I also posted this as a thread in the photography group:
Nikon Df mini 'review'
First, a little background. I am a longtime Nikon shooter, starting out as a young lad in the ‘70s with my father’s Nikkormat FTn and 50mmf/2 lens (I still have both). I also have a shelf full of old Nikkor glass, both AI and non-AI. I have shot with/owned or still own: Nikkormat FTn, FM, FM2n, F3, D70s, D200, D3, D800E and now the Df.
The Df is for a guy like me. Nostalgia is a big part of the draw to this camera. I love the look and feel of this beauty. We already know the IQ will be exceptional since it has the same sensor as the D4 and I can say it delivers great image quality even at high ISO.
But the big questions are how does it handle? Is it a pain to use with all those dials? Does the camera get in the way when you are trying to shoot?
Let me just say that in general, I am really enjoying shooting with this camera. It is much lighter and smaller than any fx camera I have handled. It feels very confident in my hands. It took a day or two to get used to having the exposure comp on the dial on the left side. There are a lot people on the net complaining how its fiddly to change the ISO or exposure comp. I found it easy and natural once I got used to them after a few days. I can change them without taking my eye away from the finder. It feels good to feel and hear those clicks.
Nikon has made the three important variables easy to change and see: ISO, shutter speed and aperture. I usually shoot in manual or aperture mode and change the back command dial to aperture control as I find it easier to use with my thumb. I don’t use the front command dial at all with this camera. I LOVE shooting with this camera. Focusing with manual lenses is easy for me and I find the focus indicator in the finder is usually spot on. Its a bit of a rush when I put on a lens made in 1960 on my 2013 camera.
As much as I enjoy this camera, there are few things that are mildly annoying. You may find them very annoying or not, its a subjective thing. 1) No ten pin accessory connector. There is only the consumer type connector. So my remote release won’t work here but I just screw in an old style mechanical one into the shutter release. 2) No ‘two finger’ format. You have to go into the menus to format the card. I do this everytime I put a card into the camera and it bugs me a wee bit. 3) Menu is required to change the file format. I shoot 99% in RAW so its not a biggy for me. And that’s it. Except also, perhaps the price, but it does have the D4 sensor…...
This camera is not for all photogs, but for a geezer like me, it gets my engine running. Can’t wait to do a real shoot with it!