NIKON Df and NIKON Fa - Why??

It's 2026 - why would anyone want to use a digital camera from 2016 and a 35mm film camera from 1984?

Let's start the story with the Nikon Fa.

My first "proper" camera was back in the 80's with a Pentax ME Super 35mm Film camera. I took some photos that I still adore 40 years later with that. In 1990 I got a 2nd hand Nikon Fa. Technologically a big step forward from the Pentax with matrix metering and 4 different modes. Built like a tank and I had that until about 2008 when I went "digital". I'd also added a Nikon N65 to the line-up when visiting New York in 2002 - an Autofocus film camera!

It was this 20+ year old camera I re-discovered some months ago and it got me thinking.....

I love the feel and satisfaction using the Leica M10; what if I added the nostalgia of using film; and what if I could use my selection of old Nikon manual focus lenses?

The Nikon Fa seemed the perfect choice and days later a used but working perfectly model arrived - cost? £155

The first click took me back 40 years in a moment; there's nothing like it. Sadly in 40 years my eyesight isn't quite the same and I needed a diopter to use the viewfinder properly. Not easy to find and ridiculously expensive so a £3 pair of reading glasses provided the material to handmake a push fit diopter that is bloody brilliant - this is now the best viewfinder of any camera I own! The split prism makes manual focusing a delight and preferred to the Leica's rangefinder patch; even focusing my 55 F1.2 wide open is fast and very accurate.

Here I can combine my beautiful old manual Ai and Pre Ai lenses with real photographs. At some point I'll upload a gallery of photos from this camera.

Onto the Nikon Df

The feel and sound and satisfaction of using the Nikon FA reminded me of the Nikon Df I owned about 3 years ago - I sold it to help finance the Leica M10 but now I wanted another. This time a black one and it's similarity to the FA shows what Nikon was trying to achieve when they launched the DF. It's slightly bigger but the same gorgeous viewfinder (this time with an adjustable diopter) and ability to use any Nikon lens from the 1950's onwards. And of course AF!

Yet there's a problem.

Because it's Af the focusing screen is blank - so manual focusing utilises the rather crappy "green dot" at the bottom left of the screen. So using manual focus lenses on this is less joyful than on the FA.

Solution - change the focusing screen to a split prism screen!

This is a work in progress as awaiting the screen to arrive and then tackle the delicate job of replacing the original - will it still autofocus ok? Will the split prism screen be as good as the FA?

Meanwhile the Df is a firm favourite for street photography, landscape (aka villages, beaches, and woods) and with my 85 F1.4G lens creates amazing portraits too.