p.68 #1 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
Bruce Marriner wrote:
I'd be curious to know what are some of the most loved lenses with character that still adapt well on the Nikon. Sort of as a starting point for things to look for in the buy/sell forums
all Zeiss ZF and Zf.2 and Voigtländer SL and SLIIs adapt well with the FTZ II adapter (which is long unfortunately).
ZF.2 and SLII are chipped, which gives you exif, but doesn't allow to use the aperture ring ( you need to set the aperture on camera), whereas the non chipped Zeiss ZF and Voigtländer SL glasses allow to use the aperture ring, give you the focal lenght and the largest aperture in exif but not the aperture you set for your image. You need to register the lens in the non CPU settings of the camera though, and switch between your registered lenses when you change lens.
I own a bunch of Zeiss ZF and ZF.2 and still like to use them on Nikon Z, although the length of the lenses with adapter is not to my liking. I actually prefer the ZF version because I hate setting the apperture on camera. From Voigtländer I use the Z mount lenses 40/1.2, and 15/4.5 which work really well. Hoping for a 21mm lens from Voigtländer, but also ponder about adapting one of the E mount 21mm lenses from Voigtländer.
Check the Zeiss thread for the rendering of the classic Zeiss lenses.
p.68 #2 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
cyra wrote:
all Zeiss ZF and Zf.2 and Voigtländer SL and SLIIs adapt well with the FTZ II adapter (which is long unfortunately).
ZF.2 and SLII are chipped, which gives you exif, but doesn't allow to use the aperture ring ( you need to set the aperture on camera), whereas the non chipped Zeiss ZF and Voigtländer SL glasses allow to use the aperture ring, give you the focal lenght and the largest aperture in exif but not the aperture you set for your image. You need to register the lens in the non CPU settings of the camera though, and switch between your registered lenses when you change lens.
Thanks for the info Cyra That's helpful. I was reading up on the Zeiss lenses a bit and one thing I read was the ZF/ZF.2 version are not the same rendering as the older lenses. From what I read - the older ones have more character and the newer are much more like typical modern lenses. Do you have any experience using the older vs new Zeiss lenses?
p.68 #3 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
That depends a great deal on which lens is meant. The 50mm and 85mm ZF/ZF.2 Planars for example both have the older rendering. They are not identical, but they are more character lenses than modern perfection.
p.68 #4 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
carstenw wrote:
That depends a great deal on which lens is meant. The 50mm and 85mm ZF/ZF.2 Planars for example both have the older rendering. They are not identical, but they are more character lenses than modern perfection.
That makes sense that it would be lens dependant, I think I was reading about the 35mm f1.4 lens, comparing the Contax mount version to the ZF.2 mount version.
p.68 #5 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
I used to own the ZF.2 35/1.4, and now years later, I have the Contax version. Unfortunately I more or less left photography for a while, and I didn't really get fully back into it yet, so I don't yet have any sense of how they compare. They are both excellent though. The Contax is quite a bit smaller.
One thing is sure though: both the ZF/ZF.2 and Contax 35/1.4 and 100/2 have great 3D rendering. Not pop, in the sense of super narrow depth of field and separation of foreground and background, but in the sense that the photo looks so close to real that your eye+brain start believing in a real world in the photo.
My sense is that the major difference between Contax and Zeiss ZF of these lenses is in the colour, not the rendering. Different coatings. Both are very good, but they are different. I have to play more with them to get a better sense of it though, to describe it any more than that.
p.68 #6 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
The 25/2.0 is considered the most modern rendering, although it still has the 3D ness of the other Zeisses. But it has much cleaner oof rendering than e.g the 35/2.0 which has more character.
Technically it was praised as "the best" lens, of the bunch. It also was the last one together with the highly praised 135/2.0 that they produced for the ZF.2 line, so no wonder it has somewhat more modern rendering. There is no 25/2 ZF, just a ZF.2. Nevertheless out of my 9 Zeisses it is the one I use the least.
The 25/2.8 on the other hand is a character lens, and it can focus really close almost up to 1:2 which can produce rather unusual images and it is certainly fun to use. At far distance and stopped down for landscape use, it is just as good as the 25/2, and it is considerably lighter.
28/2.0 has been called the "holywood" lens for its rendering. It makes a good pair with the 85/1.4, which is still sold new, like is the 50/1.4.
