Dredging up an old topic that's become highly relevant to me again. After all of my tribulations in this thread and elsewhere, I'd pretty much concluded that I preferred the tradeoffs with mirrorless cameras and was happy enough with APS bodies given that the faster lenses available at a similar size largely mitigated the difference in low light capability between the sensors.
But the RX1 and the time I spent with the Df have ruined me, it turns out. Spoiled me rotton. Despite my very clear understanding of the massive role that a good eye and good technique make in good photography and the teeny tiny itsy bitsy little role that gear plays, it pretty quickly became clear to me that I wasn't gonna be satisfied with less than full frame for the bulk of my shooting. Once I re-bought a used RX1 and had those amazing files to play with again, it became clearer than ever. The Fuji X-Trans files started to feel frustrating. I ended up with plenty of photographs I liked with the Fuji, but the files, which I found to be a gift from the gods a couple of years ago, really felt like a compromise I wasn't willing to deal with. So I started looking at full frame gear again.
I thought briefly about the A7 gear but the lenses aren't even close to being there yet, the few lenses that do exist are very expensive, and I don't get the impression that the bodies are fully baked yet either. Not bad, but probably a generation or two away from really well developed. I may give that system another look in a couple of years, or I may not.
So back to looking at DSLRs. When I shot with a Df, I never had ANY problems with the size or weight of the camera and loved all of the small to mid-sized affordable prime lenses that were available. There are so many Nikon (and compatible) lenses around that it's easy to find almost anything used and at great prices. I thik the D lenses are the bargain of a lifetime - really decent little SLR lenses ranging from 20mm up to 85mm and beyond, with apertures ranging from f1.4 to f2.8, decent if not blazing AF, and pretty good to really good optics. All available for relative pennies, and actual pennies when bought used. A 50 f1.8 sells for just over $100 new and much less used. The very nice 35mm f2.0 runs a little over $300 new and much less used. And there are a bunch of higher quality f1.8 primes right in the $500 range. You can spend a fortune and haul tons of weight around if you insist on the high end lenses, particularly zooms and telephotos, but a full frame DSLR setup does not have to be a big heavy expensive beast, particularly if you're a prime shooter who doesn't have Leica tastes.
I loved much about the Df, but the retro controls on that particular camera didn't do anything useful for me and I found a couple of details about it actually were a bit of a hinderance. I loved the low light capability of the sensor, but I realized that I was always waaaaay more than satisfied with the low light capability of the RX1 and I actually preferred the incredible DR and the higher resolution of the RX1 files. Which led me to check out the D610. It has exactly the same sensor as the RX1 and A7, 24mp of pure high DR goodness. I found a refurbished model for more than $1000 less than I've seen a Df for, just a little more than an XT1 or EM1 body. The size and weight are negligibly larger than the Df - not in a way that I can see or feel. It fits in my hand very comfortably. With a typical prime lens, there's no sensation of a heavy camera. With a beefy zoom, there is, but not overwhelmingly, nothing I'd mind carrying around for the day. I just wouldn't want to carry a whole bag of beefy zooms around for long.
I've been shooting with the D610 for several weeks and I don't find anything about it I don't like. Nikon's controls and ergonomics are wonderful, the best I've used for my preferences. I started seeing that with the Coolpix A and the DSLRs are better since they're not constrained by a tiny size. I can easily configure it to do basically anything I could ever want to do and it'll do it well. And the files are basically the same as those coming out of the RX1 - I simply can't break 'em - they'll handle whatever I throw at them, which I really love because I like to play with the processing possibilities. After a few weeks with it and after playing with a handful of lenses to get an idea of what a full kit would feel like and cost, I put my m43 and Fuji gear up for sale. All of the m43 gear sold immediately, which paid for most of the D610 gear I've bought. As the Fuji gear dribbles out, this consolidation will more than pay for itself.
I have one pretty amazing zoom - a 24-120 constant f4 that I enjoy more than any zoom I've had - just a perfect range for me and f4 goes a long long way on a full frame camera. I think the low light capability and DOF are as good or better than my Olympus 45 and 75 at f1.8, which is part of what convinced me to finally sell off my under-used m43 system. Really sweet portrait lens, even in low light, which is why I may never add an 85 f1.8. I'm gonna have primes from 14 (a big Rokinon that won't get much use but covers the ultra-wide end) to 20, 24, 28, 50, and maybe eventually 85. Not sure about a 35 - I'm definitely keeping the RX1 so I can still go out with a minimalist kit of the RX1 and Coolpix A at times. I may eventually add a cheap Nikon 35mm just to have on those days I don't take the RX1... And someday I'll pick up a used 70-300 just to have a telephoto of some sort available. I never needed the 600mm reach I had with my Olympus 75-300 and a true 300 will be enough for me and won't get used much anyway. Those lenses are only a bit bigger than the Fuji telephoto I'd been using in a similar range, and it won't be in my bag much anyway.
So anyway, a pretty major transition for me, which this old thread contributed to. Seems the only downsides to DSLRs is the size and weight and they're really fine for me with the stuff I'll use with it. They're not silent, but my mirrorless ILCs weren't either.
I'll still have a compact mirrorless or two at my disposal too, so I'm not going anywhere. But I'm bucking the tide, a not unfamiliar posture. Just while everyone else is going from DSLRs to mirrorless cameras, I'm going in the other direction. Maybe that's why there are so many amazing deals out there on DSLR lenses...
-Ray