NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: Mike G on June 24, 2015, 19:59:50
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Just an observation but the Nikon Df seems to be very popular with you Nordic chaps ;D
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Some use it, some don't. The majority here as elsewhere are not Df enthusiasts.
Extrapolating from a sample is always fraught with difficulties.
However, for me it is the overall best DSLR ever used by me. Certainly the D800/810 class is the most impressive in sheer image quality if you count pixels, but there is more to the final image than that. Good tools that make you want to go out shooting are invaluable. For me, the Df brings back sheer enjoyment into my daily photographic life. So do I care if other people don't feel the same way? Not for a second.
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Excuse my ignorance Bjørn - but - the DF is your favourite. And I get the impression UV /IR too - so can one do that with the DF or do you need a converted body for those things?
sorry but my knowledge of the subject is non-existent.
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I use a range of other cameras for UV or IR. A single camera design won't cut all the required corners. And yes, those cameras are indeed converted for the purpose. Either they are "broad band" meaning there is no internal filter at all, or they have been adapted by putting a UV or IR-transmitting filter inside.
The broad-band converted cameras are in some aspects the most versatile, as you can precisely define their spectral range by external filtering over the lens. However, that restricts what lens you can deploy as most special filters only come in a restricted size ange and/or are horribly expensive.
Will I at a future point in time convert a Df? Probably, and then as an IR body.
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thanks for the info - that is what I thought - but since you are such a DF fan - I was becoming a tad confused.
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I prefer to have the appropriate tools to my disposal, no matter what label or reputation they might carry. To wit, over a long period I shot most of my UV with the very humble D40x, which actually is a darned fine camera and severely underrated like so many other low-end models. Øivind Tøien tells me the D40x is about the only camera used by him to function flawlessly in -40C.
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Have I understood right that the D200 is a suitable candidate also?
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Yes and no. The D200 is getting a little long in the tooth now for UV, as it doesn't handle high ISO well. However, it still is a mighty fine camera for IR.
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Jakov and I shoot IR with D200 :)
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And the newer entry level bodies? D3200? D5200?
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I'm using a D3200 for UV and a D5300 for IR. Studio work in UV: D600. product shots in studio: D2H. UV video: Panasonic GH-2. Everything else: nearly always the Df. Or a D800 if high resolution is mandatory. The 1 Nikons for pleasure, underwater, or just playing around. If the mood really hits me, the Fuji S3 for various UV, multiband, or IR.
Sometimes I open another cupboard and extract various older Nikons such as D40x, D200, or even the D2X.
The limiting factor for travelling is reducing the number of different battery types and associated chargers. Good grief. What a headache. I have a big box with all those chargers in. Easy to put in a car, impossible to haul onto an airplane.
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quick reply to original question : I have become a Df fan (despite OM-D and D800). I happen to be from the North - well, northern France. Correlation is not causation though.
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Ain't that the truth.
As always.
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Please don't get worked up, it was just something that occurred to me!
Airy you and I don't qualify as Nordic. ;)
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We all are Europeans ...
I think the first observation, namely, that Nordic Df users prevail, might not be entirely correct. Thus any further discussion equals a dog chasing its tail :D
For me, the Nikon Df is the nicest DSLR I ever used. It is far from perfect for which I'm very thankful.
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Bjorn, I never said that Nordic Df users prevail, that is your interpretation not mine. JUST that it seems popular with you Nordic people, take a look at your own triple selfie!
Don't read any more into my casual observation.
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Sorry Mike .... just a side line comment.
As elsewhere, some of us up here in the North like that camera. In the triple selfie, there are two Df's, one is mine and the other belongs to Jakov. While he is a laid-back über-cool kind of guy, he definitively isn't Nordic !
I spoke about the actual Df sales with one of my Nikon Nordic contacts and he claimed the camera had sold 'reasonably well and above expectations', but wouldn't go into actual sales figure.
However, just like with the Nikon D2H in its day, there are very few Df cameras on the second-hand market. That might indicate the buyers do keep their cameras over time. Second-hand D3S cameras have also seen a shortage probably for the same reason.
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Thank you Bjorn, there must be a reason the Df is popular, if I hadn't gone down the D810 route I might well have bought one myself and then I could have joined my Nordic cousins! Funnily I have just rewatched the film "The Vikings" purely coincidental. ;D
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The Df split the photoghraphic community into two camps. Either it is suitable for you and then you like it - a lot - or it isn't for you and then people complain vhehemently about what the Df is not and what features that are left out. Such as video, for example. They are less concerned about what the Df is or the photographic approach it manifests, though. Each to their own.
Again it bears to be repeated that Nikon never thought the Df to be a replacement for any of their camera models. It is an augmentation to the Nikon range of DSLRs.
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Do i think the viewfinder leaks on the mirror
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/560/17859843363_d80e7468a0_b.jpg)
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Almost any SLR/DSLR can show some light leak through the finder if pushed hard enough. The universal solution is either to close the ocular shutter if it exists, or hold your hand close to the eye piece during the exposure.
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With the backlit situation in this image, it is more likely flare reflected in the mirror box. Basically the same issue as the one that caused so much stir for the D750, but can be found on many other bodies too under the "right" conditions.
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long exposure with ir720 filter on
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3666/18635644690_06c78ca836_b.jpg)
banding iso 6400 with ir720 filter
(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/504/18739582116_3933e115e6_b.jpg)
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Using a Df for IR (sic) can safely be categorised as "pushing hard to get outside the box" !!
Fons: have you tried to cover the entire camera with some black cloth - something a la the focusing cover we used for the view cameras in the ancient time of film?
Øivind: the light contamination is 'focused' so my guess it is entering from behind, through the ocular. Light bouncing around inside the mirror box should rather give a hot spot of a Gaussian nature.
Swathing the camera in black should provide the answer. Just test that the fabric blocks IR first ....
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This is the issue I was talking about, seems somewhat similar.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d750/9
The viewfinder seems a lot more likely light entry point for the IR issue, however. ;D
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Birna...my heart obviously belong to Nikon. I am back!
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Welcome back ;) Enjoy! Looking forward to see some shots!
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Here it is...makes me feel like home again!
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A settled mind is a good thing to have, nice to see you and Df :)
Tom
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Congrats! 8)