The Lens Adapter Nikon REFUSED to Build

[Fons Baerken]

AF-D Autofocus on Nikon Z?! Did This Just Save Nikon’s Legacy Lenses?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcYWY7hkCm8

[Bent Hjarbo]

AF-D Autofocus on Nikon Z?! Did This Just Save Nikon’s Legacy Lenses?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcYWY7hkCm8

Thanks for sharing

[MEPER]

Time to get some cheap AFD lenses before the prices goes up? :-)

[Hugh_3170]

Thanks Fons for posting.

In reading the comments following the YouTube presentation in your link, it would seem that the Monster Adapter may have a long way to go before it provides a complete solution for AF-D lens users.  Time will tell.

AF-D Autofocus on Nikon Z?! Did This Just Save Nikon’s Legacy Lenses?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcYWY7hkCm8

[John Geerts]

Yes, I already noticed it but also wait till it's fully developed.

The AF-D 50/1.4,  135DC, 200/4 and 70-180micro see now mainly use on F camera's.

[Les Olson]

From the Monster website: "The current firmware does NOT include autofocus support for AF-I, AF-S, and AF-P lenses, nor support of EMD electromagnetic aperture and lens VR. Please pay attention to future firmware update notifications, but we do not guarantee that all these features above will be supported."

So this adapter is and may always be an adapter for AF-D lenses only (and manual focus, but for that it has no advantage over the FTZ). 

It is also interesting to look at the (IMO) not at all convincing reasons they give for why people who want to use AF-D lenses should buy an adapter to use them on a Z camera, instead of just continuing to use them on the dSLR or the film camera they have always used.

[John Geerts]

It is also interesting to look at the (IMO) not at all convincing reasons they give for why people who want to use AF-D lenses should buy an adapter to use them on a Z camera, instead of just continuing to use them on the dSLR or the film camera they have always used.

Perhaps the main reason is that a number of F-lenses perform better on a mirrorless camera.  (less disadvantages, sharper, better focussing)

[Birna Rørslett]

I definitively wouldn't bother with any adapter F->Z to employ the "AF" capability of either Micro-Zoom-Nikkor 70-180 AFD or Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 AFD. This is because their autofocusing performance on the native F systems already was abysmal. Furthermore, since both lenses share the infamous breakage-prone AF-M ring, it's better to tape down the ring to make these lenses manual focus only.

[Les Olson]

Perhaps the main reason is that a number of F-lenses perform better on a mirrorless camera.  (less disadvantages, sharper, better focussing)

Perform better than they did on F mount or better than native Z lenses? All cameras are mirrorless when the picture is taken, so mirrorless-ness doesn't change the performance of the lens, and the optical penalties of retrofocus designs apply to any lens with focal length less than 50mm, so I am sceptical of any claim that an F mount lens 50mm or shorter is better on a Z mount camera and even more sceptical of any claim that it is better than a Z mount lens of the same focal length.

Sure, some Z cameras have better AF, for some uses, than some F mount cameras. If you add up serial numbers on Roland Vink's site you can see that AF-D lenses outnumber AF-S lenses at short and medium focal lengths, but at longer focal lengths AF-S greatly outnumbers AF-D. That probably has to do with the fact that AF-S was introduced for long focal lengths in 1998, but not for short focal lengths until 2010. The superior AF of Z cameras is of most use with long focal lengths, and there are just not that many AF-D long focal length lenses out there.

The reason people give for wanting an FTZ adapter with screw drive is not that they have all these AF-D lenses that were OK on F mount but are or they hope might be better on Z mount. They want to use them because they really like the way they performed on F mount cameras. So, even if the lens was better on a Z mount camera, why would they care?

Fashion in lens design has changed, so portrait lenses like the 85mm f/1.4D with under-corrected spherical aberration have been replaced by lenses like the Z 135mm f/1.8 with no spherical aberration and some people like the less sharp but "creamy" out of focus look. So there are people who want to keep using the 85/1.4D, typically for portraits. Fine, but why do they need a FTZ adapter with screw drive? The only reason is because they can't use manual focus or they can't use a D850 like they always did.

Nikon has provided a solution for people who want to use AF-D lenses and have AF that is perfectly adequate from a photographic point of view: use them on an F mount camera. Some people may find that inconvenient, and there are people who want to use the 85/1.4D and they dropped their D850 overboard on a Rhine River cruise and since they were buying a new camera it made sense to move to a Z8, and there are people who mainly use a Z8 for sports and sold their D850 to pay for the Z8 but they have a 20/2.8D they use occasionally and they can't afford to buy the Z 20/1.8. Nikon has implied that they just do not see that as a big enough problem to justify making an FTZ adapter with screw drive, and IMO it is very hard to disagree.

[Macro_Cosmos]

This adapter is apparently really unreliable.  They sold it for a brief moment.  The reviews on Taobao were horrible.  It was called an expensive prototype.

[Fons Baerken]

More on adapters, the Monster adapter is reviewed around the 18 minutes mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbffGSMIR-Q

[MILLIREHM]

I definitively wouldn't bother with any adapter F->Z to employ the "AF" capability of either Micro-Zoom-Nikkor 70-180 AFD or Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4 AFD. This is because their autofocusing performance on the native F systems already was abysmal. Furthermore, since both lenses share the infamous breakage-prone AF-M ring, it's better to tape down the ring to make these lenses manual focus only.

