Brief introduction..

[grant.goodes]

I am a primarily Nikon shooter, starting with my first setup in 1983 or so: An FE, AI'ed 24/2.8 N.C., and an AiS 105/2.5. As with almost all my equipment, this was purchased used from camera stores and pawn shops. I was living in Denmark at the time, which was VERY expensive for camera gear, so this was purchased in my birth-place of Toronto from pawn shops and the used department of the many local camera stores. I eventually upgraded to my first new body, an FE2 bought as old-stock after it was officially discontinued. After my 24/2.8 N.C. seized up on a trip to Paris (probably just needed a CLA, but I didn't realize that), I bought a 24/2 AiS, and that lens became my main-shooter (about 70% of my photography).

I also bought a used Plaubel Makina 670 just after it was discontinued (and before the prices shot up), and that is the only film camera I still use to this day. Due to aging eyes, and the cost of film processing, I finally switched to digital a few years ago, buying a Df just before it was discontinued (having given up on the prospect of a Df2). I have a small number of AF lenses (notably a 18/2.8D, 28/1.4D, and 105/2 DC), but continue to enjoy my small stable of MF lenses. With the advent of Z-mount and the continuing collapse of prices for older F-mount Nikkors, I have fallen into temptation to purchase "fun" lenses that I don't really need, and now find myself with seven 105mm Nikkors of various vintages, all the way back to the original Sonnar design.

Mirrorless interests me, especially with better support for focus confirmation on fast MF glass, but until there is support for AF-D (if ever!), I'm sticking with my Df even with all its flaws.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

From a Canadian on the west coast, welcome to Photrio!

 

[koraks]

Welcome aboard @grant.goodes !

 

[MattKing]

Welcome!

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I am a primarily Nikon shooter, starting with my first setup in 1983 or so: An FE, AI'ed 24/2.8 N.C., and an AiS 105/2.5. As with almost all my equipment, this was purchased used from camera stores and pawn shops. I was living in Denmark at the time, which was VERY expensive for camera gear, so this was purchased in my birth-place of Toronto from pawn shops and the used department of the many local camera stores. I eventually upgraded to my first new body, an FE2 bought as old-stock after it was officially discontinued. After my 24/2.8 N.C. seized up on a trip to Paris (probably just needed a CLA, but I didn't realize that), I bought a 24/2 AiS, and that lens became my main-shooter (about 70% of my photography).

I also bought a used Plaubel Makina 670 just after it was discontinued (and before the prices shot up), and that is the only film camera I still use to this day. Due to aging eyes, and the cost of film processing, I finally switched to digital a few years ago, buying a Df just before it was discontinued (having given up on the prospect of a Df2). I have a small number of AF lenses (notably a 18/2.8D, 28/1.4D, and 105/2 DC), but continue to enjoy my small stable of MF lenses. With the advent of Z-mount and the continuing collapse of prices for older F-mount Nikkors, I have fallen into temptation to purchase "fun" lenses that I don't really need, and now find myself with seven 105mm Nikkors of various vintages, all the way back to the original Sonnar design.

Mirrorless interests me, especially with better support for focus confirmation on fast MF glass, but until there is support for AF-D (if ever!), I'm sticking with my Df even with all its flaws.

Welcome. I have a 105 f/2.5 on order. hope to convert it to AI. What's your beef with the Df? I'm thinking of getting one; any warnings?

 

[mshchem]

Welcome to the forum

 

[grant.goodes]

Welcome. I have a 105 f/2.5 on order. hope to convert it to AI. What's your beef with the Df? I'm thinking of getting one; any warnings?

On the 105/2.5 non-AI: Which model are you getting? I recently purchased a silver-nose/Sonnar with the 234140 - 286451 serial number range because it came with a factory AI kit so I don't have to use stop-down metering on my Df. My copy has seen some use, but is still a beautiful piece of metal and glass, mechanically and optically perfect. I got it because I was interested to try out the original Sonnar design (replaced by the Xenotar design in 1971 and onwards), and the price was right (barely over $100).

As for the Df: It is _nearly_ a perfect camera. Where it works:

• Classic look & feel (like my FE2) rather than a plastic blob
  • I think it looks beautiful, particularly the silver "panda" model
• Nikon's most compact DSLR
• No Video mode (I only shoot stills)
• Flip-out aperture follower tab, so it will mount non-AI lenses
• Really long battery life
• Adequate (for me) 16.2mp sensor (from the D4)

Where it falls down:

• AF sensor is derived from the older D610
  • AF struggles with some lenses e.g. my 105/2 DC
  • Focus-confirmation with fast MF lenses is unreliable
  • Could _really_ have used an update to the sensor from the newer D800 series
• No factory option for a split-prism focus-screen
  • Given unreliable focus-confirmation, MF lenses could _really_ use this
  • Aftermarket supplied some options, but they are hard to find now
• Shutter-speed and exposure-compensation dials have mechanical interlocks
  • For such commonly used features, I would have preferred no lock!
  • Drive-mode (CH/CL) setting tends to change when you adjust the shutter-speed
• Front command dial is vertical, not horizontal
  • Awkward to use with one finger
• No proper Mirror Lock-up
  • Can't mount older, non-retro design fisheyes or my Voigtländer 15/4.5 Super Wide Heliar
  • Could easily have been fixed with a SW update!
  • You _can_ use the LiveView hack to mount these lenses (since LiveView flips up the mirror), but it feels scary
• Overly complex, poorly organized menu system
  • VERY hard to find specific features without the manual
• Minor: Rubber grips delaminate (glue failure) after very little use
  • I purchased a new set (very cheaply) from Nikon before they ran out

A Df2 would almost certainly have updated the AF sensor, and perhaps tweaked some of the other UI issues. Alas, there was never another Nikon body that really embraced the film-era body-design the way the Df did (not even the Zf), so it is the only game in town. I do love my Df, and it has allowed me to transition to digital and AF without giving up my stable of MF Nikkors.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Welcome to Photrio!!

 

[ghostslice]

The 24/2 is a different animal from the 2.8 N.C.; faster obviously, but also just more committed as a shooting experience. Hard to go back once a wide lens at that speed becomes your default eye. Did the shift to the 24/2 change how you worked, or did it mostly just confirm what you were already doing with the 2.8?

 

[grant.goodes]

The 24/2 is a different animal from the 2.8 N.C.; faster obviously, but also just more committed as a shooting experience. Hard to go back once a wide lens at that speed becomes your default eye. Did the shift to the 24/2 change how you worked, or did it mostly just confirm what you were already doing with the 2.8?

Absolutely, the 24/2 was a different experience from the f/2.8 N.C. Firstly, as an AiS lens, the focus-throw was quite a bit shorter than the AI'ed N.C., so focussing was quicker, and the one stop faster view and reduced DOF meant it was easier to tell when the lens was in focus. In most cases, I would get better composed and focused shots because of that. I quickly found that wide-open was not the way to use the lens for sharpest results, but I _could_ shoot at f/2 and handhold a shot in dim light, or with slow-film (I shot a lot of Ektar 25), and still get the shot. In general, the 24/2 probably led me to shoot more at night and interiors (bars, clubs, etc). and because the lens was still small (in fact, probably the same weight as my 24/2.8 N.C.) locked the 24mm focal-length as my "normal" lens. I still used and enjoyed the 105/2.5, but the 24/2 was just "it" for me most of the time.

I still have the 24/2 (though I'm on my third HK-2 hood, due to a few hard-knocks at rock festivals and such), but it has been somewhat replaced by my 28/1.4D on the Df as my everyday wide-angle.