REVIEW : The Phantom II Vision

Drone helicopters with cameras are the "in" thing, so when Chris Atkinson of Henry's Newmarket asked if I would like to do an evaluation and review of the Phantom II Vision, I jumped at the chance. It's Wicked Cool

Overview

So what is a Phantom II Vision?  It is a four rotor radio controlled helicopter with an attached servo driven camera.

The four rotor system with two pairs of rotors spinning in opposite directions to each other makes for a very stable "rotating wing" architecture.  Traditional dual rotor helicopters are difficult to fly well, whereas the four rotor or "quadcopter" design can be flown by those who are not pilots or without days of practice and multiple crashes.  Radio controlled means you fly it wirelessly via a pair of joysticks.  I will refrain from joystick competency jokes here, suffice to say that the joysticks are not overly sensitive but also that they have real linear control, not just full on and full off.  Have a servo driven camera means you can control the camera tilt and operation remotely, in this case from an IOS or Android based mobile device over a closed WiFi network.

There are kid's quadcopters you can purchase that you can fly in the house.  The Phantom II Vision is not one of them.  With rotor guards installed it's about 18 inches diagonally and it moves fast, so unless you want a busted copter or busted home furnishings, this is an outdoor only tool.

What's in the Kit

When you open the box, there is a black container holding Quick Start cards that are very easy to understand.  Things that can fly, can also fall out of the sky, so READ the fine manual before you get started.  As you unbox, you will find the quadcopter itself, and four sets of rotors.  The Phantom II only uses two sets of rotors so the inclusion of the second set is recognition that buyers may not read the documentation fully and will break rotors.  The rotors are designed to break on impact so people, pets and other things don't get ruined by spinning blades.  You will also find a very sizeable battery, an international charger, the radio controller, a Range Extender, a mount for your smartphone and assorted cables and screws.  The documentation is very clear and easy to understand, but you do have to read it to set the Phantom II up properly.  The documentation varies on whether or not a Micro SD card is present.  The main docs say nothing but others say that there is a 4GB card in the box with the quadcopter.  Mine was already installed in the camera body.

Getting It Together

Follow the instructions.  Seriously.  There are two pairs of blades, one pair with a black cone and one pair with a silver cone that the docs refer to as black and grey.  The black coned blades go on the black tipped motors and the silver coned blades go on the grey tipped motors.  They screw on and are self tightening due to the thread direction.  It's a simple and very smart system.

While you are reading and building, charge the main battery.  Out of the box it showed two bars and it took a couple of hours to bring it to four bars.  Fifteen minutes of flying knocked it back to two bars.  The Range Extender is not an optional thing, so the name could be a bit of a misnomer.  This is one place where the kit gaps a bit.  The only way to charge the Range Extender is via USB so you will need a powered USB outlet to charge this unit.  I plugged it into the computer USB port and it charged up fine.

You will need to mount the Range Extender to the frame of the transmitting radio, and also mount the smartphone holder to the frame as well.  The kit includes a reversible slot/Philips head screwdriver as well as numerous well labeled screw bags.

If you do add the optional rotor guards, and you REALLY should, unless you want to be replacing blades a lot if you have a bad landing, and you likely will, you will need a metric Allen key set to remove some existing screws and replace them with the longer screws that came with the rotor guards.  My kit did not have the Allen key, which is a buyer gap, but perhaps being a demo it was missing.  Fortunately, I have multiple Allen key sets in the house as I keep misplacing them so this was not an issue.

Installing the memory card is pretty straight forward.  Push the card into the slot until it latches.  You have to press into the little depression that's provided to seat the card properly.  Press again and it will pop out enough to remove.  Note that the slot is in the back of the camera and while the edges are white, the slot itself is black and I started to put a card in, when one was already installed, so look closely in brighter light if you are not sure.

You will also want to head over to the DJI website and pull down the latest user's manual, software for your computer and check your system firmware.  This is the same as one would do for any other camera.  There are versions of software to run on both Windows and Mac OS X.

The Camera

This is one of the really great things about the Phantom II Vision.  There are lots of quadcopters out there but most of them require that you own a POV camera or buy one at the same time and then figure out how to mount it up.  The camera on the quadcopter is on a tilting mount and can be controlled by your smartphone via a free app over the quadcopters unique WiFi SSID.  Documentation is a bit skint but it is quick enough to figure out.  Being able to change the tilt at 150 feet up is really very cool.  The lens is not dissimilar to the ultra wide pseudo fisheye we see in the GoPro.  Edges bend, it's part of the charm, and there is no zoom in capability so you won't be using this as your own NSA spy drone.  Having the camera built into the unit and remote controllable in the mount is a real win for folks in general and definitely a win for those people who don't want to spend a lot of time futzing around.

The camera is designed for video first of course, but does 14MP stills in addition to a variety of video resolutions.  I was pleased to see three quality levels for JPEG as well as the ability to capture in RAW DNG format.  Adobe already has a lens profile for the Phantom Vision II that corrects for the bends caused by the near fisheye lens.

The Phantom II also has integrated shock mounts between the body and the camera.  This really helps reduce the jello effect a rigid mount camera will experience.  I was surprised by the high quality of the video considering I had done nothing at all from a stabilization point of view.

There is an optional adapter that allows you to attach 46mm screw on filters if you wish to do so.

Flying the Phantom II Vision

The documentation is decent, although somewhat incomplete when it comes to flying the Phantom II.  You get enough information to put the unit into the air and get it back on the ground, but beyond that, you're pretty much on your own.

I would strongly emphasis the impact of the wind conditions on whether you fly or not.  The Phantom II is very lightweight.  Despite a smooth body and the advantage of four rotors, wind will still impact the quadcopter.  If you put it up on a day with much more than 3km an hour wind, you will have to be compensating for wind drift.  The controller does not have trim controls to allow you to set a compensation for the wind, so watching what you are doing and where the quadcopter is going is very important.

The left joystick controls altitude with forward for up and backward for down.  Moving the stick left or right rotates the craft on its axis.  The right joystick controls flight direction.  Move it up for forward, back for backward, right to slide right and left to slide left.

Once on the ground, you move both sticks to the inside bottom position to shutdown the rotors.  Obviously, one should not shut down the rotors until the quadcopter is landed safely unless you want to see what a brick falling out of the sky looks like.

The cool thing about the built-in GPS is that when you fly the copter, it uses the GPS to maintain its position when you aren't touching the joysticks.  Wind is hard to fly in with regular copters and while I did find the wind today had visible effect, I never lost control and the copter never got blown way off its hover.  I have a regular RC helicopter that gets blown all over the sky by the slightest breeze, the Phantom II is incredibly stable.

The second day I was out flying, I met a fellow who had a Blade quad copter.  He noted that he had lost it due to a flyaway and other owners blame this on interference because many of these crafts use the popular and overcrowded 2.4GHz band.  The Phantom II uses the 5.8GHz band which is much less crowded and less prone to interference.

Communications distance is rated at 300m.  If the Phantom II loses communication for a period of time, it enters failsafe mode.  If it has a GPS lock (6 satellites) it initiates a Return Home profile that flies it back to it's takeoff point.  Remember it doesn't know about buildings, poles, hydro wires so this reminds you to fly your unit in an unobstructed area.  If the copter cannot maintain a GPS lock it initiates a safe descent mode.  Hopefully that's not out over water, or a highway.

As you'll see from the images, the Phantom II is white.  It does have indicator LEDs, but after some distance they become hard to see.  When I was flying the unit the day I wrote this paragraph it was heavy white overcast and I lost the copter in the sky more than once.  Looking down from the camera view, I saw a vast field of white snow and ice, not a ton of help but with a slow rotation, I got my bearings and used the pseudo radar on the app to fly the copter back into view.

I mentioned in the overview that the Phantom II is really an outdoor only craft.  If you push the throttle to the stops, the craft will max out at about 35 m/s, which means it's out of range in less than 10 seconds.  Altitude increases max out at 10m/s, down is much faster given the helping hand of gravity.

