Nikon Df review

Solid retro style and build; The best image quality around; Awesome manual control;

Sluggish focus in low light; Some fiddly ergonomics; No video capture;

Nikon Df Review

The Nikon Df ($2,749.95 body only) represents the company's first crack at designing a camera with a retro look and feel, a style that has become more and more popular since Fujifilm unveiled the X100 in 2010. Nikon's take is inspired by its classic FE2 SLR, but it's on the boxy side and its digital nature requires it to pack more dials and switches than you'd ever find on a manual focus 35mm camera. The 16-megapixel full-frame SLR uses the same outstanding image sensor that you'll find in the company's outgoing flagship D4, and adds compatibility with previously unsupported Non-AI manual focus lenses. But its autofocus system isn't as advanced as the D4, so it struggles in low light, and its focusing screen is not an ideal match for older manual focus lenses. Nikon also curiously decided to drop support for video recording from the Df, resulting in a camera that's an odd mix of modern digital technology and classic analog mentality. If you're a video shooter that makes the Df a ...

The Nikon Df full-frame SLR camera lives half in the modern world and half in the analog era, and suffers a bit for it.

Great high ISO image quality; 5.5fps continuous shooting; 921k-dot rear display; Dial-based control system; 100-percent viewfinder; Full compatibility with older manual focus Nikkor lenses

No video recording; Lacks focus assist beam and flash; ISO dial omits "A" setting; Retro design and chunky body clash; Modern focus screen not ideal for manual focus lenses; Shallow handgrip not a great match with larger lenses

Nikon Df review review

Solid retro style and build; The best image quality around; Awesome manual control;

Sluggish focus in low light; Some fiddly ergonomics; No video capture;

Top marks for style and image quality, but ergonomics could be better and autofocus performance really should be