The Nikon Df: a wildlife photographer's take.
I spent a few days already in Serawak, Malaysia, lugging around the 600mm f/4 attached to a Nikon Df. I am sweating my life to say the least, but it is worth it.
Quick note: The Df is so much better than the D7500. I am so glad that I sold it.
Few notes from the depth of Borneo's jungle: the Nikon Df is truly a master piece of a camera: the tactile feeling is so nice and underrated! It is a new way for me to shoot for sure: I used to be an Aperture Priority mode guy for a decade. This camera changes that for me. I am now shooting in Manual, with only the auto-iso on. I adjust the ISO using the +- Exposure Compensation analog dial. I never have to go in the menu, or look at the screen.
Every options has an external command: muscle memory will be quick to learn with this body.
Check out my Instagram to see the latest pictures of monkeys!
An extremely rare flat-headed cat in Bako National Park, in Sarawak, Borneo island, Malaysia
The picture above shows why DSLR still have a place on the market. No mirrorless would have been able to nail this shot above. It was extremely dark. Shot above was at ISO 6400. Underexposed of at least three stops (recovered in Lightroom). Set the Df at 1/1000 to avoid motion blur. The autofocus nailed it (the cat was in the dark). The combo 600mm f/4 VR Nano-crystal + Nikon Df is unbeatable. There’s no equivalent in the mirrorless. The Fuji 100-400mm would be at f/5.6 at full extend, and the phase detection of the Xt3 would have had trouble for sure focusing at in this setup. The Sony 400mm f/4.8 would probably have been fine. The Olympus 300mm f/4 would have been able, but god helps you if you want to shoot above ISO 800 on the latest M4/3 sensor (I had the Pen-F).
ISO 3600, recovered of at least +2 stops on lightroom.