Lifting off is very easy and the general flying does not take long to get the hang of.  DJI includes a Pilot's Handbook that coaches you through flight manoeuvres to build skill.  Even landing is not hard, but I strongly encourage you to learn to flare the copter out about a foot up and then gently lower it to the ground by pulling back on the altitude stick.  Once done, hold the stick all the way back for about 3s to shut down the motors.

DJI claims about 25 minutes flight time on a full charge and my own tests support their numbers.  On my last day of testing, it was -12 Celsius and my iPhone shut down from the cold before the Phantom II did.

Here's a quick video showing what the footage from the camera looks like.  It was shot at 1080p30 on a very blustery day.  There's a fair bit of bouncing around happening, but it's impressive at how stable the Phantom II remained even when being buffeted by winds double the maximum recommended 5 km/hr.

The Remote App

The application that let's you see through the camera lens from the ground and also take stills and video runs on either IOS or Android.  It connects via WiFi to the Phantom II itself. There is no security on this network, so ostensibly, someone else with the app could try to connect to the quadcopter, although I think it is limited to a single connection.

Once connected you get a reminder overlay of what the controls do.  Unlike other quadcopters, you do not fly the copter from your smartphone, you only control the camera.  Since the camera is servo mounted, this is more useful that it may seem, plus the joysticks give more granular control of the craft instead of using the accelerometer built in to your smartphone.

On IOS, the sliders are really up and down buttons, a tap per change, rather than a continuous sliding scale. This is not a big deal since you don't want to constantly be sending instructions over WiFi outdoors if you would like any kind of reasonable control time.  For me, this is the biggest drawback.  I started my first test with over 40% battery in my iPhone 5 and after 15 minutes or so, it shutdown.  Now it was darn cold on that day, and I failed to shutdown other applications that were running in the background but the app seemed to be very demanding of power on my iPhone even though it is not doing all that much.

In addition to the stepped tilt control, you can put the quadcopter camera into a mode where the pitch and yaw of your smartphone causes the camera to tilt and rotate to match  your actions.  This is cool, but I think I would need a lot more video game skill to be able to do this, fly the copter and not crash into anything all at once.

You can use the app to download your stills and video from the Micro SD card to your smartphone but speedy it isn't and it does eat up battery on both sides.  Better to pull the card out and load the files into your computer using a card reader.

You can make all your settings for the camera in the app itself.  There are controls for video quality, still quality, ISO, White Balance and the like.

Plainly the camera is there for video first.  Shooting at 1080p30 produces really excellent video, and you can run it all the way up to 1080i60 if you think you will be doing any slow-motion work in your edit.

The major downside of using your smartphone is that the screen gets washed out in the sunlight.  The first day was bright harsh sun and it wasn't bad.  The second day was heavy overcast and the screen was nearly unusable.  You might need to make a cardboard hood to ensure that you can see your phone.

The app also provides you with a near real-time view from the camera, as well as distance, battery charge, artificial horizon and pseudo radar that indicates the position of the controller and the quadcopter.

Conclusions

The Phantom II Vision kit retails for $1,319.99 with pretty much everything you need to go.  Considering that there is a really good POV camera in the kit that is remotely controllable, this is a pretty decent value as plain old quadcopters sell in the $800 range.

Of course I would suggest some accessories.   You are going to want to get a car charger since you likely won't be flying this in your back yard.  You may even want a spare battery. And while the camera comes with two spare pairs of blades, you definitely want to order a couple of extra pair of each, and I cannot recommend the blade guards strongly enough.  If your touchdown point will be asphalt you might want to order up a spare set of landing gear.  The gear is lightweight and a bit springy by design and a bad landing on hard ground could break it.  There are extra shock mounts in the box for the camera mount, and you can buy more if needed.

I really like the Phantom II Vision.  I know I could get a plain old Phantom II and a gimbal mount kit to use my existing GoPro with the quadcopter, but this is just so simple and straightforward and I don't have to worry about different vendor apps and interoperability and other concerns.

DJI also has a pretty decent user community, and there are already kits out to bring a Phantom I up to spec and I've seen some third party mods on radio controllers and such.  A strong community behind a product like this is critical and the DJI family is already proven.  More to the point, they also do pro-grade aerial cameras, so the expertise developed in this space naturally flows down to the consumer Phantom II Vision.

If you love the idea of flying your own POV camera, with minimum hassle on an easy to fly platform, the Phantom II Vision is the choice for you.  Thanks again to Chris Atkinson at Henry's for the opportunity to use a unit for this review.  You can see the Phantom online at Henry's here.

REVIEW : Sony A7

A number of readers have asked for my thoughts on Sony's compact A7 camera.  So with the support of Chris Atkinson at Henry's Newmarket, I obtained an evaluation unit to put through the paces.  The start was inauspicious however, because Sony is one of those companies that is SO STUPID that the only way to charge the battery is to have it in the camera and plugged into the wall.  Minuscule charge indicator, no ability to charge a battery while using the camera, no ability to use the camera while charging the battery, and a charge time of only 310 minutes which doesn't look nearly as crappy as 5 HOURS.  Whichever would be rocket surgeon (that's a W reference btw) thought this was a smart idea in a prosumer product needs to be packed into a missile and fired directly into the Sun.  Idiots.  Fortunately, things get better...The Basics The A7 is an interchangeable lens camera offering a 24.3 megapixel full frame sensor driven by Sony's BIONZ X series processor.  The camera uses Sony E Mount lenses.  What makes the A7 and its sibling the A7r special is the size.  It's small.  In fact it reminds me of the wonderful Olympus OM-D E-M1 in form factor.  Except instead of being M4/3 it's full frame!

The viewfinder is electronic as one would expect in a mirror less system camera.  It uses an OLED display with 2.4M dots so it is very bright and very easy to read.

There's a lot to like about the A7 as you'll see but there are a couple of items that annoyed me right out of the box, in addition to the moronic attitude towards battery charging.  The strap lugs are the triangle type.  The lugs are positioned ideally to ALWAYS be in the way of your right hand fingers.  I'm becoming certain that no one actually tries these things out with a strap mounted during the design process.  The placement is lousy.

The other thing that really puts me off is the fake shutter noise.  The A7 is a mirror less camera.  It could be dead silent.  But the default is a ka-chunk you can hear while a freight train steams beside you.  The A7 is elegantly beautiful and unobtrusive, until you press the shutter button and then it has all the grace of a hippo with gas, passing wind in a bathtub.

Moving on to the good stuff, and there is a lot of good stuff...

The A7 offers a 24MP sensor but if you want more there is the A7r which has a 36MP full frame sensor and no anti-aliasing filter.  Haven't personally seen one, but they do exist.  For the purposes of this review, it's all done with a regular A7.

The camera came with the new FE series 28-70.  For a full frame zoom, this is kind of a short range and it's not a speed demon being f/3.5-f/5.6.  Construction is really solid though, and there are faster FE lenses available in primes and fast zooms, some with Zeiss optics.  Note that I keep referring to FE series.  These are the Full Frame E Series lenses.  The NEX E series are designed for APS-C sized sensors, so while you can mount them up, they do not produce a full frame image circle without some vignetting or falloff.  A limited selection of available FE lenses is going to slow adoption of the A7 and A7r.  You can of course still use the other E mount lenses and the camera offers an automatic conversion to crop sensor similar to Nikon.

The rear LCD is quite nice and has the angle capability seen on other Sony cameras so you can tilt it up or down, but not to the side.  There's usability in this when shooting video.  Indoors it is bright and easy to see but while outside on a sunny day doing test shots, it was nearly unreadable.  I also find that it sucks up nose grease very quickly and is hard to get clean.  You'll want to have a micro fibre cloth in your bag with you.

The control layout is quite good.  There is a master dial for mode selection, and a secondary dial that gives direct access to exposure compensation.  This is one of my favourite features as it makes adjustment very quick and because you see simulated exposure in the EVF, you get a very good sense of what the compensation is going to do for you.  There is a dial towards the front to control aperture and one towards the rear to control shutter speed.  You can reverse them in the menus if you prefer.  There is no top deck ISO control, and while the AUTO ISO functionality works well, I would rather not have to dive into a menu or navigate the popup from the Fn button on the back just to manipulate the ISO.

