WarrenInOntario
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Good decision. Love mine and decided to resist the GAS and hold on to it. Hopefully we will both enjoy our cameras for many years!
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Considering a Df
- Thread starter taxidrivr
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PDX700
Well-known member
I have quite a few digital and analog cameras at this point, but the Nikon DF is the only digital camera that I would not sell. The only analog camera that I would not sell is the Minolta X-700.
Stan Disbrow
Veteran Member
Hi,
My Df doesn't see too much use since the (used) Fujifilm GFX-100 came along early this year. Used to be I would rarely grab my Pentax 645D medium format and frequently grab the Df. Now the light tables have turned.
Still, I do not envision selling the Df. I also don't envision getting any other Nikon to replace it - unless they might eventually make a Df-2. Which I seriously doubt.
Actually, I would sell the Df and the AFS 50 lens in the original box it came in. For the original price. Which is to say, I won't be selling it. This is just for those who figure everything is for sale if the price is high enough. So, there's my price. And no one who is sane would pay that price now.
Besides, I waited years for Nikon to fill my order for one. Yes, I got onto the list at my local Nikon dealer and just waited it out.
Now, as I get time during the Winter months, I might take a hard look at all these F-mount lenses I have acquired since 1979 with an eye to culling the collection down to those I actually use on the Df.
Stan
My Df doesn't see too much use since the (used) Fujifilm GFX-100 came along early this year. Used to be I would rarely grab my Pentax 645D medium format and frequently grab the Df. Now the light tables have turned.
Still, I do not envision selling the Df. I also don't envision getting any other Nikon to replace it - unless they might eventually make a Df-2. Which I seriously doubt.
Actually, I would sell the Df and the AFS 50 lens in the original box it came in. For the original price. Which is to say, I won't be selling it. This is just for those who figure everything is for sale if the price is high enough. So, there's my price. And no one who is sane would pay that price now.
Besides, I waited years for Nikon to fill my order for one. Yes, I got onto the list at my local Nikon dealer and just waited it out.
Now, as I get time during the Winter months, I might take a hard look at all these F-mount lenses I have acquired since 1979 with an eye to culling the collection down to those I actually use on the Df.
Stan
MJ_Photo38
Veteran Member
Really? I've been tracking D700 prices on MPB ever since I got mine in 2022 and they have been doing nothing but going down.
At some point you could buy a well used one for 170-180€ (for reference I bought mine in overall great condition - 30k shutters for 305€, same condition D700 today on MPB is like 250 now)
There is one D700 with 20k shutters for 240 right now.
The absolutely pristine ones have always been around 400 (right now sitting around 440).
The Df on the other hand, it was super high price when I first looked for a Nikon DSLR, and it's still a high price today with not much of a change. Sometimes you see a clapped one appear on MPB for under 700€, but it gets bought quickly.
Overall prices in Europe for the Df or the D700 haven't really moved from the trend they have been following since late 2022.
MoreorLess
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I'v not followed the D700 as much on UK MPB but price seem pretty stable on that but then again supply is pretty good with 30+ copies plus you have plenty of D800's and D810's around.
The Df on the other hand does seem to have gone up a bit to me, last year a lower mileage copy would be about £1000 as I remember were as now its more like £1300 but then again you have much lower supply with half a dozen and no similar alternative.
My guess would be the Zf release caused more Df's to be sold for awhile which depressed prices a bit and that's lessened now. I do also suspect a bit of a shift towards people wanting to retro camera with an actual OVF and direct mounting of F-mount lenses as well though.
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I mostly look at the local market (OLX, FB, small camera shops), and it's a bit different - listings have been creeping up in price. A lot of it comes from YouTube videos about old cameras and the general retro hype. MPB does have a high turnover of the D700, but prices there are pretty stable.
Paying around 400EUR for a D700 isn't great deal. For actual use (not fot collection) there are better options at that price. Same thing happened with the Canon 5D - not long ago the Mark II in great condition was 250-300 EUR, and now listings sit at higher prices but they don't sell. It's just a matter of time.
