Nikon Z6/7 mirrorless system

[Birna Rørslett]

The VR really works iff you really want it to. Otherwise, feel free to experiment.

Z7, 105/1.4 AFS, 100 ISO, setting sun behind frozen deciduous forest in my neighbourhood.

[golunvolo]

Z6+ftz+helicoids+ring adapter+el-nikkor 105mm 5.6 (1st) and 80mm 5.6 (2nd and 3rd)  This combination has always being very difficult to focus. Any of the el-nikkors for that matter. Even with a split focusing screen, I have always to resort to live-view. Evf and easy magnification plus ibis makes it very very easy. The control over what is in focus is excellent. The struggle is over. I looked today for some subjects with details. I´ll not bore you with the many keepers -focus wise- One far, one closer and as close as possible with today´s gear. All at f8, all handheld. Having so many focus points to choose from there is no need to recompose.

[Jack Dahlgren]

Z6+ftz+helicoids+ring adaptor+el-nikkor 105mm 5.6. This combination has always being very dificult to focus. Any of the el-nikkors for that matter. Even with a split focusing screen, I have always to resort to liveview. Evf and easy magnification plus ibis makes it very very easy. The control over what is in focus is excellent. The struggle is over. I looked today for some subjects with details. I´ll not bore you with the many keepers -focus wise- One far, one closer and as close as possible with today´s gear. All at f8, all handheld. Having so many focus points to choose from there is no need to recompose.

I've set up F1 and F2 buttons with 50% and 200% zoom. It makes fine focus really easy,especially when the light is dim.

[Birna Rørslett]

My Z7 is set up in a similar manner. Quite useful approach, me thinks.

[gryphon1911]

The VR really works iff you really want it to. Otherwise, feel free to experiment.

Z7, 105/1.4 AFS, 100 ISO, setting sun behind frozen deciduous forest in my neighbourhood.

That....is very cool!   

[Roland Vink]

Shun Cheung from photo.net has an interesting observation on the FTZ adapter:

With any AF, AF-D, and AF-S lenses on the FTZ, as well as native Z-mount lenses directly on the Z camera, during composition, when you control the aperture with the sub-command dial, the lens' aperture actually closes down from the maximum to f5.6, but when you change the setting to something smaller such as f6.3, f8, f11, the aperture on the lens would not close further down below f5.6, during composition and metering. Hence we are using partial stop-down composition and metering.

This is an interesting feature. It largely eliminates problems with focus shift that can occur between full-aperture focusing and the stopped-down shooting aperture. Focus shift happens mostly at wider apertures, any residual focus shift beyond f/5.6 will be minor and covered by the increased depth of field. Not stopping down beyond f/5.6 ensures enough light reaches the meter for accurate metering in low light conditions. Very neat. I wonder if the same occurs with the Z lenses mounted directly on the camera?

[Seapy]

I wonder if the same occurs with the Z lenses mounted directly on the camera?

In the first sentence "as well as native Z-mount lenses directly on the Z camera".

[Roland Vink]

doh! 

[Eddie Draaisma]

This feature has already been reported over here a few times. It also works dynamically in S an P modes, with a “risk” that the aperture changes after focussing due to recomposing to a different exposure condition.

[Birna Rørslett]

Earlier today, I briefly tried the legendary 55mm f/1.2 Nikkor-O ('CRT') on my Z7. This is one of the exotic lenses generating a lot of speculation as to its 'Z' performance. Now, some questions can be answered. (observe: the adapter to Z is still very preliminary thus it's difficult to align the lens properly)

Can it focus to infinity? Yes

Does it cover the entire FX format towards infinity? No.

Is it sharp across the entire frame? No. Given it is optimised for approx. 1:4 magnification, that should be no surprise.

In fact, at f/1.2 the 55/1.2 CRT is quite sharp on axis and very much less so anywhere else. All this had been predicted in advance thus my test shot seems superfluous. However, surprises sometimes happen even though it didn't this time.

[Birna Rørslett]

Another (semi-)legendary lens in the 'exotics' department is the Rodenstock 100 mm f/1.6. This has been a beloved lens for creating dreamingly blurry close-ups, when the lens is mounted on any ordinary DSLR. However, with the arrival of the Z range, this lens might be a better (in optical terms) performer.

My Rodenstock-Z adapter is again on the tinkering stage, but with the inclusion of a newly arrived helicoid, I could do a few night shots. It *will* focus to infinity on the Z camera, and it *will* deliver sharpness across the entire range. Good news for the owners of this heavy piece of glass.

The fluorescent lights in this night scene produce some blue colour fringing that probably would disappear under a better balanced light regime. Otherwise sharpness appears to be excellent and the bokeh qualities are exquisite.

[Jack Dahlgren]

Earlier today, I briefly tried the legendary 55mm f/1.2 Nikkor-O ('CRT') on my Z7. This is one of the exotic lenses generating a lot of speculation as to its 'Z' performance. Now, some questions can be answered. (observe: the adapter to Z is still very preliminary thus it's difficult to align the lens properly)

Can it focus to infinity? Yes

Does it cover the entire FX format towards infinity? No.

Is it sharp across the entire frame? No. Given it is optimised for approx. 1:4 magnification, that should be no surprise.

In fact, at f/1.2 the 55/1.2 CRT is quite sharp on axis and very much less so anywhere else. All this had been predicted in advance thus my test shot seems superfluous. However, surprises sometimes happen even though it didn't this time.

At infinity it looks a bit dismal, but I find it is still lovely close in:
811_0161

[charlie]

Another (semi-)legendary lens in the 'exotics' department is the Rodenstock 100 mm f/1.6.....

That's good news, almost makes getting a Z camera worth it in itself. Thanks for sharing.

[Øivind Tøien]

It looks like the spacial hot pixel suppression algorithm in Z7 is a similar gentle one as in D850, D8100E, D810, D810a, D500 and D7000 setting max from nearest 24 neighbors (all color channels). So for astrophotography  there should not be any problems with star colors (typically small stars turning green) that can happen in D5300/D5500, D7100/D7200, D7500 (latter a bit different) using only 8/12 pixels of same color: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/635441-aa-filter-spatial-filter-and-star-colours/page-4

Battery consumption and sensor heating is another matter though.

[Frank Fremerey]

At infinity it looks a bit dismal, but I find it is still lovely close in:
811_0161

beautiful