Hilarious review of the Nikon Df

Meanwhile, I still adore my F100.

I shoot an F5.

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Hissy fit. Thatā€™s the phrase I was looking for, thank you.
Oy. The pedants are drawn to BB like flies.

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I watched the video. I think the boing boing blurb mocking the controls is a little bit out of context, and makes it seem like the whole video is going to be clueless and dismissive. If you want to see the useful tl;dw, skip to 6:36, where he says:

I mean, this is a modern digital camera that tries to be like an old classic film camera, something that will reignite your excitement for photography. The classicnessā€¦ the manualnessā€¦ but itā€™s not quite right. The Nikon Fm just concentrated on the basics of photography, and this kind of complicated. ā€¦ This feels like it could have been something a bit more, but itā€™s disappointing. Disappointing Fusion.

Also, earlier in the video he notes that Fujifilmā€™s X100 really does this right ā€” designed to function, not just look. This is much more interesting than just complaining that buttons and dials seem like antique control mechanisms.

Mike Brady is a famed American architect and renowned for his parenting skills. Your perception is your own.

Well, camera shake if youā€™re shooting at a shutter speed where camera shake is an issue. When youā€™re shooting in bright daylight (as he appears to be in the picture), thatā€™s usually not too much of a concern.

Edit: Also, I love the guys at DigitalRev.

If you have the money to afford a nice modern camera then you donā€™t worry about camera shake much since the camera will have shake reduction, Fast auto-focus and high sensitivity for fast shutter speeds. however, if you are more like me your shooting with an old Pentax DSLR with out any of those features. Also if your like me, you canā€™t afford new expensive lenses so you buy old school manual lenses and you have switched out your focusing screen for one with a split prism you extracted from an even older manual film camera and trimmed to fit in your DSLR. In my case your words are sage advice and the people that donā€™t see the value in them are missing out on part of the photography experience and a good challenge as well. On the other hand they are also getting more shots with less frustration from having missed the moment. Finding really nice old lenses in vintage shops and thrift stores is almost as thrilling as getting a perfect shot. My last score was a 300mm f3 for $95.00 and before that it was a 135mm f2.5 for $50.00.

Oh, and unsurprisingly, Ken Rockwell loves it. He calls it a reissue of the Nikon FE, as opposed to the FM (or F3 as mentioned upthread). What I love, though, is how he says itā€™s worth buying because ofā€¦ and Iā€™m quoting hereā€¦ MAGIC.

If youā€™re a casual buyer who selects a camera based on features, price, specifications and test reports, get a Nikon D610 instead for less money. The Df is a camera for those who appreciate magic; if you donā€™t understand the importance of magic, youā€™re probably not a very good photographer and certainly will never understand the raison dā€™ĆŖtre of the Df. Yes, the D610 costs less and does more ā€” but who wants to shoot a plastic camera?

Oh, Ken. Yes, who buys a camera for what it can DO? Instead, buy a camera for how it makes you FEEL.

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With really long lenses or wildlife photography there still is a great need to reduce camera shake and give the VR less problem shake to have to fight.

There are all sorts of experimental setups and get up where you can be pushing the edge and shake is your enemy in getting a great shot. Itā€™s great to know how to reduce camera shake.

I shoot left hand under lens for all but the smallest lenses, arms into body, legs slightly apart, eyebrow on top of camera eye guard (yep itā€™s a real point of contact for stability), and right hand gripping adjusting and triggering. I am the tripod.

I donā€™t require other people to shoot this way. But itā€™s good to know. I can even see where digital Revā€™s casual street photography requires a more casual camera hold.

This review makes me wonder if I should get a D7100 or D7000 to replace my very trusty D90. The Canon Hardcore durability test -almost- makes me wonder if I should switch brands.

I shoot with the strap wrapped around my right hand/forearm and behind the elbow for tension. It locks my hand where i need it, fingers free for Nikon-style Aperture and Shutter speed adjustment, mode and DPoF view button pressing. Every model of Nikon I shoots the same, ask they essentially have the same layout D3, D800, F5.

Well, in his defense, thatā€™s pretty much the conclusion of the ā€œreviewā€.
The guy is hardly an impartial reviewer, really. He clearly loves Nikon over Canon (understandably so) and makes sweeping statements about kits on a regular basis.
But when you get into the nitty gritty, itā€™s fairly accurate. People with a love for those old school camera will likely get a boner over this thing. Likely. Still doesnā€™t make it worth it.
I have a D7000 and if trading that for a full frame was in my near future, I wouldnā€™t even consider the DF, clearly the D610 is the best full frame for the money, but Iā€™d like to SHOOT the DFā€¦ :smile:

Oh yeah, I would absolutely love to play with a DF and shoot with one some time. But I could never justify buying one, unless money was no object. And if money is no object, Iā€™m going to be buying all kinds of silly things.

(and Iā€™m not sure who you mean by ā€œthe guyā€, and which review you are referring to. :))

The person I replied to quoted the Ken Rockwell review.
Iā€™m generally a Rockwell-supporter in that I like his siteā€¦ His writing makes me laugh sometimes. I donā€™t know why, but it comes through as though from someone that hasnā€™t had a real job in a long time. Not that thatā€™s a bad thing, real jobs can suck balz.

Glad to be of service.

And itā€™s probably a lovely body. Iā€™ll make my sacrifices to get something digital, but if it works for you etc.
(And we probably both know all sides of that debate, so letā€™s not.)

ā€¦ although I hadnā€™t opened it in a while, and have just found a leaking battery. Uh oh.

My carryabout is the Sony RX100 Mk 2. Itā€™s a mini-phenomenon.

The person you replied to was me :stuck_out_tongue:

But weā€™re talking on a thread that is also for a review, so I wasnā€™t sure which review you were referring to. But any way, yes - Ken Rockwell is definitely a known Nikon fanboy (which is why I included the ā€œunsurprisinglyā€ in my comment), but in general he can be a huge fanboy of just about everything. Lol. In his review of the 5D mk he calls it ā€œthe worldā€™s best digital SLRā€. Of course, then he got the D4 and said it left the 5D mk III in the dust. :slight_smile: But thatā€™s just how he rolls. I love reading his stuff, as he generally does have some interesting things to say, but you certainly have to read him with a giant grain of salt.

Oh, right. Whoops. Old age and such.
On the D7000 (which I have) - ā€œThe D7000 is Nikonā€™s most advanced camera at any price. The fact that it sells for under $1,000 in 2012 make it a no-brainer, which is why itā€™s sold out. The D7000 is Nikonā€™s best DSLR everā€
hahaha
Although, the fact you can get factory refurb of this body for like 600 bucks now makes this a steal and a half.
My friend bought one first when it first came out having had the D90 which I didnā€™t care for (mainly for the menu system, etcā€¦) and when I finally got a chance to shoot his, I fell in love with it.
If anyone is on the fence about getting a ā€œprosumerā€ level SLR right now (not full frame), the above mentioned body should be on your short list. Full frame, a refurb D600.

Yeah. He pretty much loves everything, for the most part. But thatā€™s not a big surprise, since he makes money off referrals from his site.

The D7000 looks pretty fantastic, if I ever get a new DSLR Iā€™d probably be going full frame (and thus the 610), but the 7000 is awesome as well.

Iā€™m actually looking at getting a high end compactā€¦ Something like an RX100 mk II I think. Getting rid of the current SLR (a Canon 60Dā€¦ Itā€™s ok) because itā€™s too cumbersome to bring it with me anywhere (the joys of having small kids).

That Sony is bad ass. I want oneā€¦