Pamhule Photography: Back to the Future: Nikon Df Impressions

8s, f/4, ISO 400, 24mm

In my last post, I shared my impressions on using Nikon's new retro-style DSLR, the Nikon Df, for my street photography. In this post, I will share some thoughts on how I thought the camera performed for the urban landscape photography I do.

Doing landscape photography in Beijing can be challenging. The city’s unpredictable air pollution means that you rarely know what the light and the sky will look like the next day or even later the same day. The convenience of being able to have a light camera to carry around and yet still have the power of an amazing sensor make the Df a great fit for a place like Beijing. The camera makes it possible to shoot handheld in the low light around dusk and dawn and still get sharp pictures. Images are amazingly crisp at ISO 1600 and even at 6400 and beyong there is plenty of detail left.

1/125s, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 34mm
The evening I took the shot above from the Shuangjing neighborhood, I had gone out without a tripod carrying just the Df and the Nikkor 24-70mm lens. The morning had been gray and polluted but later in the afternoon the weather cleared up. Nevertheless, getting a sharp shot was no issue, handholding the camera at ISO 1600 (although I would have liked to smooth out the traffic with a longer exposure).

30s, f/22, ISO 100, 24mm

The manual dials are also handy for landscape photography. With other digital SLRs, I often find myself taking my eyes off the scene I’m shooting to check the viewfinder and the display for exposure settings. With the Df, after getting familiar with the dials, I can quickly set the shutter speed and ISO without taking my eyes of the scene I’m shooting.

1/30s, f/2.8, ISO 2500, 24mm

Another great feature for handheld landscape photography is the virtual horizon function. When enabled, a bar in the viewfinder will indicate rolling, horizontal tilt. The virtual horizon is also available when shooting in live view where forward and backward tilt is also indicated.

1/4000s, f/2.8, ISO 800, 24mm

I will sum up with some general impressions on what it’s been like to work with the Df for the last few weeks.

You can check out more about the Df on Nikon’s website.

Full disclosure: while this post is based on my unfiltered thoughts about the camera, the post is sponsored by Nikon.