Some readers will recall my effusive love of the original RX-100 and how good I thought that Sony's Superior-Auto mode was for most any exposure situation.  The brand new shooter is going to love the AUTO mode because it's the same powerful Superior-Auto as in the RX-100.

And of course the camera has numerous Scene modes and Sweep Panorama that serious photographers aggressively ignore.

The kit lens is what you would expect, sharp enough with reasonable distortion and vignetting control.  When importing RAW files (Sony's own ARW) to Lightroom, there is a Lens Correction profile present that fixes the distortions and vignetting available.  The changes you see are significant.  I do wish that for the lens' not insignificant size that it was either optically faster or had a more useful zoom range.  I found the construction felt good but the zoom was very stiff.  In fairness the day started out at -20 Celsius and only warmed up to -10 Celsius before I left to come home.  I would very much like to shoot this camera with one of the Zeiss optics that are coming for the A7 series.  A camera this size with a fast 35mm and fast 85mm could be very usable.

I was griping earlier about the length of time to charge the battery and that it has to be in the camera to be charged.  You can buy a separate external charger and extra batteries.  These are a must.  After shooting only 115 exposures, I was down to 65% battery according to the display.  This suggests that you will top out just under 400 exposures, so if you are serious about your photography, or doing a lot of bracketing, or simply like being out for a long day of making images, you are going to need more batteries.  I did not obtain the external charger as part of this evaluation, so cannot advise on whether the recharge time is faster than the USB method.

Shutter Speeds

The camera can offer shutter speeds from 1/8000 down to 30 seconds plus bulb mode.  Like Sony NEX cameras, you can buy additional applications and download them to the camera including functions like an intervalometer.  I think that this is nickel and diming the customer given the relatively high price of the camera, but this is of course just my opinion.

Menus

The menu system is quite intuitive and a menu page rarely has more options than the height of the screen.  Options are where you might expect them to be and I would assess the learning curve to becoming very comfortable to be quite shallow.  I would rate the Sony menu system as better than most.

Flash

The A7 has no built-in flash and does include Sony's proprietary multi-pin connector at the front of the shoe.  This allows for more than just flash units to be installed there.  Other items include a shoe mount microphone system.  Sony does offer combo flash / video light units and they are available with full TTL, remote capability, bounce heads and decent guide numbers.  I did not obtain a flash to evaluate.  At some point in the future I will do so to see how the Sony system compares to other line of sight infrared remote flash management systems.

Continuous Shooting and Bracketing

Burst mode is up to 5fps and like other digitals, is leveraged for bracketed shooting.  Up to 5 frame brackets are available at intervals of up to 0.7 EV, and the limit drops to 3 frames at 1 and 2 EV.  Of course you can manually bracket as much as you want but I found the +-2EV 3 image bracket to be very convenient during my outdoor test shoot as it was bright sun on white snow with some trees and other foreground objects.

Image and Clip Storage

Images are stored on SD sized cards, although being Sony, there is still an option to use the long demised and completed unmissed Memory Stick options.  For my tests, I was using a Sandisk Extreme Pro card and had no issues at all.  The card inserts into a front facing slot by opening a door on the right side.  This makes it very easy to change cards if the camera is on a tripod or used with the optional vertical grip.  (It's really a battery grip of course but marketing loves to name things differently).

All major processing software has already been updated to read Sony's ARW RAW format, so opening the files was no trouble at all.  I did discover to my chagrin that the camera came complete with pets, several cat sized dust spots on the sensor.  I was able to correct these in post processing, but it serves to remind owners that there is nothing in front of the sensor when the lens is not mounted.  I was able to use a blower and an ArcticBrush to clean the sensor quickly.

There are programmable buttons on the camera but to my pleasure you don't trip over hundreds of them.  This keeps things simple and easy to use.  I shot all morning outside while wearing gloves and at no time did I need to remove them to alter a setting.  So even though I personally find the buttons very small, they are very usable.

ISO Performance

In order to make test shots at different ISOs I mounted the camera to a Manfrotto ball head on a Manfrotto magic arm on my studio stand.  I was pleased to see that unlike some competitors, the tripod socket is all metal and very sturdy.  While there are not many lenses yet in the FE mount, if Sony really wants this line to launch, they are going to need more glass, and longer glass in short order.

Thinking of ISO, I shot the camera outdoors for a bit in AUTO ISO shooting in all of Program, Aperture Preferred, Shutter Preferred and Manual modes.  The software is well programmed to seek the lowest viable ISO but not at the expense of diminished stability.  When I came back inside, I set the camera on the studio stand to photograph my ever patient model Sondra at a variety of ISOs and was very pleased to see that the A7 holds together very well to ISO 6400, is quite good at ISO 12800 and only really falls apart at ISO 25600.  It's not a Nikon Df or Canon 1Dx from a low light capability but is a very solid performer.  I've put a gallery of the same shot up from ISO 50 to ISO 25600 so you can see for yourself.

Connectivity

Sony makes software available to download your photos direct from the camera, and to convert the RAW format if you don't have a more sophisticated editing application.

They offer a tethering application, although they call it Remote Control that works over USB.  The cable that comes with the camera is VERY short, so you'll need to purchase a USB extension if you want to use the factory supplied cable.  Since the camera side connector is a Micro USB, you may had some difficulty finding long cables of this type.

There is a micro HDMI out, and if you wish to use it, you'll need to go source your own cable.  I did not have one and so did not test streaming through the HDMI port.

There is as one would hope a ⅛" mini jack for an external microphone but there is also a headphone jack, a feature sorely missing on most cameras and critical for audio monitoring when shooting video.

The camera has GPS capability as well as built in wireless.  I could get the wireless to connect to my private wireless network easily and also used it's self-generating network to push images to the Play Memories app on the iPhone.

Although I downloaded and appeared to be able to configure wireless image transfer to the Mac, the image transfer never worked and a perusal of forums suggests others have had difficulty making this work.  I will not hammer Sony for this as I am running a not yet final release of OS X on my Macs.

Sony does think that they are a software company.  I would suggest that they hire a good UI company as their software is neither intuitive nor user-friendly.  I did not discover it trying to open ports and phone home so it would appear that they have learned from past offences.

The camera also incorporates NFC but I was not able to test this function.

What About the Video?

The A7 thinks video out of the gate.  Sony "gets" video and the availability of zebra stripes and focus peaking for stills as well as video is just a bonus for me.  Resolutions go from 640x480 up to 1920x1080 with frame rates of 24p, 30p, 60i and 60p.  Also very cool is that it can push video at up to 24MBps, BluRay levels.

Once there is a wider pantheon of high quality primes for this mount, I can see the A7 being very successful in cinema as a B roll camera, or as a great tool for the hybrid user.

Pros

• Great size and weight
• Full frame sensor
• Fast autofocus
• Decent control layout
• Very good image quality
• Excellent low light / high ISO performance
• Excellent EVF
• Useful auto bracketing sequences
• Great video

Cons

• Battery charge time / lack of external battery charger
• Placement of strap lugs and rings
• Legibility of rear LCD in bright light
• Kit lens has limited focal length flexibility, optically slow
• Battery life not optimal
• Extremely loud shutter
• Limited selection of full frame lenses

Who Is It For?

The ideal customer for the A7 is someone relatively new to interchangeable lenses but looking for full frame in a very flexible camera, but who also demands to keep the size and weight down.  The hybrid user, who wants both great stills and great video, will like the camera very much.

For those downsizing from a traditionally sized DSLR, the lack of lens options is a real show stopper.  The exception is the existing Sony owner with a load of A mount glass who with an adapter can use it on the A7.  With the adapter, I can also see the A7 as a credible second body to an A99.

Summary and Would I Buy One

I was excited to learn about the A7 when it was announced.  I thought that it would be the logical step up from the M43 Olympus OM-D with Sony's proven full frame sensor.  Plus Sony really understands video and I thought that this would be huge.  After using the camera, I do like it.  I find the automatic white balance to be off, pretty much all the time, and while I do carry a popup grey card with me, having to do so would be annoying.  The control layout is very usable and the EVF is very good.  I'm not nuts about the view from the rear LCD but I only use these for chimping most of the time and only use Live View for awkward positions.  Being mirror less I like that I can shoot video from the EVF.

