Quote:
Originally Posted by Harb
High everyone,
I have a D3 Nikon, but I am considering a Df for astrophotography.
Does anyone use one, or know of someone who does ?
Would the Canon 6D be a better option ?
I have a huge investment in Nikon Gear........ I have been a long time Nikon user.....around 30+ years, so was hopping the Df has had some improvements that make it usable for astro work.
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Check out the reviews of this camera at DPreview.com.
Basically its the D4 sensor (a $7000 camera) for half the price. The low light performance has been tweaked slightly even from D4 standards.
I believe it has the best low light high ISO performance of any camera.
It has no video, one memory card slot, is semi manual in controls like a Fuji X camera. From owners postings it has some quirks but overall those who have one seem to like it.
Nikon hot pixel suppression used to cause some grief in early Nikon models years ago. It was too aggressive and would wipe out some small stars. That is not the case with later models.
As far as amp glow goes - I don't know. The D800E had a small amount which is easily handled by long exposure noise reduction on or by doing a dark subtract.
Canon 6D is another really low noise high ISO camera. Would it be better? I think at the end of the day 2 images posted one with a 6D and one with a DF would be hard to tell apart. Paul Haese uses a D4 and I notice some of his time lapses etc seem very clean. That's this sensor at work.
DF is light for a Nikon full frame so that would be a plus.
You can tether Nikons with various software including Capture NX 2 I believe. Possibly Images Plus which was very sophisticated when I last used it which was many years ago now.
So short answer is I think it would be an awesome camera for astro work.
Would 6D be better? It would be nearly half the price so that's worth considering and you can get an excellent Novoflex adapter to use your Nikon lenses on the Canon and manual focus etc.
Other choices are:
Nikon D800 and D800e (very very good) about $2800/3300.
Nikon D4 about $5669
Nikon D610 about $1800 Nikon's have a built in time lapse/intervalometer which is handy. DF does not have this I am pretty sure.
Canon 6D about $1650
Nikon DF $2978
Sony A7 (sensor same as D610 but smaller) $1600 Sony has a time lapse app you can buy for $9.99 which is quite good.
Sony A7r (sensor same as D800E but smaller) $2499
Canon 5D3 about $3100.
Canon 1DX about $6100
To the Sony you have to add the cost of adapters. For Nikon the Novoflex is great and is expensive at $250 but super well made.
Other lens adapters are quite cheap - often under $20. A good Canon one though is about $260.
Greg.