p.1 #2 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
I've owned/used the old Nikon 18/4 K/Ai, briefly the 18/3.5 AiS, the Zeiss ZF 18/3.5 and Zeiss Milvus 18/2.8. Had the old Contax 18/4 on film ages ago, but not on digital. The early Nikon 18/4 is useable but low contrast....not necessarily a bad thing.
The Zeiss ZF and Milvus are better IMO, with the modern Zeiss snappy contrast and color. The old Contax 18/4 had beautiful color and contrast on film, and I'd be very curious to see what it did on digital. Currently I have the Milvus 18/2.8, and might re-buy a Zeiss 18/3.5 someday because of it's small size/light weight compared to the Milvus. As a piece of industrial design, the old Nikon 18/4 is a nice looking piece of gear, a quality which, of course, is somewhat compromised by having to use an FTZ with it. Don't bother with the lens hoods for either of the Nikon 18s or the Contax 18/4...they're just not effective. FYI, the current Z14-24 lens is technically sharper (at 18mm) at the sides of the image from wide open than either of the Zeiss F-mount lenses. I got a Z14-24 as soon as I could, but am curiously unmotivated to dump the Milvus 18mm due to it's nice image quality and the swoopy space-age design.
p.1 #3 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
I will second what Keith said. The 14-24mm f2.8 S is a great lens. It has a marking for 18mm, and you can use the OLED to refine the focal length. If you really want a prime, I would look at adapting a Zeiss lens.
p.1 #10 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
uintaangler wrote:
That's an expensive adapter - does it provide autofocus?
Yes, the Megadap is a little pricey, but the way to go if you want to use e-mount lenses on your Nikon. (If you decide to go for it, be sure you get the latest model, the Megadap ETZ21 Pro+, as it is the best in terms of function and build quality.)
p.1 #11 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
Best ever 18mm is the Zeiss Milvus 18.
While the 15 and 21 are both larger, not only is the 18 significantly smaller and lighter, but the 18 is by a substantial margin the better optical performer.
And compared to anything else in the Milvus product line, it's positively tiny and light.
p.1 #12 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
Heavy Perhaps when compared to sone older and lower performance/smaller aperture lenses, but for a modern f/2.8 prime that's almost at peak performance wide open, compared to almost everything else in the Milvus line or other modern high performance primes, its quite small and light.
Picture This! wrote:
If you're considering a prime - Milvus 18 is great but heavy. I also really like the Batis 18 with a medadap adapter.
p.1 #15 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
No. That’s a much older design. Not a bad lens, but not as good as the more recent iterations.
Personally unless you really want manual focus I’d go for the Batis on the Megadap ETZ21Pro+. The + is very important. The regular Pro adapters are slightly too thin, which isn’t a big deal on most lenses, but can cause some major optical issues with ultra wide lenses. The + version is much higher tolerance and is the correct thickness.
I’d also buy the Batis used. New it’s quite pricey, especially when you add in the adapter. MPB has several copies in the ~$450 range and they have a good return policy and a 6 month warranty on all their gear.
p.1 #16 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
While not CY mount, have you considered the Solinon 18mm f/5.6?
It seems to be sold out for now but maybe you can find it somewhere. https://store.solinon.com/
p.1 #17 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
Egg Salad wrote:
While not CY mount, have you considered the Solinon 18mm f/5.6?
It seems to be sold out for now but maybe you can find it somewhere. https://store.solinon.com/
p.1 #18 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
Sure. You can either use about any dumb Leica M --> Nikon Z adapter, go for the TTArtisan 6 bit adapter or go Leica M --> Sony E and then use either the Neewer ETZ or the Megadap ETZ (Pro+) to get focus confirmation. Financially, this is probably not worth it if this would be your only Leica M mount lens.
p.1 #20 · Recommendations for a high quality 18mm Prime for my Z8
Due to its slow speed, it's already pretty good on Sony. On Nikon I suspect there is little to no difference to Leica. https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-solinon-18mm-5-6-asph/
"On the Sony A7rII the Solinon looks worse in the corners compared to the Leica M10, as was to be expected because of its thicker filter stack. Good news is, due to the deep depth of field it only takes stopping down to f/8.0 for it to perform as well on the Sony as it does on the Leica."
Perhaps when compared to sone older and lower performance/smaller aperture lenses, but for a modern f/2.8 prime that's almost at peak performance wide open, compared to almost everything else in the Milvus line or other modern high performance primes, its quite small and light.