cadman342001
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CGrindahl wrote:
Just to set the record straight since Andy and Ben are trying to make my reluctance to buy a Df and disinterest in using adaptors into a sign of mental illness, I'll comment. First remember I'm a retired but previously licensed marriage and family therapist. I know the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the DSM diagnoses that fit me have nothing to do with cameras, lenses or adaptors...  This thread has maintained its equilibrium for almost ten years to a certain extent because I know how to deal with mentally disturbed characters who happen to like Nikon manual focus lenses...  You KNOW who you are... 
With regard to the Df, it arrived on the scene about a year and a half after the D800. Most of you likely recall the story of how I took delivery of a D800 from B&H Photo for Donald Jean who asked that I remove the lithium battery and ship the camera on to him in Italy. Of course, I was happy to solve this problem, asking only that I be allowed to play with the camera for a week. He was fine with that, so I rambled about with the camera and played with our favorite lenses. I HATED the camera because of the shallow grip they used. After carrying the camera for about an hour my fingers were cramping. I did a check online and read a great many complaints about the grip, and if I'm not mistaken, one of the reasons for the release of the D810 was redesign of the grip.
This is what Lloyd Chambers had to say...
https://diglloyd.com/blog/2012/20120405_1-D800.html
After many years with the D700 that fit my hand perfectly, I was one of the many who felt the D800 came nowhere near being a suitable replacement. That meant, of course, that when the diminutive Df arrived the following year, I was apprehensive. Had I been able to hold one in my hand it would have immediately answered my question, but there were NONE available locally and I certainly wasn't going to buy and return one simply because of how the grip felt. What I did instead was noted by everyone on this thread... I kept asking folks how the camera felt to them. I think it ultimately was a comment from Ken H. that tripped me into the buy column. (I saved about $1,400 buying used. I don't buy new cameras.) The grip is much smaller than the D700, but so is the rest of the camera. The grip works just fine.
With regard to adaptors it is simply the old "if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it." People talk about how wonderful mirrorless cameras are... they're smaller and lighter. Probably if you're using native lenses designed for the body that will be true, but once you start adding an adaptor and larger lens you're dealing with a small camera hanging on the end of a large mass of metal. Can it be done? Of course it can but why? If I didn't like the Df and wanted to shoot with pre-AI lenses, it might make sense... but I own a Df and can mount all the Nikon lenses I want to mount and they all meter. Blessedly, my eyesight is good enough at my advanced age so I can gain focus in the Df viewfinder most of the time... though at the moment I fear the Df is playing with... but that later.
I won't talk with you about my retirement income except to say I quit working full-time much too early to secure one of those gold-plated retirement program like Reagan and Ken got. So I must live within my means...
So no DSM diagnosis here, just a fellow who until recently has enjoyed shooting with a Df... next post.  ...Show more →
I knew you would bite Curtis ! I definitely wasn't accusing you of mental illness, unless being stubborn is a mental illness
Just pulling your leg but I do remember myself and others telling you how a Df would be ideal for you for about a year before you took the plunge !
I've been mainly unemployed for most of the last 6 years, have a mental illness (depression) and have no pension. BUT I'm only 52, live in a Tropical Paradise and my wife earns good money (in Mental Health) to keep me in manner I am accustomed to !!!
I have actually started renting rooms out as the kids have all left home now and I have renovated them.
My next project is our Granny Flat, the state of which had to be seen to be believed after both sons and their partners lived in it successively for the last 5 years and was trying to get some Astrophotography Outback Tours running before the Covid-19 Pandemic struck.
Sorry to hear of your Df problems, definitely sounds like something is stopping the aperture from closing down, whether that is the camera arm or the lens is something that will require further investigation.
I agree that sticking a big lens on a mirrorless is unbalanced but I use the 180ED without issue, especially if I'm using a battery grip. Rather than just repeat what you have heard, why don't you ask a few of the people who have a MILC here what is the biggest lens they use and how it balances? :P
Regarding adapters, the Fuji I use (XT2) is a crop sensor but the focal reducer (0.7) also acts as the adapter for mf nikkors, is only about an inch wide and is black with a silver ring so matches the lenses.
Regarding grip depth, the D810 did indeed rectify the D800 grip depth (not that I ever noticed that and I have had I think 4 D800s), more importantly the Z6 has a VERY nice grip AND is cheap as chips at the moment.
Try one, you'll love it. Ultimately I sold mine as I needed fast AF for birds (D500) and preferred an optical VF for macro (D810), and so it was a toss up between the Z6 and cheaper Fuji XT2 which I love for being able to shoot RAW files but also shoot jpegs at the same time with a film preset applied on top of all the mirrorless features of both cameras.
You will recall I bought a Fuji XT1 specifically for my trip to India so that I would have 4 months to evaluate whether mirroless was for me. Maybe you could test drive a Z6 if/while your Df is being repaired. If you could make it to Staunton you could try Kens Z !
Andy
 Equipment Shots-19 by AndyMacDougallPhotography, on Flickr
 Gear for India by AndyMacDougallPhotography, on Flickr
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