The stills are good and Sony's Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) does a decent enough job but I would more than likely keep it turned off and zone place my exposures anyway.  The lack of choice in lenses would be a showstopper for me and for the foreseeable future it's going to be long time coming.  At $2,000 for the body and 28-70, it is priced competitively against other entry full frames and the small size and low weight will make it compelling.

When I did my outside test shots I was wearing photographer's gloves and had the unit on a BlackRapid strap.  Even then those strap rings were constantly in the way.  If it were mine, they'd come off and be tossed out the window.  The placement of the lugs is horrible, and when I got inside, the discomfort made me put the camera on the Titan stand so I would not have to grind the lug into my hand in order to make a steady shot.  I'm also still extremely annoyed at the idiocy of requiring the battery to be in the camera for ¼ day to reach a full charge while plugged into the wall.  The external charger retails for about $60.  It should be in the box.  This is nickel and diming the customer on Sony's part and they need a swift kick in the kneecaps for being so shortsighted.

In the end, I like the A7.  But not enough to buy one.

Product Specifications (courtesy Sony)

Limited Warranty

• Software

  • Operating System Compatibility : Image Data Converter 4.0: Microsoft Windows® Vista® SP2, Windows® 7 SP1, Windows®8 (Pentium 4 or faster) Mac OS X (10.6-10.8) (Intel Core Solo/Core Duo/Core 2 Duo or faster) PlayMemories Home: Microsoft Windows® Vista® SP2, Windows® 7 SP1, Windows® 8 (Pentium III 800 MHz or faster; for playing/editing HD movies: Intel Core Duo 1.66 GHz or faster/Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66 GHz or faster, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz or faster (AVC HD (FX/FH)) Mac OS X (10.6-10.8) (Intel Core Solo/Core Duo/Core 2 Duo or faster)
  • Supplied Software : Supplied Software: PlayMemories Home, Image Data Converter Version 4

• Advanced Features

  • Image Stabilization : Lens-based (where applicable)
  • Auto High Dynamic Range : Yes, (Auto Exposure Difference, Exposure difference Level (1-6 EV at 1.0 EV step), off)
  • Sweep Panorama : Horizontal (Wide / Standard), Vertical (Wide / Standard)
  • Anti Motion Blur : Yes
  • Shooting Tips : Yes
  • Intelligent Auto : Yes
  • Face Detection : On, Off, Face Registration, Face Selection; maximum eight faces detected
  • Priority Setting (for Face Detection) : Yes (eight faces max)
  • Smile Shutter™ technology : Smile shutter (selectable from 3 steps)
  • Superior Auto : Yes
  • Tracking Focus : Yes

• Camera

  • Camera Type : Interchangeable Lens Digital SLR camera
  • Lens Compatibility : Sony E-mount Full Frame, operation with Minolta / Konica Minolta Maxxum A-mount lenses confirmed via optional LA-EA3/LA-EA4 adaptor9
  • Lens Mount Type : Sony E-mount Full Frame

• • Color : Black

• Convenience Features

  • Media/Battery Indicator : Yes
  • Still Image Playback Options : Single (with or without shooting information, RGB histogram & highlight/shadow warning), 9/25-frame index view, Enlarged display mode (Maximum magnification L: 23.0x, M: 15.0x, S: 11.5x), Auto Review (10 / 5 / 2 sec, off), Image orientation (Auto / Manual / Off selectable), Slideshow, Panorama scrolling, Folder selection (Still / Date / MP4 / AVCHD), Forward / Rewind (Movie), Delete, Protect
  • Video Playback Options : Forward / Rewind (Movie)
  • Self Timer : Yes
  • Power Save Mode : Yes
  • Red-Eye Reduction : Yes
  • Erase/Protect : Yes
  • Multiple Language Display : Yes

• Drive System

  • Continuous Shooting Speed : Continuous shooting: Max. 2.5fps, Speed Priority Continuous shooting: Max. 5.0fps
  • Shutter Speeds : 1/8000 to 30 seconds, bulb
  • Self-timer : 2-sec. or 10-sec. delay,
  • Shutter Type : Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane shutter
  • Drive Mode : Single shooting, Continuous shooting, Speed Priority Continuous shooting, Self-timer (10/2 sec delay selectable), Self-timer (Cont.) (10 sec. delay; 3/5 exposures selectable), Bracketing (Cont., Single, White Balance, DRO)

• Exposure System

  • D-Range Optimizer : Off, Dynamic Range Optimizer (Auto / Level (1-5)), Auto High Dynamic Range: Auto Exposure Difference, Exposure Difference Level (1.0-6.0 EV, 1.0 EV step)
  • Auto Exposure Lock : Available with AE lock button. Locked when shutter button is pressed halfway. Can be disabled from the Menu
  • Exposure Compensation : +/-5.0 EV (in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps), with exposure compensation dial: +/-3.0 EV (in 1/3 EV steps)
  • Picture Effect(s) : 13 modes: Posterization (Color, B/W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (R, G, B, Y), High Contrast Monochrome, Toy Camera, Soft High-key, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, Illustration
  • Exposure Settings : AUTO (iAUTO, Superior Auto), Programmed AE (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter-speed priority (S), Manual (M), Scene Selection, Sweep Panorama, Movie
  • Scene Mode(s) : Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports Action, Sunset, Night Portrait, Night Scene, Hand-held Twilight, Anti Motion Blur
  • Metering Modes : Multi-segment, Center-weighted, Spot
  • Metering Sensitivity : EV 0 to 20 EV (at ISO100 equivalent, with F2.8 lens attached)
  • Metering : Advanced 1200-zone evaluative metering
  • ISO : Still images: ISO 100-25600 (ISO numbers up from ISO 50 can be set as expanded ISO range), AUTO (ISO 100-6400, selectable lower limit and upper limit) Movies: ISO 200-25600 equivalent, AUTO (ISO 200-6400 equivalent)
  • Noise Reduction : Long exposure NR: On/Off, available at shutter speeds longer than 1 sec., High ISO NR: Normal / Low / Off selectable
  • Creative Style : Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn Leaves, Black & White, Sepia (Contrast -3 to +3 steps, Saturation -3 to +3 steps, Sharpness -3 to +3 steps)
  • Color Temperature : 2500 – 9900K with 15-step each Magenta/Green compensation (G7 to M7), Amber/Blue (A7 to B7), Custom
  • White Balance Mode : Auto WB / Daylight / Shade / Cloudy / Incandescent / Fluorescent (Warm White / Cool White / Day White / Daylight) / Flash / Color Temperature (2500 to 9900K) & Color Filter (G7 to M7: 15 steps, A7 to B7: 15 steps) / Custom / Underwater
  • Exposure Bracketing : With 3 frames in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1.0 EV, 2.0 EV or 3.0 EV increments. With 5 frames in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV or 2/3 EV increments

• Flash

  • Flash Bracketing : With optional external flash: 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 1, 2, 3 EV steps, 3/5 frames (1.0/2.0/3.0 EV: only 3 frames) selectable
  • Flash Metering System : With optional external flash: Pre-flash TTL
  • Flash Compensation : With optional external flash: ±3.0 EV (switchable between 1/3 and 1/2 EV steps)
  • Flash Modes : With optional external flash: Flash off, Auto flash, Fill-flash, Rear Sync., Slow Sync., Red-eye reduction (On/Off selectable), Hi-speed sync, Wireless
  • Flash Coverage : With optional external flash: 16 mm (focal length printed on lens body)
  • Flash Type : Optional external flash

• Focus Control

  • Focus Features : Lock-on AF, Eye AF, Predictive control, Focus lock, Eye-start AF (only available with optional LA-EA2 or LA-EA4 attached), AF illuminator (built-in, LED type, range: Approx. 0.30-3m, AF micro adjustment, AF ON
  • Manual Focus Assist : 35mm full frame: 7.2x, 14.4x APS-C: 4.7x, 9.4x
  • AF Illuminator : Yes (with built-in LED type)
  • Focus Sensitivity : EV 0 to 20 EV (at ISO100 equivalent, with F2.8 lens attached)
  • Focus Area : Multi Point (25 points) / Center-weighted / Flexible Spot (S/M/L) / Zone
  • Focus Points : 117 points (phase-detection AF), 25 points (contrast-detection AF)
  • AF Modes : Single-shot AF (AF-S), Continuous AF (AF-C), Direct Manual Focus (DMF), Manual Focus
  • Focus System : Fast Hybrid AF (phase-detection AF / contrast-detection AF)

