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What's The BEST Nikon Body for Manual Focusing Lenses?

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BruceSD:
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To me, the biggest issue of using manual focus lenses on modern digital camera bodies is focus accuracy.   I exclusively shoot fast, manual focus lenses wide open, and I miss focus far too often when using an older DSLR without magnified live view.

For example, I can only focus my D700 and D200 using the viewfinder.   I have a 1.5x - 2.5x magnifying viewfinder on each of them, but that makes for an awkward camera to hold, it slows down my shooting protocol, and I still miss critical focus far too often.

But I seem to nail focus most of the time when using my Z6 camera body because of magnified live view on the back LCD.   

Besides the Nikon Z Mirrorless Camera bodies, are there any Nikon DSLR bodies out there that I could shoot that would increase my in focus hit rate?   

Ian Watson:
Probably not without changing the focusing screen. Have a look at focusingscreen.com He should have something you like for one of your DSLRs.

If you feel handy, buy a screen for an F6 and file it to fit one of your bodies.

BruceSD:
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Thank you Ian for the suggestion.  I have tried focusing screens from that company, and they did not help enough.

Roland Vink:
A lot of people like using the Z cameras with manual focus lenses. The ability of the viewfinder to magnify the image, and/or focus peaking, and a brighter image in darker conditions should make accurate focusing easier.

If you want to stay with F-mount cameras, the Df is known for having a good viewfinder screen for manual focus lenses. The lower resolution is a good match for many older manual lenses, and likely hides small focus errors which would be apparent on higher resolution cameras.

The D780 has live view similar to the Z6 camera. You would have to focus using the rear LCD, so not very practical. The optical viewfinder is probably not much different from other DSLRs.

No direct experience with any of these options though...

golunvolo:
Roland explained it already very well.
My experience with manual focus was very bad on earlier bodies like d200 and d700. Changed the focusing screen on the d700 to a split one. It was a little bit better but not with wide open fast lenses. Live View helps a lot but it is awkward to use normally.
I haven't tried the df.
Move to present day and it is very easy to nail the focus with 100% magnification on the viewfinder with the z bodies. I haven't miss since I got then.
My 2 cents.

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