My most used and loved lenses are the 35/2.0, the 21/2.8 and the 100/20 Macro Planar. That is my set for travelling. The 21 on the FTZ feels a bit awquard though. But I have not yet found a lens to replace it with.
I never owned the 35/1.4 due to it's weight in ZF. I am also interested in how the contax version does on Nikon Z nowadays, so Carsten please go out and do some testing for us. Please
As I said before, the Zeisses feel better on a DSLR as they do on the FTZ (I have the Z7). The weight of most lenses gets a bit heavy on the front. Which is off course the same with any other lens on the FTZ.
I have no experience with adapted E lenses to compare, but my guess is, they might balance better.
p.68 #7 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
I was already out a few times, but the issue for me is processing. I got thoroughly fed up with Adobe at some point, and stopped using their products. I bought Capture 1 around that time, and have updated it here and there, but this was also part of the reason I took a big break, I just didn't feel like going through a big learning curve. All of this means that I still haven't sat down and figured out to import, manage, and process in C1. I have already noticed that it leaves files around and uses significant disk space, so I need to get past this bump to be fully active again... At the moment I am dealing with various other time consuming things, but maybe in the late summer or fall.
p.68 #8 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
carstenw wrote:
I was already out a few times, but the issue for me is processing. I got thoroughly fed up with Adobe at some point, and stopped using their products. I bought Capture 1 around that time, and have updated it here and there, but this was also part of the reason I took a big break, I just didn't feel like going through a big learning curve. All of this means that I still haven't sat down and figured out to import, manage, and process in C1. I have already noticed that it leaves files around and uses significant disk space, so I need to get past this bump to be fully active again... At the moment I am dealing with various other time consuming things, but maybe in the late summer or fall....Show more →
A bit off topic - but for Capture One, before you get too far into it, read up about Sessions vs Catalog. If you like to keep your files organized yourself into folders and would prefer to keep all the edits as sidecar files right there with the images, then you may want to use Sessions instead of the Catalog workflow where you import them and C1 keeps a central database with all edits.
You can setup what's called a "Working Session" and then just open up any folder that has images and edit them without needing to import anything into C1.
I think C1 works better in this setup for my needs, but you may prefer the catalog. Either way it's worth doing a read on the differences before you get too deep into things.
p.68 #9 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
I would really like the extra files to be somewhere else, so I could blow away the folder whenever I know I won't work on the photos for a while, and keep my yyyy/mm/filename.raw file layout clean. I have to read up on what is possible and what makes most sense for me.
p.68 #10 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
I use a catalog, import the files into my regular folder structure and then get them into the catalog via "new folder", then synch it, and I can work on the files but the originals stay wherever I have put them first. You can save the catalog where ever you want, I keep it on the same hard drive as the image folders. Every couple of years (or with a new camera) I start a new catalog. I don't know whether that is how you are supposed to do it, but it works for me.
p.68 #13 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
cyra wrote:
Has anyone used the SHOTEN adapter with contacts for Nikon F to Nikon Z?
I have used it quite a bit and find the focus confirmation to be accurate. I also don't have any issues with the adapter occasionally losing connection the way I did with the chipped TTArtisan M to Z adapter. Switching between the saved lens profiles can be a little finicky but rarely takes more than a minute
p.68 #14 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
Bruce Marriner wrote:
Thanks for the info Cyra That's helpful. I was reading up on the Zeiss lenses a bit and one thing I read was the ZF/ZF.2 version are not the same rendering as the older lenses. From what I read - the older ones have more character and the newer are much more like typical modern lenses. Do you have any experience using the older vs new Zeiss lenses?
Personally, I like the ContaxG 45 2.0 the best. Its a 45mm 2.0 Zeiss Planar from the ContaxG rangefinder system.
Nice thing about these 'older' Zeiss lenses, is their excellent T* coating.
The Viltrox 85 2.0 EVO has a kind of Zeiss micro contrast, creating a Zeiss like 3D rendering, especially in combination with Capture One and auto levels.
p.68 #15 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
carstenw wrote:
I was already out a few times, but the issue for me is processing. I got thoroughly fed up with Adobe at some point, and stopped using their products. I bought Capture 1 around that time, and have updated it here and there, but this was also part of the reason I took a big break, I just didn't feel like going through a big learning curve. All of this means that I still haven't sat down and figured out to import, manage, and process in C1. I have already noticed that it leaves files around and uses significant disk space, so I need to get past this bump to be fully active again... At the moment I am dealing with various other time consuming things, but maybe in the late summer or fall....Show more →
Did you consider DXO PL (PhotoLab)? DXO PL was what I ended up finally. I started out in the early 2000's with first some freeware (Rawshooter ?) , then Capture1 (which was so full of bugs that it was nearly unusable - I even documented some of these bugs for PO, but I had to buy the upgrade to get a fix, so...) I then used Aperture for a long time until that disappeared and couldn't be run on the newer OS X's. Then it was the horrible and slow Lightroom (and the unacceptable subscription model) for some time until I found the DXO.
