A few years ago I wanted a full frame no frills travel camera. Without boring you ad nauseam with my check list, I settled on a Df. A new U.S. market edition proved difficult to locate. It was no longer in production. I did find a new one and used it for a few years. The Df has some D4 internals, no video (don’t care about that), and just 16MP. I have an assortment of vintage ai-s glass which I easily focused manually. It was a fun camera with a strong dose of nostalgia reminiscent of my original “F” from 69-70.
I read a number of Nikon “splashes” extolling the versatility and utility of a new model…… the “Zf”. hmmmmm… The more I read the more I became convinced I should transition to this mirrorless version of the Df. Several articles and videos seemed to confirm that vintage Nikkor glass was easy to focus with the Zf. It was easy with the Df, just turn the focus ring and look through the viewfinder to the lower left for the green arrows and ball. Most of the time you simply “knew” you had focus by the clarity of the subject..
So I got one. The new Zf is smaller. It has gobs of cutting edge features and technology. The interface with vintage ai-s era glass leaves much to be desired. It does NOT have the green arrows and ball thingy in the EVF. It only works with subject detection on and the focus box will grab whatever object it likes… and you can’t move it to where you want.
However, ” Focus Peaking” saves the day! It works soooo good with these old lenses! Improvements in manual focus capabilities may be forthcoming in future firmware upgrades. Like the little green arrows and ball or even a split screen like my old “F”. For now, I’m a happy camper with the Zf…. Lots of new tech to learn here.. Here’s some pix, Df/Zf comparison and the Zf with a 24mm ai-s lens.
I read a number of Nikon “splashes” extolling the versatility and utility of a new model…… the “Zf”. hmmmmm… The more I read the more I became convinced I should transition to this mirrorless version of the Df. Several articles and videos seemed to confirm that vintage Nikkor glass was easy to focus with the Zf. It was easy with the Df, just turn the focus ring and look through the viewfinder to the lower left for the green arrows and ball. Most of the time you simply “knew” you had focus by the clarity of the subject..
So I got one. The new Zf is smaller. It has gobs of cutting edge features and technology. The interface with vintage ai-s era glass leaves much to be desired. It does NOT have the green arrows and ball thingy in the EVF. It only works with subject detection on and the focus box will grab whatever object it likes… and you can’t move it to where you want.
However, ” Focus Peaking” saves the day! It works soooo good with these old lenses! Improvements in manual focus capabilities may be forthcoming in future firmware upgrades. Like the little green arrows and ball or even a split screen like my old “F”. For now, I’m a happy camper with the Zf…. Lots of new tech to learn here.. Here’s some pix, Df/Zf comparison and the Zf with a 24mm ai-s lens.
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