Following your advice some years ago i taped this ring to strengthen it against breaking but I still can switch - which I rarely do but there are certain situation I like to use AF even when it is slow as screwdriver AF is

(BTW the AF-S 600/4 G VR uses a ring instead of the usual switch for VR on/off and this ring has a similar plastic and not too trustworthy feeling)

[MILLIREHM]

Nikon has provided a solution for people who want to use AF-D lenses and have AF that is perfectly adequate from a photographic point of view: use them on an F mount camera. Some people may find that inconvenient, and there are people who want to use the 85/1.4D and they dropped their D850 overboard on a Rhine River cruise and since they were buying a new camera it made sense to move to a Z8, and there are people who mainly use a Z8 for sports and sold their D850 to pay for the Z8 but they have a 20/2.8D they use occasionally and they can't afford to buy the Z 20/1.8. Nikon has implied that they just do not see that as a big enough problem to justify making an FTZ adapter with screw drive, and IMO it is very hard to disagree.

I disagree. Buying photography gear is by no means a purely rational decision but rather a lot of psychology -including what is the best system, does Nikon provide a good trustworthy relationship in supporting their customers and such like. Nikonhas always claimed a high level of compatibility for keeping their community in mood and fulfilled that to some extent but on the other hand limited compatibility on purpose because they wanted to sell new gear, namedly lenses. And of course Nikon wants to sell lots of new Z-lenses and on the other hand was offering a new system where it is not guaranteed that the switch is made to Nikon Z instead of the more mirrorless-experienced Sony. Z-lenses bring a new level of quality but there still are a lot of F-mount lenses that were and still are unique, have their own personaliy, and some of those are screwdriver AF lenses never upgraded with an AF-S version (like the 200 and 70-180mm Micro Nikkors and the 105 and 135 mm DC lenses) and in some situations it might come handy to use AF with them.
Now there is better adaptibility from Nikon Screwdriver AF to Sony E than to Nikon Z and that is not what creates the mood and mental support Nikon needs from its customers. (and systems are about theoretical potentials, knowing that one can buy a say 800/6,3 has more influence than the people that actually will afford the lens -or in our case having  more potential with older "lens personalities"). Given a hypothetical Nikon FTZIII adapter it will potentially be priced at least 1,5-2x the price of the FTZII and still will find its customers, especially if it is providing AI-Support as well (so it makes a difference whether you adapt a Nikon F manual focus lens to a Z camera or something else) and in consequence have the option a brighter (less noisy) viewfinder and the capability of setting the aperture both on camera and lens for a broader spectrum of lenses. Currently we have reverse engineered thirt party Beta-Versions. Nikon could do a fully funcional fully compatible (supporting AF-S lenses as well) gadget whose revenue includes indirect effects and not can be valued by the number of sold adapter pieces alone.


BTW justification is a frequently used term when it comes to photo gear but rarely the appropriate one.

[Les Olson]

Buying photography gear is by no means a purely rational decision but rather a lot of psychology […] the mood and mental support […] and systems are about theoretical potentials, knowing that one can buy a say 800/6,3 has more influence than the people that actually will afford the lens -or in our case having  more potential with older "lens personalities"

Making products to please people who would like to see them in the catalogue, but have no intention of buying them, is not good business. Nikon has been burnt before making things people said they wanted, but then didn't buy (the FM3, Nikon 1, D500, eg). A good used D610 already costs less than the FTZ2, and an FTZ3 with AF-D support would be more expensive still. Why would someone who likes older lens personalities not use them on a digital or film SLR, when it is cheaper and for the uses for which those lens personalities were defined works just as well? For example, it is perfectly reasonable to prefer the personality of the 85/1.4D for studio portraits, but for studio portraits how is a Z9 is superior to a D850? Maybe there are killer ideas to marry the personalities of older lenses with the capabilities of the Z cameras, but in seven years no one has suggested any. 

[MILLIREHM]

Making products to please people who would like to see them in the catalogue, but have no intention of buying them, is not good business. Nikon has been burnt before making things people said they wanted, but then didn't buy (the FM3, Nikon 1, D500, eg). A good used D610 already costs less than the FTZ2, and an FTZ3 with AF-D support would be more expensive still. Why would someone who likes older lens personalities not use them on a digital or film SLR, when it is cheaper and for the uses for which those lens personalities were defined works just as well? For example, it is perfectly reasonable to prefer the personality of the 85/1.4D for studio portraits, but for studio portraits how is a Z9 is superior to a D850? Maybe there are killer ideas to marry the personalities of older lenses with the capabilities of the Z cameras, but in seven years no one has suggested any.

Well the D500 was quite sucessful, Nikon 1 was flawy from the beginning. If the FM3A was a failure, why then did Nikon make the Df? It actually did and studied a Df2 but cancelled it. If vintage style photography gear is not an issue any more, the Zfc and Zf should have never been built, but they actually were and sold well not because they were better than the other Z Cameras but because were stylish (though inconsequent in its classical feature design). Yes the nikon F lenses were designed for DSLR cameras.These are still available (though not developed further any more) but sooner or later this will end. The second market provides backup but it will be more difficult to get them serviced. I still have more DSLRs than mirrorless cameras but its somewhat limiting to work in parallel with F and Z mount cameras and lugging around two sets of lenses. The more compatible at least in one way the better it is imho.
Historically Nikon made a lot of lenses just for the catalogue nearly nobody ever would buy (like the 6mm or 13 mm lenses) but marked the leading position as a lensmaker. One can call that being against business principles but they were more successful then, that they are now.