The Df arrived Monday and I've barely had a chance to shoot with it, but here are a few initial impressions. First, it is fun to shoot with! It is nice to again have an OVF and the shutter sound is fantastic, if that is even possible (how can a shutter sound nice?). Second, my Ricoh GXR A12 50mm still impresses me immensely - there is something to its IQ that is really pleasing - but in comparison its EVF is a let down, its AF is poky and it feels solid but slight. The EM1's EVF is of course much better. But I forgot how nice it is to have an good OVF and how it helps the "seeing" even if EVFs have their advantages. The one downside is that when I previously had DSLRs my eyesight was still good, but now it's not so good and I really should wear my reading glasses when using the OVF, but I don't want to. I need to look into magnifiers.
The body has been described as light and hollow or heavy and solid, and this seems to me to be based on where you are coming from. Coming from a Nikon D800 the Df is indeed light and "hollow" but from mirrorless it is heavy and solid. To me, it feels right. It is a good, solid weight, not too heavy at all. And it feels very tight and pleasing dense. A perfect balance IMO; really nice to hold.
The files are large and the DoF is of course different. So far my impression is that for a lot of my forest work the APS sensor still works best in terms of the DoF I'd like to achieve, but I have yet to take the Df on a proper forest photowalk. The thin DoF is definitely pleasing in different contexts and particularly for people shots. However, the kit 50mm lens vignettes heavily when wide open (there is a camera setting to adjust for that though). The B&W conversions are very, very good, but I still have a lot of tweaking to do to get proper B&W conversions recipes in my RAW developer (which already supports Df RAW files). And naturally, high ISO performance is unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.
Low ISO is amazingly clean.
In many cases I like "grit" in my images, but in other contexts I like clean, smooth B&W images. With the EM1 and Ricoh GRD4 I can easily get grit (and I think the relatively minor grit of the GXR/A12 is part of its charm too). The Df files are obviously very clean and I'm looking forward to working with them. I have not really analyzed color yet, but it looks "correct".
This is also the first time in a long time that I feel like I'm going to have to really study and get to know this camera in order to best use it. I plan on not rushing it and taking the time to get to know it and its files. The "fun factor" will encourage me to use it.
And oh yeah, that shutter sounds nice
But I can definitely feel its whack.
The Df is not a serious compact. But I'll tell you what - there are some fantastic cameras available today and no one can complain if they don't find something they like!
If there is interest I will continue to post impressions here.