Nikon Showcase Post Nikon Df Photos

Retow, Love that last shot. I have the new Nikon 58/1.4; it's not the Noct Nikkor, but it renders beautifully. I studied samples from it and they reminded me a lot of the Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm I love so much. Demo'ed it and indeed it's close. Not the exact same rendering, but very close. Just beautiful, especially for people shots. I am simply loving the B&W conversions I'm getting from the Df. There is something immensely satisfying about them. It's been years since I shot with a FF camera, and it's nice to have one again. Realized how much I miss the DoF options, particularly with people shots.

For me at this point these are just tools and each one is unique and has a purpose. For most of my my tree/foliage pictures the APS or 4/3 sensor probably works best. For extreme DoF focused on single subjects or people the FF works best.

With the 58/1.4 on the Df it officially becomes the antithesis of a compact! But this morning I plan to take a quick forest walk with the DP2M, which I broke back out last night since it was not selling, and recent pictures from it have reminded me of its unique rendering.

I'll have more Df pictures very soon.
 
Interesting how DPReview seemed somewhat negative on the Df, but gave it 81 percent which is quite good. From what I read here it looks very good.
 
Thanks for that. What I find striking is the comparative top and rear views; I could pick up and use the Nikon effectively in minutes, the Pentax would take a little more figuring out, and the Sony... :confused:

Sent from another Galaxy
 
If I put a small 50 mm on my M Monochrom then I suppose I could see a significant size advantage over the Df, but with a f0.95 lens on the MM the line gets blurred, and you start looking at the more important differences like what's in that top center housing on the Df and what it can do. I hear that Leica 'M' owners get a form of live view, but with the MM I not only don't get live view I don't even have a focusing screen, and DOF with the f0.95 lens is hair-thin in most situations. I've avoided DSLRs for years, but with the Df I'm starting to un-thaw a little.
 
dalethorn, the Df has definitely created an "un-thaw" with me but not so that I want anything bigger. The manual controls and the great high ISO are the main attractions for me. It is also light in weight, but understand that I have been a Nikon shooter for years and already had on hand several Nikon lenses when makes the purchase less costly in my case. However, on this site it is a little out of place which explains why there is not much interest in this forum thread. That is fine. The Df does not have focus peeking which I have not missed but some might find that a deal breaker for manual focus lenses, especially with hair-thin dof fast lenses.
 
I understand those ultra-shallow DOFs alright - I have a Leica Noctilux, and in that case I've found a different way to focus to get around the hard-to-see rangefinder, especially in dim light. I guess the distance, peer through the little window, then step back and forward until it has a sharp look. It sounds crazy I'll bet, but better than nothing. I'm guessing with the Df, something like that may work pretty well given a better viewfinder. Maybe not so good when many objects in the frame are at different distances. I expected the Df to be heavy - surprised it's not. The thing that interests me the most is the direction all this is taking - the manufacturers are realizing that ergonomics aren't always dictated by reviewers at the big sites. I see more Df's in the near future in different configurations and sizes.
 
Shot raw, very little tweaking of contrast, sharpness and definition in aperture. In Nr2, I pulled up the shadows a bit. The sensor in the Df is really something special, equally suited for color and B&W.
 
about mf options: my understanding is it operates like a lot of FF dslrs in that it does have a green focus confirm light in the vf, just like my old 5d. that always worked great; is it somehow problematic on the DF?
 
I have started a project to publish a picture a day for 365 days with the Nikon Df. I have never tried this kind of project before and already on the sixth day (I started Jan. 6th) it is a challenge. The pictures can be seen here: http://danwrayphoto.com/nikon-df/

These look pretty good. You'll have a few down the line that you'll look at later and say "why did I do that?", but you'll have some gems too. And that's what we're waiting for.
 
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