With Nikon on the verge of announcing their new DSLR on November 5th, here’s a look at some of the rumoured specifications.
The ‘Pure Photography’ video teasers have already given us some good glimpses of the camera and what we know so far is that it will borrow design cues from the past. The initial speculated FM looks have given way to a more F3-esque design. The speculated name Nikon Df fits in well with the concept of paying homage to the Nikon F models of yesteryears.
From the teaser videos, the back of the camera still has modern controls such as a rear command dial, AE-L/AF-L and AF-ON buttons, directional pad, and metering mode selector. On top there’s the shutter speed dial, the shutter release and at least one other dial on the right side as well as more controls on the left. A few more buttons around the lens mount as well as a large mystery dial on the front right next to the grip.
The viewfinder remains a mystery and details about it seem purposefully left out of the teasers. Perhaps its got something to do with the ‘hybrid’ moniker that’s been branded around. Many have speculated on a changeable VF with an OVF/EVF option or EVF overlay ala Fuji X-Pro1. And EVF would imply a video feed directly from the sensor and the deliberate omission of video in the rumoured specifications doesn’t correlate well.
The pricing also seems to be a huge point of contention. Many see the removal of many features pointing to an entry level product priced below the D610 whilst others speculate the build quality and niche nature places it firmly above a D610 and even above a D800/E.
My personal opinion is that whilst the camera will provide a very different experience to the Sony A7/r mirrorless full frame duo, they will be price competitors and the value nature of each would be pitted against one another. My guess is somewhere around the pricing of the A7r but something tells me the biggest surprise to the Nikon Df has yet to be accurately speculated on and will set the camera apart.
The Df is also rumoured to use the Nikon D4 16MP in-house sensor. This, in itself is exciting as we’re currently almost 2 years into the Nikon D4 cycle where Nikon’s pro cameras usually run a 4 year cycle. This means the D4 will be up for its usual mid-life refresh soon with perhaps some minor tweaks to the sensor to achieve the efficiency of its predecessor, the D3s. Will we see a tweaked D4 sensor debuting in the Df? Probably too much wishful thinking but never say never. If the Df schedule lined up with a D4 refresh, the higher production volumes for the sensor would gain economies of scale benefits (for both cameras).
Furthermore 2014 is an Olympic year with the winter games in Sochi commencing in February 2014. It would seem appropriate for an updated D4 to appear shortly but I guess even more lacking is a flagship DX camera. A red herring D4h rumour also appeared in the early days of the Df rumours but its possible a second camera’s specs had been mistaken for the Df. The ‘h’ moniker was traditionally associated with ‘speed’ in Nikon’s flagship lineup but was dropped in the D3 generation, possibly due to the economic failure of the D2h/s. Whether it get reused or not, a high speed hybrid EVF/OVF, on-sensor PDAF camera that can output very high FPS (without the mechanical mirror limitations) with very deep memory buffers seem ripe for announcement, either in a flagship DX body or an ‘h’ update to the D4 line. Nikon’s V1/2 line already leads the on-sensor PDAF implementation and bandwidth doesn’t seem a problem with the V2 outputting full 14MP resolution at 60 fps.
So, will the sensor be the surprise? Or will it be the VF. Or both?
Just Another Photographer 