without spending some time with it. I own both a Pentax and Nikon DSLR. DSLRs have so many things to them we could argue back and forth about tiny detail one does better than the other. But in the end, you can successfully master either camera. There are some features on that D7100 menu I'm sure you didn't customize to actually make setting common things you do every day both really fast and convenient.

[richard balonglong]

I played with my first Nikon this past weekend, a D7100, and that thing is an ergonomic nightmare. Uncomfortable to hold and incomprehensible menus -- the guy who owned it didn't even know how to operate it.

You need to take some more time to hold, feel, and know more about your new Nikon camera because you were so used to Pentax's menus and lay-outing. For me, Nikon and Pentax have a lot in common in terms of operation and menus, even the lay-outing of buttons are similar.
And, about that guy you were talking about, there are a lot of them actually (and uses either any of the camera brands).

[RyanW]

I appreciate the external dials. I think Leica has had this right for a long time. The design and specs leave it off my list. If they wouldn't have run the pleather up the prism, it would have looked alot better. If they made this to the d700 specs other than the sensor it would sell.

It's strange to me. Nikon uses what many consider the best sensors an yet they keep botching their products in other ways. Shoddy AF, shutters that flip oil all about, poor service that's slower and more costly than Canon (read Roger Cicala's blog for the last point).

[Christine Tham]

I appreciate the external dials. I think Leica has had this right for a long time.

A Leica has virtually no controls on the body:


When using a Leica, you adjust aperture and focus on the lens, then you click on the shutter. Optionally you can also adjust shutter speed. *That* is pure photography.

The Nikon Df is actually the opposite of the Leica.

[tuco]

Optionally you can also adjust shutter speed. *That* is pure photography.

As a person who meters their own scene with a one-degree spot meter on medium and large format film, I'd argue you are missing a step toward that "pure photography" experience on a semi-automatic camera like that Leica.

[Nesster]

As a person who meters their own scene with a one-degree spot meter on medium and large format film, I'd argue you are missing a step toward that "pure photography" experience on a semi-automatic camera like that Leica.

as a person who uses no stinkin meter and no stinkin focus aid and no stinkin thermometer either, I'd argue that both of you are putting in several unnecessary steps toward that "pure photography" experience.

Thing is, what would a truly simple camera interface be like, one that allows one as much or as little input as one desires?

[aurele]

To me, Nikon tried two opposite things - top plate quite simple, back with a lot of controls - and i tend to think it won't be very efficient while in use, but that's just a pure ... speculation

And i have to say, i don't get the price, which is quite high, and appart the retro-thing, i don't see why it's so much better in term of feature (or usability) than say a D600.

[tuco]

as a person who uses no stinkin meter and no stinkin focus aid and no stinkin thermometer either, I'd argue that both of you are putting in several unnecessary steps toward that "pure photography" experience.

You forgot to mention you make your own chemicals to develop the film from scratch.

Thing is, what would a truly simple camera interface be like, one that allows one as much or as little input as one desires?

Yes, so true.

[tuco]

...
And i have to say, i don't get the price, which is quite high...

Nikon had a motto when they were making the camera; namely, less is more. The Market department heard that and complied. So they charged us more for less.