• Imaging Sensor

  • Pixel Gross : 24.7 Megapixels (approx.)
  • Color Filter System : RGB primary color filters
  • Effective Picture Resolution : 24.3 Megapixels (approx.)
  • Anti Dust : Charge protection coating on optical filter and ultrasonic vibration mechanism
  • Imaging Sensor : Exmor CMOS sensor (35.8 x 23.9mm)
  • Processor : BIONZ® X image processor

• Interface

  • NFC : Yes (NFC Forum Type 3 Tag compatible, One-touch remote, One-touch sharing)
  • DC IN : Yes via optional AC-PW20AM (sold separately)
  • Memory Card Slot : Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick XC-HG Duo, SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant)
  • HD Output : HDMI® Type D micro connector
  • Accessory Shoe : Yes, via Multi Interface Shoe
  • A/V Remote Terminal : Yes, via Multi Terminal interface
  • PictBridge Compatible : Yes
  • Tripod Mount : Yes, 1/4" (20 thread count)
  • Remote Commander : Yes, via optional RM-VPR1
  • PhotoTV HD : Yes, with BRAVIA Sync enabled HDTV and HDMI® cable
  • USB Port(s) : USB 2.0 Hi-speed (mass-storage, MTP)
  • BRAVIA® Sync™ : Yes, via HDMI® with compatible BRAVIA HDTV (link menu)8
  • Multi Interface Shoe : Yes
  • Headphone Jack : Yes
  • Microphone Input : Yes

• Interface

  • • Wired : Yes, via optional RM-VPR1

• LCD Display

  • Peaking : Yes (Level setting: High / Mid / Low / Off, Color: White / Red / Yellow)
  • Real-time image adjustment display : Yes (On / Off)
  • LCD Type : 3.0” (7.5cm) TFT LCD (921,600 dots) with tiltable design
  • Coverage : 100%
  • Histogram : Yes (On / Off)
  • Live View : Continuous Live View
  • Brightness Control : Manual (5 steps between -2 to +2), Sunny Weather mode
  • Grid Display : Graphic Display / Display All Info. / No Disp. Info. / Histogram / Digital Level Gauge / Shooting information for viewfinder mode
  • Customization : Grid, Histogram display, Digital Level Gauge, Grid Line, Magnified display for playback

• Lens compensation

  • Lens compensation : Peripheral Shading, Chromatic Aberration, Distortion

• Optics/Lens

  • Direct Manual Focus : Yes
  • Lens Type : Sony E-mount Full Frame
  • Digital Zoom : Yes, approx. 4x
  • Lens Mount Type : Sony E-mount Full Frame
  • EV Compensation : +/-5.0 EV (in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps), with exposure compensation dial: +/-3.0 EV (in 1/3 EV step)
  • Exterior Finish : Black

• Power

  • Battery Type : InfoLITHIUM® NP-FW50 (7.2V)
  • Power Requirements : One rechargeable battery pack (NP-FW50)
  • Number of Still Images : Approx. 340 images with LCD monitor (CIPA standard)7
  • Battery Capacity : 1080 mAh

• Power

  • • External power : Yes via optional AC-PW20AM (sold separately)

• • Compatible standards : Exif Print, Print Image Matching III, DPOF setting

• Recording

  • Panorama Still Image Size : Horizontal Wide: 12,416 x 1,856 (23M) Horizontal Std.: 8,192 x 1,856 (15M) Vertical Wide: 2,160 x 5,536 (12M) Vertical Std.: 2,160 x 3,872 (8.4M)
  • Video Resolution : AVCHD™: PS - 1920 x 1080/60p@28Mbps FX - 1920 x 1080/60i@24Mbps FH - 1920 x 1080/60i@17Mbps FX - 1920 x 1080/24p@24Mbps FH - 1920 x 1080/24p@17Mbps MP4: HD - 1440 x 1080/30p@12Mbps VGA - 640 x 480/30p@3Mbps
  • Audio Format : Dolby Digital (AC-3) / MPEG-4 AAC-LC
  • Video Mode : AVCHD format Ver. 2.0 compliant / MP4
  • Color Space : Still: sRGB standard (with sYCC gamut) and Adobe RGB standard compatible with TRILUMINOS™ Color Movie: xvYCC standard (x.v.Color™ when connected via HDMI cable) compatible with TRILUMINOS™ color
  • Still Image Size 16:9 : 35mm full frame: L: 6000 x 3376 (20M), M: 3936 x 2216 (8.7M), S: 3008 x 1688 (5.1M) APS-C: L: 3936 x 2216 (8.7M), M: 3008 x 1688 (5.1M), S: 1968 x 1112 (2.2M)
  • Still Image Size 3:2 : 35mm full frame: L: 6000 x 4000 (24M), M: 3936 x 2624 (10M), S: 3008 x 2000 (6.0M) APS-C: L: 3936 x 2624 (10M), M: 3008 x 2000 (6.0M), S: 1968 x 1312 (2.6M)
  • Still Image Mode : RAW, RAW & JPEG, JPEG Extra fine, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard
  • Media Type : Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick XC-HG Duo, SD memory card, SDHC memory card (UHS-I compliant), SDXC memory card (UHS-I compliant)
  • Still Image Max Effective Resolution : 24.3 Megapixels
  • Video Signal : NTSC color, EIA standards
  • Microphone/Speaker : Built-in stereo microphone or ECM-CG50 / XLR-K1M (sold separately) / Built-in monaural speaker; volume settings in 8 steps between 0 and 7
  • Still Image File Format : JPEG (DCF Ver. 2.0, Exif Ver.2.3, MPF Baseline compliant), RAW (Sony ARW 2.3 format)

• • 14bit RAW : Yes

• Service and Warranty Information

  • Limited Warranty Term : 1 Year Parts & Labor

• Viewfinder

  • Display : Disp. Basic Info, Histogram
  • Brightness Control : Auto / Manual (3 steps between -1 and +1)
  • Type : 1/2-inch (1.30 cm) XGA OLED color electronic viewfinder
  • Field of View : 100%
  • Magnification : Approx. 0.71x with 50 mm lens at infinity, -1m-1 (diopter)
  • Diopter Adjustment : -4.0 m-1 ~ +3.0m-1 (diopter)

• Weights and Measurements

  • Weight(Approx) (Main unit only) : Approx. 14.7 oz. (416 g)
  • Dimensions (Approx.) : Approx. 5 × 3-3/4 × 1-15/16” (126.9 x 94.4 x 48.2 mm) (W/H/D) excluding protrusions
  • Weight (Approx.) : With battery and Memory Stick PRO Duo Approx. 1 lb. 0.7 oz. (474 g)

• Wi-Fi

  • PlayMemories Camera Apps : Yes
  • View on TV : Yes
  • Send to Computer : Yes
  • View on Smartphone : Yes

Review : The Nikon Df

I'd read about the Nikon Df and been intrigued by the Nikon ad series entitled Pure Photography.  What does this mean and what makes the Df "pure".  With thanks to Chris Atkinson, Manager of Henry's Newmarket, I was able to obtain a short term evaluation unit to find out.First Grip Putting hands on the Df is a nominally different experience.  I'm still not clear on what the purity angle is, but I will say that the Df feels more like an old style film camera than most digital single lens reflexes.  In fact, it feels and looks like an old F3 High Eyepoint, a camera I remember with fondness.

Layout

What makes the Df different in user interface (UI) is that Nikon has gone heavy on the analog style dials and less on the digital programmable buttons.  For someone without the time or the inclination to study the novellas that now masquerade as owner's manuals, getting going with the Df is very fast.  Very fast if you are older as I am and have a history shooting film cameras.

