Debating Sony and Fuji for APS-C non-Nikon system

[paul_k]

The Df is extremely capable of low light AF, don't see how you should be able to buy something better - I would advise to keep the Df and add some compact low light lenses.

I agree that the AF of the DF is still very adequate even under low light conditions, on condition you then only use the center AF point.
Despite having a.o. f1.4 AFS lenses, I personally prefer to revert to manual focusing under bad light, using the central AF point and  the green AF point confirmation point in the viewfinder, as usually under bad light, the contrast gets too low to depend on the AF.

Actually a lot more comfortable then using the K type viewing screen in my F2 and FE in my film shooting catwalkshow days.
Being a poor student/starting photographer the longest lenses I could afford were the 4.5/80-200 AI and 4.5/300 ED AI (2.8 glass was a far away very expensive dream).
So when using these lenses, the central splitscreen part would blacken out under low light conditions, or when shooting with slow lens liek eg a 8/500mm mirror reflex lenses, leaving only the very thin microprism surrounding the splitscreen part for focusing

Personally I shoot Leica M9 if I need to be discrete,,, not easy in my size btw, discrete,,,

Tried my hand with a Leica rangefinder long ago (believe it was a M3) but never got used to the 'overlay' focusing system.
Indeed small and ideal for discrete photography though

[RobOK]

Despite having a.o. f1.4 AFS lenses, I personally prefer to revert to manual focusing under bad light, using the central AF point and  the green AF point confirmation point in the viewfinder, as usually under bad light, the contrast gets too low to depend on the AF.

This is good advice, I would have done better with MF.

[pluton]

I never carry out the Fujifilm XE-1 without a second battery in my pocket.  I own 4 batteries for this cam.  If I were traveling to remote locations with it, I'd bring 8 batteries.  I currently have 3 chargers for my 4 batteries.  If traveling, I'd add at least one more charger.  No midnight battery changes for me.
Btw, the Fuji batts (and, I assume M4/3 batts and all the other mirrorless batteries) are very small and easy to carry in a small pocket.
The one downside of the lower-end DSLRs, such as the Nikon D3xxx series, is that the finder is dim and low contrast and not generally usable for eye focusing...even in full daylight.
The now-primitive EVF in my early Fuji XE-1 is usable for eye focusing in bright light, although it is dim.  It is *claimed* that the newer Fuji bodies have a brighter EVF.  I have not made that comparison myself. 

[Erik Lund]

Thanks Dave, I had not heard of that. I was using guidance from this thread: http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,818.msg17331.html#msg17331

If the rubber grip seems fine, but is just coming off, do you see any need to replace it vs. just re-gluing it?

Thanks,
Rob.

The rubber grip can often expand, get out of shape, with heavy use,  so it will no longer fit correctly - Spare rubber grip, bottom, door and sides etc. with adhesive tape is available from Nikon as spare parts on E-Bay for instance, your Nikon Service centre also have these of course.

[RobOK]

Which Sony E lenses do you have?

In order of usage:

Sony  16-70mm F4
Sony  35mm f/1.8

Sony 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 
Sony 18-55mm original kit lens
Sigma 30mm F2.8 EX

[bjornthun]

In order of usage:

Sony  16-70mm F4
Sony  35mm f/1.8

Sony 55-210mm F4.5-6.3
Sony 18-55mm original kit lens
Sigma 30mm F2.8 EX

Then I would not switch to m43 at all. You could consider the Sigma 19/2.8 as a wide option. In the tele end the Sigma 60/2.8 is excellent. The Sony 50/1.8 OSS is also very nice, with good bokeh. If you need superwide, the Sony 10-18/4 is good at the wide end. The Zeiss Touit 12/2.8 is good, but expensive. Same for the Sony Zeiss 24/1.8.

In short I would keep the Nex-7, fix the grip and consider the Sigma 19/2.8. Then you have a very nice kit to compliment the Nikon system already. Your Sony setup is just as small as m43, and the sensor is larger.

Added: I think that a small wide prime is often nice for social settings, hence the recommendation for the Sigma 19/2.8. The other lenses I mention, I would consider if needed.

[RobOK]

Df grip repair- so my grip rubber piece came completely off. Have cleaned off all sticky bits. When I go to reattach it, the rubber does not fit IN the indentation- it is both too long and wide. Is this b/c my piece has stretched out or is it just supposed to side ON that area, not fully in?

Thanks,
Rob.

[rosko]

Df grip repair- so my grip rubber piece came completely off. Have cleaned off all sticky bits.

This issue happened with my Df, but with the little rear one.

It started to slide slowly first (toward the right side), and then I had to put it back in place after each session.

Eventually I remove it to make sure I wouldn't lose it.

