asiafish
All-Pro
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
- Name
- Andrew
I've built up quite a nice collection of manual focus Nikkor lenses and enjoy shooting them on both digital and film. Finding a good film body for Nikon is easy as other than the FM10 and FE10 (both actually Cosinas) there really weren't any bad Nikon bodies. My personal favorite is the F3, though I own and am happy enough with my second favorite, the F2 (mine is an F2A).
Digital is more difficult. The Df is close; very close, but I find it feels a lot more plasticky than I would like, and despite all of the nice retro dials, it still feels like a modern DSLR complete with far too many buttons, menus and the like for my taste. It also has a modern DSLR focusing screen that while good for manual focusing by modern standards, sucks compared with any good film SLR. My Df was modified with an FM3a focusing screen which solved that one shortcoming.
Still, I shoot more Leica than Nikon and I always had to choose which system to shoot with no interoperability between them, until now.
I upgraded from the Leica M-D to the new M10 and found it's EVF with the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux so easy to focus, that I became curious about using my Nikkors with it. One Novoflex Nikon F to Leica M adapter later and I can tell you that the M10 makes a better digital back for my Nikkors than the Df did. Focusing is extremely easy, especially with the magnification and peaking though honestly it's already so fast and easy that I don't bother with either feature. With the adapter, I can add a few Nikkors to my Leica kit and not have to bring an extra body, and nice as the Df sensor is, the M10's is nicer, with 50% higher resolution (not so important) and no AA filter (more important).
I was so happy with this set up that I have sold my Df. I am also so happy with certain Nikkors (200/4 Q and 24/2.8 K) that I see little point in buying Leica lenses in those focal lengths. The 43-86/3.5 AI is also surprisingly good (thank's Brian) on the M10.
Digital is more difficult. The Df is close; very close, but I find it feels a lot more plasticky than I would like, and despite all of the nice retro dials, it still feels like a modern DSLR complete with far too many buttons, menus and the like for my taste. It also has a modern DSLR focusing screen that while good for manual focusing by modern standards, sucks compared with any good film SLR. My Df was modified with an FM3a focusing screen which solved that one shortcoming.
Still, I shoot more Leica than Nikon and I always had to choose which system to shoot with no interoperability between them, until now.
I upgraded from the Leica M-D to the new M10 and found it's EVF with the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux so easy to focus, that I became curious about using my Nikkors with it. One Novoflex Nikon F to Leica M adapter later and I can tell you that the M10 makes a better digital back for my Nikkors than the Df did. Focusing is extremely easy, especially with the magnification and peaking though honestly it's already so fast and easy that I don't bother with either feature. With the adapter, I can add a few Nikkors to my Leica kit and not have to bring an extra body, and nice as the Df sensor is, the M10's is nicer, with 50% higher resolution (not so important) and no AA filter (more important).
I was so happy with this set up that I have sold my Df. I am also so happy with certain Nikkors (200/4 Q and 24/2.8 K) that I see little point in buying Leica lenses in those focal lengths. The 43-86/3.5 AI is also surprisingly good (thank's Brian) on the M10.