The sensor is Nikon's 16.2 MP sensor, that Nikon says produces quality like the D4, tuned for low light performance.  At time of writing, the Df pushes the boundaries of high ISO in Nikon's line.  Like most Nikon full frames, the camera can be set to shoot in FX (full frame) mode and DX (crop sensor) mode.  I like the flexibility that this brings and encourage other full frame providers to copy this feature.

Shutter speeds are set by a dial on the top deck and have click stops starting at a high of 1/4000 and a low of 4s.  There are also settings for B (bulb), T (time) and X, for manual flash synchronization at 1/200.  There is also a setting for ⅓ Step which allows the shutter speed to move in ⅓ stop increments.  This feels a bit goofy but is I guess more "pure" than simply putting an A on the dial like everyone else does.  Concentric to the shutter speed dial is a lever that sets, single, continuous low, continuous high, quiet release, self timer and mirror up modes.  Quiet basically delays some of the shutter and mirror noise, it doesn't eliminate it.  I don't find the Df to be overly loud at any rate.  Sony should steal this feature for the A7 because you can hear that thing go off across a busy highway.  Maximum burst rate is 5.5fps.

Beside the shutter speed dial is the rotary on off switch which is pleasantly obvious and precise.  It wraps around an old style shutter button tapped for a screw in cable release.  Cool if you have one, but they are very scarce these days.  Right of the shutter release is the mode rotary switch offering PASM settings.  In a smart move, Nikon has not splattered the Df with pointless "scene" modes.  Don't confuse this with the plethora of Picture Styles that set the processing for JPEG images and for how the LCD renders the JPEG it shows in playback.  If this were my camera, I'd set and forget for 14bit uncompressed RAW and Picture Style Neutral and likely never change things for as long as I own it.  Purist, I guess.

Towards the rear of the top deck is a minuscule LCD panel and a button to illuminate it.  Given that the audience for the camera is likely a former film shooter, who may suffer from some presbyopia by now, this display is so tiny and hard to read that I would never bother trying to use it.

Move to the left side of the pentaprism.  This is a digital SLR, be clear, but the top deck is oriented like an old Nikon film camera, down to the ersatz film rewind, which of course rewinds nothing but holds the ⅓ stop incremented exposure compensation dial offering ±3 EV of adjustment.  Below this is a concentric ring that controls the ISO (nearly typed ASA there for a sec) showing a range from L1 to H4, with ISO numbers starting at 100 and going up to 12800.  Down from 100 is logical, going in ⅓ stop increments (80, 64, 50) but going up from 12800 goes ⅓ stops to 25600, then a full stop to 51200, then 102400 and ending at 204800.

On the right front of the camera is a rotary wheel that controls the aperture in Aperture preferred and manual mode.  It is disabled in shutter preferred and program mode.  Below this are two buttons, the upper one providing depth of field preview and the second is a programmable function button.  On the left front of the lens mount is a bracket button, a very nice feature to have set up this way.  On the front face is a classic PC X sync port under the old style screw on cap.  Either never take this off or expect to lose it in the first week.  There is also an old style flashing LED self timer lamp.  Below this is the lens release and then an AF/M focus selector on the lens mount frame as is typically found on higher end Nikons.

The lens mount itself accepts AF-S and Nikkor AI lenses, but if you do have some really old Nikkor glass with the old style key slot, there is a fold down lever to engage the aperture ring ledge that existed then.  There is no ball lever as used to engage the keyslot on a photomic prism, but that may be a bit too "pure".

The front also has a decent enough finger ledge style grip.  So overall the layout so far is quite good.  With one exception.  The position of the strap lugs is perfect to ensure that the strap is going to get in the way of your fingers when they want to accomplish anything.  yes the lugs are where they were on classic Nikon F cameras, but those cameras did not have buttons and dials on the front face and the lugs get in the way.  If I were a buyer, I would personally ask Nikon service to remove them entirely and use a strap that attaches to the tripod socket, these lugs are that annoying.  To me anyway.

Moving to the back, the optical viewfinder is big and high and bright.  The interior layout is pretty basic and folks used to the viewfinder displaying a bundle of focus points are in for disappointment.  Since I only ever use the centre point and then recompose, I like the absence of clutter.  Digital readouts are easy to see and understand.  There is sufficient range on the dioptric adjustment to accommodate most everyone.

The rear panel is where the "film purity" analogy runs off the road into the trees.  It's like the back of any Nikon digital camera, with a decent enough 3" LCD with 920K dots, buttons and wheels all as you would expect out of a D610 or similar.

The right side has no doors or panels.  It should, but doesn't as you'll see later when I start ranting.

The left side has three pop open plastic doors.  They are connections for USB (Type C), Mini HDMI and Remote Control respectively.

The bottom plate has a ¼-20 tripod socket with Nikon's standard rubber grip pad around it.  Hopefully Nikon has found an adhesive that works for this because most Nikons that I have seen under medium to heavy use have this pad peeling off.  You'll find a large removable battery door that gives you access to the very small EN-EL14A battery.  There's certainly sufficient space for a higher capacity battery or would be if Nikon hadn't made the truly idiotic decision to put the SD card slot in beside the battery.  They could have put it on the right side where it would always be easily accessible, but no, they buried it in the battery compartment.  Someone needs a beating for this.  Nikon provides no guidance on the number of exposures to expect from a full charge.

You'll note that I have said nothing about video.  That's because the Df doesn't do video at all, even though it has a perfectly functional HDMI out.  I guess that means that video is not pure in the minds of the designers.

The Df has a Nikon i-TTL capable hotshoe, but in another idiot award winning step, they have completely left out the Creative Lighting System functionality that helps make Nikon cameras so very usable when you control the light.  I think of the magical unicorn of photography, Mr. Joe McNally, and can only assume that he would see this as missing and hand the darn thing back and in his gentle Irish-American way suggest that Nikon try again.  I don't know that he would actually do that but I will.  This is a stupid mistake and hopefully Nikon figures out a way to put CLS in via firmware update.

Looking at the accessory page, there is a big gap in battery life extension.  Yup, no battery grip is presently available.  The F3 or the older F2AS took monster battery grips for long life and you could use them as a bludgeon if you desperately needed to get away from bad guys.

The camera offers the standard metering choices of matrix, centre weighted average and spot, controlled by a tiny rocker on the back.  And although there is no video support, there is Live View so you can use your $3000 camera like a $100 point and shoot.

The "Kit" Lens

The Df comes as a kit with a 50mm f/1.8 AF-S Nikkor.  It's the same as the 50/1.8 AF-S Nikkor that has been around for years except the cosmetics have been changed to make it look like an old 50/1.8 AI.  It's not an AI, it's the same plastic barrel as the black 50/1.8 sold as a "portrait" lens by people who don't know what they hell they are talking about for years.

Usability

Despite my kvetching about the strap lugs position and the major missings, I surprised myself by how much I like shooting the camera.  There's nothing that makes it better than anything but it feels really good, although it would feel a lot better with a battery grip.  I love the optical viewfinder simplicity and I am very comfortable with the clicky mechanical feel of the shutter release.  It's not mechanical of course, but it feels like it could be.

The menu system is the same as what you would see on other prosumer Nikons, meaning it's a love or hate situation.  I don't shoot Nikon habitually at this time so my peers who do will loudly vent about user modes and the like.  I'm just really pissed that there is no CLS.  TTL radio controls from third parties are not winners in general, and while there are limits to infrared, most important being that it is line of sight (unless you are the aforementioned Joe McNally who makes infrared go around corners and up and down stairs) but it's a lot better than having to buy someone else's product and then curse it when it lets you down.  And yes, I am speaking specifically about Pocket Wizard TT1 and TT5 units.

I am a left eyed photographer and the back button focus is placed perfectly for me.  It's big enough you know when you have found it and the throw is enough that there is no question it is engaged.

Of course the Df mounts up all manner of Nikon glass.  If I were going this route, I'd likely grab a fast 35mm instead of the dopey 50mm, along with a nice 105mm and head out to the street.  Unfortunately, there is nothing subtle about the Df.  It's not small or unobtrusive.  Folks will know you have a camera.  Older ones might think you are shooting film, but if they don't want a candid taken, you aren't going to fool them anyway.