As you did, I cleaned all sticky bits. I will glue it back as soon I find out witch stuff is the best to use. 

[Akira]

Sorry about your troubles with the rubbers on Df.  I guess the trouble is partially caused by the poor grip design of Df which may make you to grab the camera more forcefully.  I've never had such troubles on my D40, D7000, D610 or D750 with the grips of sufficient size.

[RobOK]

Sorry about your troubles with the rubbers on Df.  I guess the trouble is partially caused by the poor grip design of Df which may make you to grab the camera more forcefully.  I've never had such troubles on my D40, D7000, D610 or D750 with the grips of sufficient size.

You may be right. For me, I was out on a particularly cold day and the glue has never been the same since. I think my rubber piece is stretched out a bit, so my hand is "catching" the edge sometimes. I ordered a new piece, only $4 US cost but $9 to ship it!

If you search on Nikon rubber grip, you will find people of all camera makes having this problem, and Canon too!  I don't think it is terribly model specific, but maybe you are right that different people have different styles of gripping that push sideways more.

[David H. Hartman]

You just need to put on a 28-70mm 2.8 AFS or 24-70mm 2.8 AFS - You will be blown away by the AF speed! I promise.

.

On the DF right?

Dave

---

If the light is all but absent or there is no contrast a Nikon SB-700 can be set up to provide AF assist only. This is not in the menu or manual. I'll post the information when I have an SB-700 in hand.

[RobOK]

If the light is all but absent or there is no contrast a Nikon SB-700 can be set up to provide AF assist only. This is not in the menu or manual. I'll post the information when I have an SB-700 in hand.

I had forgotten about that, and do have an SB-700. Good idea.

[David H. Hartman]

I had forgotten about that, and do have an SB-700. Good idea.

I forgot where I put my SB-700 but if memory serves me which it sometimes does the way to get the SB-700 to give the red AF assist pattern without firing the flash or even a preflash is to...

1) set the flash to master mode
2) set the master (channel M) to "---" or off

...now the important part...

3) set channels A and B to "---" or off also.

The SB-700 will now send a preflash for every channel that is turned on and since NO channel is on the SB-700 won't send any preflash but it will still give the red AF assist light pattern (provided all the other requirements are met which I guess varies from camera to camera).

I would setup the SB-700 and your camera in garden variety [TTL][BL] and once the AF assist pattern is being projected then proceed to the speedlight to master mode with all channels off. I think one used to need to setup the camera's focus mode to AF-S. That may still be true. One also used to need to use only the center focus spot. I'd start there but I do not think that is still true. Why else would the SB-700 have a "wide area AF-assist illuminator?"

The SB-700 and SB-800 are almost the same size and weight and the SB-800 has a simple menu option for AF-assist only. The SB-800 also has a wide area AF-assist. I'm really rambling. The steps above are a work-around since the SB-700 doesn't have that simple menu option.

I'm sorry I can't find my SB-700 tonight. I think I got this right.

Best,

Dave Hartman

I find it best practice when using CLS/AWL to set any channel where there will be no remote to receive a preflash to turn that channel to "---" or off to save battery, cut lag time and reduce blinking.

[Sash]

FUJI kit is considerably smaller and slightly lighter than Nikon APS-C, never mind FF.  You will need a small messenger bag to carry an XT2, three lenses, batteries and accessories. And there will be some space left. FUJI XF lenses are as good as anything APS-C to say the least and in my view are in the same league with L-glass.
I have switched to FUJI X (XT1) because I did not want FF any more but did not want to compromise on IQ. In that respect FUJI was the only realistic alternative, as the IQ in decent light is similar to FF Nikon or Canon thanks to great lenses. Now FUJI glass covers the whole range and the quality of lenses is consistently high. There are no poor/mediocre  lenses unlike Canikon. In bad light AF may let you down if you shoot moving subjects with XT-1, but it should be considerably improved with XT2.
In bad light FF beats it as it should, but ISO 6400 with FUJI (below) is quite decent.

[RobOK]

Happy New Year All....

An update on this thread...

On the topic of grips: I got the new Nikon grip and it went on perfectly. It made me realize more clearly that the existing one was stretched out (as it did not fit back on squarely). Happy Camper with Df grip again (although for me I wish the grip was a little bigger to begin with).

On the Sony NEX-7 grip: I glued this one on with rubber cement and it seems good to go. Am putting off any decision to change APS-C kit.

On switching to Fuji: Decision put off. Have been shooting mostly with Df and 58 1.4

Part of the reason to delay any camera decision is my Mac Mini drive died so I have to restore and reconfigure. Didn't have as rigorous backup as I hoped (photos and LR catalog are fine, just some other stuff).

TLDR: Shoot more, change gear less.

Rob.