COMMENT: Retro Cool – But Where is the Innovation?

As a long time Nikon customer I have been watching the recent marketing campaign for the Nikon Df with interest.  Nikon were going to draw on their rich heritage and produce a ‘Pure Photographers’ camera harking back the days of the Nikon FM2 or F3.  Yesterday the wraps finally came off the Df and it certainly looks the part BUT the price – wow.  With a rrp of just under £2750 (with 50mm lens) the Nikon Df is being pitched above the Nikon D800 – a premium price.  So the question is who is going to buy this camera?

I love it when manufacturers pay homage to their past but it has to be innovative as well.  Let’s take a car analogy.  At the turn of the millennium VW had the new Beetle and BMW was about to launch the new MINI.  The Beetle was a fine car but it was essentially a VW Golf dressed up in a party frock.  BMW took a different approach, probably because they didn't have a small front wheel drive car as a baseline, and they designed the car from the ground up.  This was a 21^st century homage to the Classic Mini ; a car that handled like a proper Mini but had BMW build quality.  I have to confess we bought a MINI in 2002 and we still have it today.  It is an excellent car and worthy of the name it carries.

In the camera world Fuji brought out the X100 in 2010.  Again this was a product that paid homage to its past but had innovative touches like the hybrid viewfinder and a sensor that could simulate the film emulsions that Fuji was famous for.  This is a retro design, that is a top quality item and is cool to own but it also a working photographer’s camera that was, and still is, class leading. This is the BMW MINI of the camera world. 

Now this brings me back to the Nikon Df and I feel this is a ‘VW Beetle’.  This is a camera that has a beautiful chassis, made with premium items and is a typical Nikon professional level camera.  BUT it borrows its technology from other Nikon products – a D4 sensor, the AF system off the Nikon D610 etc etc. Where is the innovation? I don’t see it here.  This camera is a follower, not a leader, which is a big disappointment as Nikon have a history of innovation.

So who will buy this premium product?  Will professionals buy it?  Some will but I don’t think this camera isn’t aimed at them.  This will be bought by people who like the retro look, the stunning Nikon build and image quality and, I fear, people who just want to be seen with such a camera, the posers.  For those of us who make money from their cameras the Nikon Df is irrelevant, you can buy a D800 for a lot less money. 

So for me, the Nikon Df is a beautiful camera but, on first impressions, it isn't for me.   I hope that I am not typical and that Nikon have read the market correctly because they have a lot riding on this camera and I am still a Nikon photographer at the end of the day.  

Personally I think it should have been pitched around £1200 cheaper to open it up to more people.  As it is I think the Df will be a niche product that only the select few will buy. But perhaps that is what Nikon wants - an exclusive item in their line up for the digital age. 

CLICK HERE to go to the Nikon website to see the Nikon Df

- picture courtesy of Nikon