ISO Performance

My friend Ron Clifford (of Google + Photoshop Show fame) specifically asked about the high ISO performance because he heard it was amazing and in my initial look, I spent no time on this.  Ron's a great guy so I did a series of shots of Sondra using the Df with the 50mm at a variety of ISOs.  I was down to the wire to return it, so there are no prize winners here, but I think that you'll be impressed.  Ok it falls apart pretty badly at ISO 204800 but really there's nothing to complain about here.

Who's This Made For?

So about the price...

For $3,000 you get the Df body, the cheap ass 50mm, a strap, the battery a charger and not much else.  With careful shopping you could get a similarly configured D800 with the same dopey 50mm for the same money.  In terms of sensor capability, card capacity and additional functionality the D800 blows the Df into the weeds.  If you don't need the monster megapixels of the D800 you could again probably find a D610 and "nifty fifty"  <grrr> for about $1,000 less.  Why would you spend more to get less?  Well perhaps you have a real and perhaps medically treatable affection for all analog dials, except for the digital menu system and back controls.  Perhaps it's worth $1,000 to you to look like an old film photographer. (Hint - you can actually BE an old film photography for a couple of grand less - F3 and FM2 bodies are cheap now).  Perhaps you have too much money.  Perhaps you are a poseur.  Nope, not the last one because poseurs wouldn't be reading what I write.  The Df would be AWESOME if you could buy the body for $1,500 and then choose a real lens to put on it, and if you want the 50mm then that's your call.  I would go for the awesome Nikkor 35/1.4 but that's me.

Which brings us to who this camera is for.  Truth to tell, I don't know.  It's price makes it a high ticket item, not stupid high ticket like the Hasselblad labeled Sony A99, but high ticket regardless.  It is capable of great images and has terrific low light capability so it should be "the photographer's digital", but it brings nothing not already found in the excellent D610 or D800 except looks.  Are vintage looks worth an extra $1,000?  Not to me, and according to the sales numbers, not in general either.

Summary

Pros

• Feels really good in the hands, especially if you have a fondness for old Nikon F body pro cameras
• Great viewfinder
• Terrific analog style control layout
• Intelligently position depth of field preview
• Useful bracketing button
• Amazing high ISO performance

Cons

• Price that's too freaking high
• Idiotic card slot placement
• No CLS
• Limited accessories, specifically no battery grip
• Did I mention no CLS
• No video (even if you'll never use it, like 95% of DSLR owners, it is 2014 people)

So would I buy one,if I were in the market?  The answer is no.  The Df is, for me, a case of "so close, but not close enough".  I know the image quality is excellent.  It's the D4 sensor, which is proven globally.  Top line Nikkor glass is superlative, as good as anything in the market and better than many.  I found I really like the controls and was functional with the Df faster than I have been with any digital camera, but that's because I started shooting film when I was ten on a Minolta SR-3 so film camera layouts are stored in my brain.  I do still shoot film, albeit only 4x5 and 6x7, and if I wanted the look of a film camera, I still have that SR-3 as well as too many bags of film bodies and lenses.  Digital is very empowering but the Df has too many limitations for my use cases, and the price is stupid.  Some dolt in Marketing must think that serious photographers are complete fools to believe that there is a market for a feature disabled $1500 digital body sold for $3000.

If Nikon were to accept that they screwed up and dropped the body only price under $1500, this unit would sell.  At it's current feature set / price point, it's gonna be a dust collector.

Specifications (Courtesy Nikon USA)

Nikon Digital SLR Camera Df Specifications

Type
Type	Single-lens reflex digital camera
Lens mount	Nikon F mount (with AF coupling and AF contacts)
Effective angle of view	Nikon FX format
Effective pixels
Effective pixels	16.2 million
Image sensor
Image sensor	36.0 x 23.9 mm CMOS sensor
Total pixels	16.6 million
Dust-reduction system	Image sensor cleaning, Image Dust Off reference data (optional Capture NX 2 software required)
Storage
Image size (pixels)	FX format (36x24): 4,928 x 3,280 [L], 3,696 x 2,456 [M], 2,464 x 1,640 [S] DX format (24x16): 3,200 x 2,128 [L], 2,400 x 1,592 [M], 1,600 x 1,064 [S]
File format	NEF (RAW): 12 or 14 bit, lossless compressed, compressed, or uncompressed TIFF (RGB) JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1:4), normal (approx. 1:8) or basic (approx. 1:16) compression (Size priority); Optimal quality compression available NEF (RAW)+JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
Picture Control System	Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; selected Picture Control can be modified; storage for custom Picture Controls
Media	SD (Secure Digital) and UHS-I compliant SDHC and SDXC memory cards
File system	DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) 2.0, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format), Exif (Exchangeable Image File Format for Digital Still Cameras) 2.3, PictBridge
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Eye-level pentaprism single-lens reflex viewfinder
Frame coverage	FX (36x24): Approx. 100% horizontal and 100% vertical DX (24x16): Approx. 97% horizontal and 97% vertical
Magnification	Approx. 0.7x (50 mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0 m-1)
Eyepoint	15 mm (-1.0 m-1; from center surface of viewfinder eyepiece lens)
Diopter adjustment	-3 to +1 m-1
Focusing screen	Type B BriteView Clear Matte Mark VIII screen with AF area brackets (framing grid can be displayed)
Reflex mirror	Quick return
Depth-of-field preview	Pressing Pv button stops lens aperture down to value selected by user (exposure modes A and M) or by camera (exposure modes P and S)
Lens aperture	Instant return, electronically controlled
Lens
Compatible lenses	Compatible with AF NIKKOR lenses, including type G, E, and D lenses (some restrictions apply to PC lenses) and DX lenses (using DX 24 x 16 1.5x image area), AI-P NIKKOR lenses and non-CPU lenses. IX NIKKOR lenses and lenses for the F3AF cannot be used. The electronic rangefinder can be used with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster (the electronic rangefinder supports the center 7 focus points with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/8 or faster and the center 33 focus points with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/7.1 or faster)
Shutter
Type	Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter
Speed	1/4,000 to 4 s in steps of 1 EV (1/4,000 s to 30 s in steps of 1/3 EV with main command dial), X200 (with shutter-speed dial only), bulb, time
Flash sync speed	X=1/200 s; synchronizes with shutter at 1/250 s or slower
Release
Release modes	S (single frame), CL (continuous low speed), CH (continuous high speed), Q (quiet shutter-release),  (self-timer), MUP (mirror up)
Frame advance rate	1 to 5 fps (CL) or 5.5 fps (CH)
Self-timer	2 s, 5 s, 10 s, 20 s; 1 to 9 exposures at intervals of 0.5, 1, 2 or 3 s
Exposure
Metering	TTL exposure metering using 2,016-pixel RGB sensor
Metering method	Matrix: 3D color matrix metering II (type G, E and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses); color matrix metering available with non-CPU lenses if user provides lens data Center-weighted: Weight of 75% given to 12-mm circle in center of frame; diameter of circle can be changed to 8, 15 or 20 mm, or weighting can be based on average of entire frame (non-CPU lenses use 12-mm circle) Spot: Meters 4-mm circle (about 1.5% of frame) centered on selected focus point (on center focus point when non-CPU lens is used)
Range (ISO 100, f/1.4 lens, 20°C/68°F)	Matrix or center-weighted metering: 0 to 20 EV Spot metering: 2 to 20 EV
Exposure meter coupling	Combined CPU and AI (collapsible metering coupling lever)
Exposure modes	Programmed auto with flexible program (P); shutter-priority auto (S); aperture-priority auto (A); manual (M)
Exposure compensation	-3 to +3 EV in increments of 1/3 EV
Exposure bracketing	2 to 5 frames in steps of 1/3, 2/3, 1, 2 or 3 EV
Flash bracketing	2 to 5 frames in steps of 1/3, 2/3, 1, 2 or 3 EV
Exposure lock	Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button
ISO sensitivity (Recommended Exposure Index)	ISO 100 to 12800 in steps of 1/3 EV; can also be set to approx. 0.3, 0.7 or 1 EV (ISO 50 equivalent) below ISO 100 or to approx. 0.3, 0.7, 1, 2, 3 or 4 EV (ISO 204800 equivalent) above ISO 12800; auto ISO sensitivity control available
Active D-Lighting	Can be selected from Auto, Extra high +2/+1, High, Normal, Low, or Off
ADL bracketing	2 frames using selected value for one frame or 3 to 5 frames using preset values for all frames
Focus
Autofocus	Nikon Multi-CAM 4800 autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, fine-tuning, and 39 focus points (including 9 cross-type sensors; the center 33 points are available at apertures slower than f/5.6 and faster than f/8, while the center 7 focus points are available at f/8)
Detection range	-1 to +19 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
Lens servo	Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); continuous-servo AF (AF-C); predictive focus tracking activated automatically according to subject status Manual focus (M): Electronic rangefinder can be used
Focus point	Can be selected from 39 or 11 focus points
AF-area modes	Single-point AF, 9-, 21- or 39-point dynamic-area AF, 3D-tracking, auto-area AF
Focus lock	Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
Flash
Flash control	TTL: i-TTL flash control using 2,016-pixel RGB sensor is available with SB-910, SB-900, SB-800, SB-700, SB-600, SB-400 or SB-300; i-TTL balanced fill-flash for digital SLR is used with matrix and center-weighted metering, standard i-TTL flash for digital SLR with spot metering
Flash modes	Front-curtain sync, slow sync, rear-curtain sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction with slow sync, slow rear-curtain sync, Auto FP High-Speed Sync supported
Flash compensation	-3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3
Flash-ready indicator	Lights when optional flash unit is fully charged; flashes after flash is fired at full output
Accessory shoe	ISO 518 hot-shoe with sync and data contacts and safety lock
Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)	Advanced Wireless Lighting supported with SB-910, SB-900, SB-800 or SB-700 as a master flash and SB-600 or SB-R200 as remotes, or SU-800 as commander; Auto FP High-Speed Sync and modeling illumination supported with all CLS-compatible flash units except SB-400 and SB-300; Flash Color Information Communication and FV lock supported with all CLS-compatible flash units
Sync terminal	ISO 519 sync terminal with locking thread
White balance
White balance	Auto (2 types), incandescent, fluorescent (7 types), direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual (up to 4 values can be stored, spot white balance measurement available during live view), choose color temperature (2,500 K to 10,000 K); all with fine-tuning
White balance bracketing	2 to 3 frames in steps of 1, 2 or 3
Live View
Lens servo	Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); full-time servo AF (AF-F) Manual focus (M)
AF-area modes	Face-priority AF, wide-area AF, normal-area AF, subject-tracking AF
Autofocus	Contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame (camera selects focus point automatically when face-priority AF or subject-tracking AF is selected)
Monitor
Monitor	8-cm (3.2-in.), approx. 921k-dot (VGA), low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with approx. 170° viewing angle, approx. 100% frame coverage, and brightness control
Playback
Playback	Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 9 or 72 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, photo slide shows, histogram display, highlights, photo information, location data display, and auto image rotation
Interface
USB	Hi-Speed USB
HDMI output	Type C mini-pin HDMI connector
Accessory terminal	Wireless remote controllers: WR-R10 and WR-1 (available separately) Remote cord: MC-DC2 (available separately) GPS units: GP-1/GP-1A (available separately)
Supported languages
Supported languages	Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian
Power source
Battery	One EN-EL14a Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
AC adapter	EH-5b AC Adapter; requires EP-5A Power Connector (available separately)
Tripod socket
Tripod socket	1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions / weight
Dimensions (W x H x D)	Approx. 143.5 x 110 x 66.5 mm/ 5.6 x 4.3 x 2.6 in.
Weight	Approx. 765 g/1 lb 11 oz with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 710 g/1 lb 9 oz (camera body only)
Operating environment
Operating environment	Temperature: 0 to 40°C/32 to 104°F; humidity: 85% or less (no condensation)
Accessories
Supplied accessories (may differ by country or area)	EN-EL14a Rechargeable Li-ion Battery, MH-24 Battery Charger, DK-26 Eyepiece Cap, String for eyepiece cap, UC-E6 USB Cable, AN-DC9 Camera Strap, BF-1B Body Cap, BS-1 Accessory Shoe Cover, ViewNX 2 CD-ROM

