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The Df is in Japan..

rayyan

Well-known member
Almost a month and a half. My Df started giving me problems when I was planning my vacation.

The much vaulted sensor, started showing noticeable noise in the shadows at low iso. I ignored it. Thing got worse. iso 3200 and 6400 became unusable .

much before that, i stated noticing miss focus in a few shots. Went through the exercise to fine tune af. It was all over the place.with G lenses.

I was prepared to put up with the lousy focussing screen, which I found difficult
to focus with manual lenses. Things got worse. The rangefinder was way off. When it said it was in focus..it never was.

I struggled for some more time..and then it went to the Nikon dealer. #/4 days they said. After a week..we sent it to Dubai ( the ME service center ).

A month went by, nothing. I returned from my vacation..where is my Df?
Very sorry, it is on the way. We think it had to go to Japan.

I have unpacked my D700. The battery is charging. Feels like a long lost friend.
The best Nikon ever made. Heavy, but balanced. CAF..more than enough for most
applications. Burst speed, high iso, excellent viewfinder ( way better than the Df ).

Welcome home D700. You were missed.

p.s imho, the Df is all talk and no bull.
 
I am a DF fan myself, but I have to say...former owner. The D750 was too attractive for me and my weddings. And I didn't know what I was missing as far as AF goes. The Df would consistently miss focus at distances >10ft with the 58/1. The D750 smokes it every time, and the image output in normal light is incredible. Df still wins for low light.

I think there are two camps of people who wanted somethign from the DF and neither got it. First was a D700 replacement. I just think because of the inherent design it can't be that. The 51af point would have helped but D700 users need more in the way of performance features and honestly those are served in the D750/D810 right now.

The 2nd camp are Leica type people, FM2N users. I would LOVE to see a uber simplified DF. Get rid of P/S modes and stick to A & M only, w/ auto ISO. Simplify, simplify, simplify! After you set it up, you should have little to no reason to go into the menu. The 31pt system is ok, but it needs tweaking for accuracy. We need a REAL focusing screen that shows you at least f2 DoF.

For a hot take, I would be ok with an EVF camera with an F mount if they could bring the size back to FM2N proportions. I manually focus more accurately on the A7 than I ever did on the DF. In fact the A7 is more DF to me with Contax glass than my DF actually was...
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Every time I plan to sell the D700, these posts about how great a camera it is appears. I guess I'll take it for a spin the coming weekend, and... I guess I'll decide to keep it again :)
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Speedgraphic, Jorgen.

I shall visit my Nikon pusher and try out the D750. The Ms are almost as heavy, less bulky. But for me a dslr still is the right option..I think.

During my recent trip, I was missing focus so many times with my M that I stopped using
it. Eyesight has gone to the dogs.

Any views?
 

Lars

Active member
Hmm was just about to let my D700 go to finance a D810. It won't fetch that much, maybe I should just keep it as a second body.

That Xpan OTOH... love/hate it, never use it. Time for it to go.
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Lars, imho, hold on to your D700. It can run circles around some of the current
fads.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Hmm was just about to let my D700 go to finance a D810. It won't fetch that much, maybe I should just keep it as a second body.

That Xpan OTOH... love/hate it, never use it. Time for it to go.
I still have the D700 and the D810, and there are things that the D700 does better. I have mostly used it for occasions when I don't need or want the large files of the D810, like events and family photography. It's also very good for sports, since it's faster and the high ISO files cleaner (I think). There's also a certain "shine" to the files. They simply look nice. I guess I'll keep it. The D700/D810/F6 trio might be enough for the rest of my life, or until I can't carry that much :)

X-Pan.... my dream, but I never seem to want it enough to buy one. I do love the wide aspect ratio though.
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Still have my D700 as well - same situation - each time I wanted to sell it.... need to take it out for a spin again.
 
The 750 has been a great all rounder for me. A great balance of a lot of different things from resolution to af performance. 25mp is more than enough for me. I might get a D810 if there is a screaming sale at some point, but only because it would be prudent for me to have another modern Nikon body. I do miss the 'pro' button layout of the 700/810, but the grip and size of the 750, combined with the fact that its just is a no-bullsh*t get the job done camera, has been an even trade. The images are beautiful too. I actually had kind of a wow moment after opening my first set of files. Of course, the 58/1.4G helps with this. ;)

If you need the pixels then by all means get an 810, otherwise the 750 is a very fine professional SLR.

I've been meaning to get an F6 now that they're so cheap...
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Minor curves, and crop; D700, 85/1.8 G, in-camera mono jpg, resized...




I think I shall hang on to this.:)
 

Lars

Active member
I still have the D700 and the D810, and there are things that the D700 does better. I have mostly used it for occasions when I don't need or want the large files of the D810, like events and family photography. It's also very good for sports, since it's faster and the high ISO files cleaner (I think). There's also a certain "shine" to the files. They simply look nice. I guess I'll keep it. The D700/D810/F6 trio might be enough for the rest of my life, or until I can't carry that much :)

X-Pan.... my dream, but I never seem to want it enough to buy one. I do love the wide aspect ratio though.
The center-weighted metering on the Xpan is extremely frustrating if you shoot slide film. Your typical outdoors scene would include some sky and some foreground, and the meter would completely change the exposure with a tiny tilt of the camera. I guess I'm either spoiled with matrix metering or used to spot metering with LF.

Your approval of the D700/D810 is making me decide, I think. It makes sense to have a backup camera, I'll get maybe $1000 for my D700 (20K exp), what else would I get for that money?

F6 is not for me though - I'm used to the real estate of 8x10. That 150XL resolves as much on film as some of my Nikon lenses, but over a 400 mm image circle. I can never be happy with the resolution of 35mm film again.

Now, what was this thread about again? :D
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Swissblad, thanks.

Lars, yes this thread was about all of us deciding whether or not to ditch the D700 :D

I got me a sandwich today, a simple one..same set-up as before but a 100% crop


Went downstairs..


Honestly, fast acquisition and lock-on. Didn't miss a beat...
 

Lars

Active member
That's a beautiful sandwich :)

Another reason to keep the D700 is that I have a grip and the battery and charger from my D2X, so I get the faster frame rate.
It's not just the frame rate BTW - with the 11V battery focusing and shutter mechanism are faster as well.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I am quite happy with the DF vs the D700.
its smaller sized body, I like the analog user interface, and the freedom of high ISO (d700 wasnt bad in this regard as well).
nothing wrong with the d700, but I also dig the df, dont mind the somewhat slower AF etc. at the moment.
I mainly use f1.4 primes which also allow me to phocus manually if I want to.
 
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