Price drop on the DF.

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spazoid1965

New member
It's a niche product I wish I could afford. Maybe I'll find one on the used market a few years down the road. The fact that it doesn't take videos doesn't bother me. The statement rocketman made, "...bad af module..". Means little to the people who want this camera. Those of us with NO auto-focus lenses are the ones wanting a Df.
 
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Retro

Senior Member
I like the idea of the Df, but my understanding is that the marketing people ruined it - the people at Nikon who wanted to put video in the camera, and had to be told "No!" They didn't get everything they wanted with the Df, but they got enough to ruin the concept.

I want a digital FE2, and the Df could have been that, but the engineers need to be given a department in a basement where marketing people aren't allowed to even know what's going on. Release the camera before they know anything about it. I know some won't want AF, just like I don't want video. I guess I would still love it. It would be a true digital FE2, but I would love a digital F100 as well. Put video in it and forget it. I may as well just have a D750. I intend to buy a D750, but I would also like a digital FE2, or F100. I thought the whole point was retro styling, dials, and to be just a purist camera. If a digital FE2 was their goal, it is way overpriced. That kind of camera should be priced about the same as a D7200, or less.

If I worked at Nikon, I'd slam the door in those marketers' faces. You can cater to the (m)asses, or you can build a camera for the purist - the ones who mastered their FE2 back in the day and wouldn't even look at any modern features. I still don't get it - why can't they just put a high quality FX sensor in an FE2 and ship it? AF would be nice, but we don't need anything else. If you want video, buy a D750. Leave the Df alone. It's a moot point now. They ruined the concept. Maybe they'll get it right with a Df2. Go chase after your latest a greatest tech, and I'll buy an FM2.
 
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Retro

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
The Df is the Nikon camera I love to hate.
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I either read a review of it, or saw a video review, that outlined the modern features it should not have had, and which ruined the whole concept of it. I barely remember it now, but it left me with a very bad impression, and I dismissed the camera because of it. It's kind of like the Chrysler Pacifica. The Chrysler people couldn't make up their minds what the vehicle should be or who it should be marketed to, and it was just an embodiment of contradictions. It was built at our plant, and most of us were glad to see it end.

To make the Df a success, Nikon had to ignore everyone who would compare it to other DSLRs, because anyone who would do that doesn't get the point. But they couldn't do that. I'm pretty sure the Df started out on the drawing board as a digital F4 or F6, but through its evolution, and with unfortunate input from those whose job was to make a product marketable, it took on modern attributes which spelled its ruin. I like the idea of AF, but I could live without it. Modern features should have been kept to a bare minimum. What is really sad is that because of Nikon's brain farts, the Df has become little more than a hipster accessory. Grow your bushman beard, wear a girly slouch beanie, wrap a scarf around your neck, and carry a Df. Cool.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Retro said:
I either read a review of it, or saw a video review, that outlined the modern features it should not have had, and which ruined the whole concept of it. I barely remember it now, but it left me with a very bad impression, and I dismissed the camera because of it. It's kind of like the Chrysler Pacifica. The Chrysler people couldn't make up their minds what the vehicle should be or who it should be marketed to, and it was just an embodiment of contradictions. It was built at our plant, and most of us were glad to see it end.

To make the Df a success, Nikon had to ignore everyone who would compare it to other DSLRs, because anyone who would do that doesn't get the point. But they couldn't do that. I'm pretty sure the Df started out on the drawing board as a digital F4 or F6, but through its evolution, and with unfortunate input from those whose job was to make a product marketable, it took on modern attributes which spelled its ruin. I like the idea of AF, but I could live without it. Modern features should have been kept to a bare minimum. What is really sad is that because of Nikon's brain farts, the Df has become little more than a hipster accessory. Grow your bushman beard, wear a girly slouch beanie, wrap a scarf around your neck, and carry a Df. Cool.
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Wow. That post is totally spot-on and mirrors my feeling's precisely. I simply could not agree more.

At the college, we use the phrase, "design by committee".
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C

carguy

Senior Member
I love it personally. Then again I'm a fan of modern items with the retry look/feel.
Once the used prices come down a bit, I'll have one eventually :)
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
One thing this Df has for itself is the D4 sensor. The color depth and feel is different from others. I can't specifically pinpoint the difference, but I know there is.

lac des nations.jpg
 
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