• PictBridge is a trademark.
• The SD, SDHC and SDXC logos are trademarks of SD-3C, LLC.
• HDMI, the HDMI logo and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing, LLC.
• Products and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
• Images in viewfinders, on LCDs and monitors shown in this site are simulated.

Memory card capacity

The following table shows the approximate number of pictures that can be stored on an 8 GB SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card at different image quality, image size, and image area settings.

FX (36 x 24) image area*

Image quality	Image size	File size1	No. of images1	Buffer capacity2
NEF (RAW), Lossless compressed, 12-bit	-	15.4 MB	279	37
NEF (RAW), Lossless compressed, 14-bit	-	19.4 MB	216	29
NEF (RAW), Compressed, 12-bit	-	13.9 MB	377	47
NEF (RAW), Compressed, 14-bit	-	17.0 MB	315	38
NEF (RAW), Uncompressed, 12-bit	-	26.5 MB	279	30
NEF (RAW), Uncompressed, 14-bit	-	34.3 MB	216	25
TIFF (RGB)	Large Medium Small	49.1 MB 28.3 MB 13.2 MB	151 265 566	21 25 36
JPEG fine3	Large Medium Small	7.9 MB 5.4 MB 3.0 MB	729 1100 2200	100 100 100
JPEG normal3	Large Medium Small	4.5 MB 2.8 MB 1.6 MB	1400 2300 4300	100 100 100
JPEG basic3	Large Medium Small	2.2 MB 1.5 MB 0.9 MB	2800 4600 8000	100 100 100

• *Includes images taken with non-DX lenses when On is selected for Auto DX crop.

DX (24 x 16) image area*

Image quality	Image size	File size1	No. of images1	Buffer capacity2
NEF (RAW), Lossless compressed, 12-bit	-	7.2 MB	618	100
NEF (RAW), Lossless compressed, 14-bit	-	8.9 MB	484	96
NEF (RAW), Compressed, 12-bit	-	6.6 MB	818	100
NEF (RAW), Compressed, 14-bit	-	7.9 MB	692	100
NEF (RAW), Uncompressed, 12-bit	-	12.0 MB	618	72
NEF (RAW), Uncompressed, 14-bit	-	15.3 MB	484	53
TIFF (RGB)	Large Medium Small	21.5 MB 12.6 MB 6.2 MB	349 593 1100	29 39 69
JPEG fine3	Large Medium Small	3.7 MB 2.8 MB 1.9 MB	1500 2200 3600	100 100 100
JPEG normal3	Large Medium Small	2.3 MB 1.6 MB 1.1 MB	2900 4400 7100	100 100 100
JPEG basic3	Large Medium Small	1.2 MB 0.9 MB 0.7 MB	5700 8600 12100	100 100 100

• *Includes images taken with DX lenses when On is selected for Auto DX crop.
• 1All figures are approximate. File size varies with scene recorded.
• 2Maximum number of exposures that can be stored in memory buffer at ISO 100. Drops if optimal quality is selected for JPEG compression, NEF (RAW) photos are taken with ISO sensitivity set to Hi 0.3 or higher, or long exposure noise reduction or auto distortion control is on.
• 3Figures assume JPEG compression is set to Size priority. Selecting optimal quality increases the file size of JPEG images; number of images and buffer capacity drop accordingly.

Approved memory cards

The following SD memory cards have been tested and approved for use in the camera.

		SD memory cards	SDHC memory cards2	SDXC memory cards3
SanDisk		2 GB*1	4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB	64 GB
Toshiba
Panasonic			4 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB	48 GB, 64 GB
Lexar Media			4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB	-
	Platinum II		4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB
	Professional
	Full-HD Video	-	4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB

• 1Check that any card readers or other devices with which the card will be used support 2 GB cards.
• 2Check that any card readers or other devices with which the card will be used are SDHC-compliant. The camera supports UHS-I.
• 3Check that any card readers or other devices with which the card will be used are SDXC-compliant. The camera supports UHS-I.