The D200 is also interesting - on MPB I saw a nice copy for 139 EUR (SC: 3045). The CCD hype has clearly passed... ;-) Locally they sit around 80–100 EUR and are pretty much unsellable.
I sold my D700 (SC: 20k, mint) for 181 EUR few months ago. D800E earlier this year (SC: 36k, also near mint) for 530 EUR, local market. It was tricky to sell.
That's from the perspective of the local market.
Paying around 400EUR for a D700 isn't great deal. For actual use (not fot collection) there are better options at that price. Same thing happened with the Canon 5D - not long ago the Mark II in great condition was 250-300 EUR, and now listings sit at higher prices but they don't sell. It's just a matter of time.
The D200 is also interesting - on MPB I saw a nice copy for 139 EUR (SC: 3045). The CCD hype has clearly passed... ;-) Locally they sit around 80–100 EUR and are pretty much unsellable.
I sold my D700 (SC: 20k, mint) for 181 EUR few months ago. D800E earlier this year (SC: 36k, also near mint) for 530 EUR, local market. It was tricky to sell.
That's from the perspective of the local market.
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MoreorLess
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I'd say probably the best value for performance/age these days is the D810 at just over £500, indeed I think thats one of the best deals you can get anywhere these days. Stuff like early A7r's are hamstrung by poor early mirrorless AF and EVF's which a D810 isnt.
Parry Johnson
Senior Member
100% agree. I bought a Z7ii in 2021 at full price, but found a used D810 and D4 a couple of years ago for $600 CAD each. (That's practically free in $US!!). I use those cameras far more (and they work perfectly with all my F-mount lenses).
MoreorLess
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It is pretty crazy now that you can have gallery quality output for less under £1000, a D810 and 1-2 lenses which can exploit the sensor very well.
Dak on cam
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The most expensive part to acquire has always been the vision and the skill.
MoreorLess
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True but go back a decade and there was a pretty sizable cost barrier if you wanted to say make high quality large landscape/fine art/etc prints which has largely gone away, its not "cheap cheap" still but its cheaper than the cost of many phones these days, about the same price as an entry level APSC body back then.
Helps of course that there hasnt really been a big jump in IQ at FF in the last decade or more. Mostly since then it would be advantages via lens advancement.
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Parry Johnson
Senior Member
True. I was happy enough with my D800 for the past 13 years, but if I can't get the results I need from either the D810 or D4, then the camera's not to blame!
In May 2024 i bought my Df Black from MPB(UK) - in "Like new" condition and with a low shutter count.... Paid £999 for it..... 15 months later (Aug 2025) and MPB currently have a "Like new" one listed at £1429!!! I guess I pulled the trigger on mine at just the right time. I've kept an eye on prices since getting mine and the Df is definitely getting pricier.....
Used and abused D700's are still cheap buys but the good ones are holding their prices....
MoreorLess
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Again I suspect the Zf's release caused supply of used Df's to increase a bit last year which maybe pushed the price down?
Still though prices now seem higher than I remember them being for 3-4 years before that so maybe it is genuine interest?
The Df is pretty unique if you want a retro style digital camera which is an actual SLR with direct mounting of classic lenses. I think its actually pretty different from most as well in that it commits you more to shooting like say an F3 or FE.
Kivit
Member
I loved my DF but the lack of AF illumination made auto focus difficult in low light. Got a D780. It also had no AF illumination and yet if auto focuses beautifully in low light. Did I miss something with DF?
MJ_Photo38
Veteran Member
The Df has the "lower end" 39pt AF system that was used in the D600/D610/D7000 cameras while the D780 has the muich more precise (and overall better) 51pt system that was originally introduced in the D3, and the continually updated (with the D700, D800, D4/D4S, D810, D750 etc). The D780 has the latest iteration of that 51pt system with a more precise metering sensor that can recognize faces, and AF algorithms taken from the D5.
It't not a all surprising that the D780 was a better autofocuser than the Df.
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