Lens name of chipped MF lenses registering with the FTZ II adapter on Z8 etc.

[Øivind Tøien]

With my MF lenses that are chipped with Birna's chips, I made a curious observation depending on mounting method on the FTZ (II) adapter. This was due to my previous "bad" habit from DSLR bodies of not turning the camera off when changing lenses. With the Z8 one really want to power down to activate the sensor shield during lens changes, but it has consequences for the information registered. From left to the right (as seen by NX Studio, but ExifTool shows the same):

1. Z8 not powered down when mounting on FTZ adapter - full lens info registered (with chipped 55mm f.3.5).
2. Powered down when mounting - lens name not registered.
3. Trick to record lens name: Just twist lens to disconnect contact but do not dismount - twist back again - lens info registered as long as powered.
4. Camera powered down before next take - no lens name registered so the trick only lasts to next power down.
5. AF lens (registered as manual focus lens) mounted with power off - lens name registered.
6. Chipped lens mounting with power down demonstrated with 105mm f/2.5 - lens name not registered.
6. 105mm f/2.5 mounted with power up (twist off on) - lens name registered.
(I have also tried having lens mounted on FTZ II, and then mounting the combination on power down, but lens info still not registered.)

Note that with all of these, the camera reads the correct aperture and focal length in the shot info, it is just the lens name that is not registered. So it seems to be some kind of bug in how the lens name is recorded when mounting the lens. Likely the lens name would normally only be retrieved during the mounting or during power up operation. It could also be some kind of timing issue that prevents information to be correctly read during the power up operation. It would be very useful if someone else who have lenses with Birna's or other chips to test this with any of Nikon's FTZ lens adapters, and while preferably the Z8 or Z9, any other Z-bodies would be interesting to see if this behavior is reproducible across the line.

[golunvolo]

Thst seems very odd... I have a couple if chipped lenses and I don't remember having this issues with the Z6, ftz I or II. Have you checked with any other Z camera?

[Birna Rørslett]

Øivind: I've seen the same behaviour with Zf. Never bothered to investigate as my lens identification module in the database did identify the lens correctly.

However, I had an odd experience with the Viltrox FTZ replica as it always returns "5mm f/1" for any non-Nikkor lens, even such as the Coastal Optics 60m f/4 APO or Sigma lenses. I "solved" the issue by dedicating the Viltrox to be permanently mounted on my AFS 200mm f/2.

A timing issue would be a likely explanation, yes.

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks Paco and Birna for the responses. Z8 is the only Z body I have access to but it seems Birna answered that question.  Paco, perhaps you could re-check to confirm if a different body or adapter version matters? Timing issues would perhaps be more likely on a body with short start-up time.

[golunvolo]

I just tried both my Z6 with ftzI and ftzII. Mounting the 105mm 2.5 (chipped by Birna/Erik) and it has registered the lens every time. Just for good measure I have also tried the chipped rodenstock 95mm 1.4, for oddity, and the 16mm 3.5 with a dandelion chip. It has worked so far everytime to recognise the lenses with either and regardless of on-off on the body.

  The new features and firmware may have created a bug? or something is missing from the original implementation on the latest bodies?

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks, Paco.
And you are sure the lens name is showing and not just the shot focal length and aperture as in the above screen shots?

[golunvolo]

Yes. I just took those. Thery are with the Z6 and ftzI, The camera being on or off before mounting the lens or using the ftz II has no effect on the result.

[golunvolo]

15mm instead of 16mm is what is programmed on the chip

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks Paco, Looks convincing. Could it be slower startup on power up with the older bodies or just the way firmware of the newer bodies have been written? Perhaps Birna could test with her Z5 and Z6?

[golunvolo]

My pleasure.


  Interesting thoughts. Now I'm curipus about zfc and older z50 too.

[Øivind Tøien]

The plot thickens. I took another good look with ExifTool and near the bottom of the Exif section I find that under Lensinfo the correct name of the lens is recorded, while when lens is mounted before power up the Lensmodel field contains the bad 5mm f/1 field instead of what is recorded under Lensinfo. 

Also under maker notes the Lens tag correctly records the lens name.

So this speaks against this being a timing issue as the lens name appears to be correctly read, but is not correctly placed in all the fields that designates the lens name. This is sort of good as one perhaps could convince Nikon to provide a fix in a firmware update where the correct information is used for that field.

Paco, do you have NX studio to display this information? It looks like you used a different application and there is a possibility that a different field could have been used for the info in that application. Of course if you have ExifTool you could use that too.

[golunvolo]

What I posted earlier were snaps of the Z6 screen made with my phone 

[golunvolo]

NX also reads gets the lens name. Same frames as before: Z6 original (x2), ftz I&II. Camera on or off while mounting lenses doesn´t change anything.
Same with all the lenses tested: 105mm 2.5 with Birna´s cpu mounted by Erik, 16mm 3.5 with dandelion, 95mm 1.4 rondenstock with Birna´s cpu

[Birna Rørslett]

I haven't been able to make the Z fc misbehave using FTZ with a CPU-enabled GN-nikkor 45mm f/2.8, or the Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Ai (CPU). Both lenses are programmed as AI, perhaps a CPU programmed as 'G' would respond diffently? Must try.

The Z fc reports it's using EXIF v.2.3.1. My Z7, which never has failed providing the correct EXIF data with chipped lenses, says it is 2.3.0.0.  Is the EXIF version another factor in the final equation?? Strangely, the Z9 consistently gives "5mm f/1" whether the camera is on or off when lenses are mounted, but also reports correctly the aperture and focal lens of the lens. Just the name field 'Lens' is wrong. EXIF version for Z9 is 2.3.0.0 -- bizarre.

[Øivind Tøien]

Thanks Paco and Birna for further confirmation. So it does seem to be recent bodies only. As the information seems to be recorded somewhere, it seems to be a case for a bug report to Nikon. Birna, do you still have contacts at  Nikon or the Nordic repair facility they use that you could communicate with? As I recall you provided them with a number of your chips in the past.