DXO makes sidecar files and can read your raws and jpgs directly from memory cards or wherever you put them - no import or database. Excellent lens/body support and top-notch noisereduction features. I don't do heavy edits or advanced layer operations or anything - just small adjustments, really. I find the image quality to be on par with C1 - at least.
Personally, I like the ContaxG 45 2.0 the best. Its a 45mm 2.0 Zeiss Planar from the ContaxG rangefinder system.
Nice thing about these 'older' Zeiss lenses, is their excellent T* coating.
The Viltrox 85 2.0 EVO has a kind of Zeiss micro contrast, creating a Zeiss like 3D rendering, especially in combination with Capture One and auto levels.
Thanks Pete! I'll skim through that website. Looks like there's quite a lot of lens reviews there!
p.68 #17 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
DFM_62 wrote:
Did you consider DXO PL (PhotoLab)? DXO PL was what I ended up finally. I started out in the early 2000's with first some freeware (Rawshooter ?) , then Capture1 (which was so full of bugs that it was nearly unusable - I even documented some of these bugs for PO, but I had to buy the upgrade to get a fix, so...) I then used Aperture for a long time until that disappeared and couldn't be run on the newer OS X's. Then it was the horrible and slow Lightroom (and the unacceptable subscription model) for some time until I found the DXO.
DXO makes sidecar files and can read your raws and jpgs directly from memory cards or wherever you put them - no import or database. Excellent lens/body support and top-notch noisereduction features. I don't do heavy edits or advanced layer operations or anything - just small adjustments, really. I find the image quality to be on par with C1 - at least. ...Show more →
Well, now I have C1 DXO was not on the same level at the time I made my decision, even if it is today.
p.68 #18 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
With which lenses are you using the adapter - CPU lens or NonCPU?
What do you mean with "switching between the saved lens profiles" - do you switch between the NonCPU menue in Camera where you select the lens when you mount it, or do you set the focal lens on the adapter?
What settings do you get in the Exif?
thanks for the enlightment!
bigtractor wrote:
I have used it quite a bit and find the focus confirmation to be accurate. I also don't have any issues with the adapter occasionally losing connection the way I did with the chipped TTArtisan M to Z adapter. Switching between the saved lens profiles can be a little finicky but rarely takes more than a minute
p.68 #19 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
cyra wrote:
With which lenses are you using the adapter - CPU lens or NonCPU?
What do you mean with "switching between the saved lens profiles" - do you switch between the NonCPU menue in Camera where you select the lens when you mount it, or do you set the focal lens on the adapter?
What settings do you get in the Exif?
thanks for the enlightment!
I have only used non CPU lenses, specifically AI-S prime lenses.
The adapter includes a cable to attach to a computer which will give you access to a text file that will keep track of the focal length and maximum apertures of 10 lenses. There are 10 presets already there but they can be user defined as well. This info is all you get in your exif data. Each of these 10 lenses will have an f stop setting associated with them, and setting the corresponding f stop on the camera body then pressing the shutter button will prompt the adapter to pull up the preset lens data. For example, setting the f stop to f36 (with the default text file) and pressing the shutter button will pull up the info for a 200mm f4 lens. f13 is a 24mm 2.8. In my experience sometimes doing this process on the camera does not properly update, and cycling the power on the camera and trying it again works. The only instructions for this are in Japanese and relying on machine translation I may be missing something, but as I said it rarely takes more than one try of turning the camera on and off to get it to work.
If I were using only CPU lenses, I think the Nikon FTZ adapters are a better choice. The shoten adapter has a chip on the body side only, so it can't transmit info from a CPU lens, only emulate it using the method I explained above.
p.68 #20 · Nikon Zf as a platform for adapted/native manual focus lenses
Depends on what body you are using. Many Expeed 7 can fake the EXIF just like the adapters with the added bonus of letting you record aperture, in which case you don't need anything but the FTZ II for all adapting needs.
