Buying a new Nikon Df

It's coming this week, hopefully. Will keep people appraised...

 

I've found that Aden's "relationship" with Nikon and Fuji allows access to trailing edge merch still in the warehouse others say is "discontinued." They're trying to track down a Fuji X-Pro2 body for me at a nice price.

I've found that Aden's "relationship" with Nikon and Fuji allows access to trailing edge merch still in the warehouse others say is "discontinued." They're trying to track down a Fuji X-Pro2 body for me at a nice price.

I hope it all works out. Df unit # 5001313 is heading towards me, arriving Monday as per Canada Post. I guess not too many were sold in Canada if you can believe the numbering websites.

If you buy new why buy Ebay?

 

Many sell on eBay just like a store, with all items "buy it now".

 

I actually bought a Nikon ES-1, new, from Japan on eBay.

It was enough cheaper that I decided to buy it, where the others were more expensive.

 

It did take a long time to arrive, over a month I think. But I wasn't in a rush.

 

I haven't bought anything expensive from Japan, though.

I hope it all works out. Df unit # 5001313 is heading towards me, arriving Monday as per Canada Post. I guess not too many were sold in Canada if you can believe the numbering websites.

 

Hoping it isn't languishing somewhere in the bowels of the huge Covid-stricken Gateway facility. I gathered from friends at Vistek that it was a very slow seller.

Hoping it isn't languishing somewhere in the bowels of the huge Covid-stricken Gateway facility. I gathered from friends at Vistek that it was a very slow seller.

Well as per Canada Post, it should be here Monday so it's not languishing. I doubt indeed a lot were sold and certainly these days at the prices they still command, very few will move much. I am hoping for excellent low light performance, light weight, quiet shutter, more thoughtful shooting and longer battery life than the D850. The D700 was very miserly with battery consumption. The Df seems to be similar from what I read but the D850 in my experience is a battery hog. You can shoot all day on a battery and get +1000 shots out of a battery, but if it sits in the cupboard for a week, you'll get 180 shots and the battery will be at 70%. The latter really is an issue for traveling, certainly when I am away from power for a week at a time. And yes, I've turned off all the stuff the drains it, such as wifi, bluetooth and what not. Not using the screen for instant review etc. Still drains batteries like a cheap whore.

Since the Df has a shallow grip, it cannot house the usual EN-EL15 battery. Instead, the Df uses the smaller EN-EL14(a), originally designed for the D3000 and D5000 series.

 

Concerning the D850 (or any body that uses the EN-EL15 family), if you would like to have longer battery life, you can always get the latest EN-EL15c, which has a higher capacity. But that C variation is like $73 in the US. I would imagine that it costs a small fortune in Canada. :confused:

Edited January 28, 2021 by ShunCheung

But that C variation is like $73 in the US

or £ 79 in the UK!

 

or $107 at today's exchange rate.....:eek:

The teeny-tiny battery is one of several things that I wish Nikon would tweak/update, but of course we now know it's not going to happen.

 

To its credit, the battery life is USUALLY decent and as long as I charged before going out, I've never had one run down in use(plus a spare disappears into your pocket), but I do use the "info" button on mine quite a bit to easily find information that's not as easy to ferret out on the tiny top display and in the viewfinder.

The teeny-tiny battery is one of several things that I wish Nikon would tweak/update, but of course we now know it's not going to happen.

I've always been on the side of the best ergonomics for the camera that holds a 'modest' battery and simply carry a spare or 2..

 

...rather than have a 3000+ frame battery making an odd, bulgy body.

Since the Df has a shallow grip, it cannot house the usual EN-EL15 battery. Instead, the Df uses the smaller EN-EL14(a), originally designed for the D3000 and D5000 series.

 

Concerning the D850 (or any body that uses the EN-EL15 family), if you would like to have longer battery life, you can always get the latest EN-EL15c, which has a higher capacity. But that C variation is like $73 in the US. I would imagine that it costs a small fortune in Canada. :confused:

 

The Df battery is small but I haven't run out of battery power when shooting yet.

I finally received the Df after a massive delay with Canada Post due to Covid issues. I like it. It's very light and small. I won't, however, deal with the vendor anymore. The unit was either a return or a demo unit as there were 270 exposures on it. I was promised it was brand new. I'm deciding to keep it nonetheless. Maybe there is a reason Aden camera is not included in the photoprice.ca vendor list... Happy and a bit pissed off.

270 frames could be in-factory testing.

 

It certainly isn't ex-demo! All the demo cameras I've met have about 1K+ in-store clicks.

 

Return? Maybe.. but that's very light.

 

Aslong as it looks and feels 'new', I'd not worry one bit.

 

Have you managed to register it OK?

I frankly have never unboxed a Nikon and found ANY exposures on the camera. My D850, D700 and D80 were all 0 count when I started. You can tell when things have been opened; the cardboard is a little weaker and bent, the wrappers were not on correctly etc. I'm deciding to live with it but of course won't buy from them again.

 

I do like the machine. It really does slow you down when trying to shoot. A bit odd to change the aperture with the funky flat dial on the front but we'll see where it goes. Shooting with Auto ISO and full manual for the rest. So far so good. I am getting what I was after, which was a different feel to the photos. I am in the middle of reprocessing some old stuff but in Capture One and it struck me how similar pictures taken (same subject too) with the D700 and the D850 felt so different. The D850 feels a bit overcooked, especially with people. It's like watching a 4K OLED TV. It's no longer real. The D700 pics were a bit more natural looking and this has the same feel. Plus it's oh so light and quiet... Even the stock 1.8 lens is not too bad. Next up is the 1.4 Zeiss 50 mm for a test run. And yes, I did register it.

or £ 79 in the UK!

 

or $107 at today's exchange rate.....:eek:

Yet I have been trying to get an extra for my z6ii but they seem back ordered everywhere in EU.