Nikon Z6/7 mirrorless system

[Hugh_3170]

Thank you - it was the f/1.8 - my bad as they say.

The old 35mm f/1.8 on your Z7 does look nice - quite the part! 

[Birna Rørslett]

With the external bayonet (RF Nikkor)-Z adapter, time has come to the corresponding adapter for RF Nikkors without their own focusing helicoid. These are the 5cm f/1.4, f/1.5, and f/2 rangefinder normal lenses. In addition, there are two versions of the even faster, and vastly more expensive, 5cm f/1.1 Nikkor, one with and the other without helicoid, however I never was able to convince myself of the necessity to purchase one of them. Same goes for the 5cm f/3.5 RF Micro-Nikkor, by the way.

In connection with my previous fling with Sony E-mount/A7 series and the old rangefinder lenses, I had tracked down and finally obtained the Amadeo adapter with focusing helicoid that allowed use of the normal lenses. After a period of intense tinkering, I decided to combine the Amadeo with a factory spare Z mount. Further testing indicated I could achieve infinity focus with this combination, provided the Amadeo was trimmed a wee bit to fit inside the Z bayonet.

Here are the parts, and several RF normal Nikkors to show the variation in size between them. The '50s 5cm f1.4 models were tiny, whilst the newly designed 50mm f/1.4 from the revived Nikon S3 jubilee camera is much bigger albeit still small compare to DSLR items.

Just been taking some test pictures to verify the new adapter is operating properly. Now it is left to cure in the oven over night. Steam punk is serious fun....

[Frank Fremerey]

Birna is having a lot of fun in the adapter business

[Jacques Pochoy]

Birna is having a lot of fun in the adapter business

Yes ! I guess that the path between a biologist and an engineer is a very fine one, specially when threading with photography 

[John Geerts]

Thank you Birna, for allowing us to follow along with your explorations.

Yes, indeed, thanks !!

[Erik Lund]

The old 35mm f/1.8 far surpass my expectations! Really impressed. Considering the vintage and the size looks like a really nice set!
I have been disappointed by many LEICA M lenses on the new digital LEICA cameras even more so on Sony etc
The tempered behavior on NIKON Z must be due to the very thin cover glass.

[fish_shooter]

The old 35mm f/1.8 far surpass my expectations! Really impressed. Considering the vintage and the size looks like a really nice set!
I have been disappointed by many LEICA M lenses on the new digital LEICA cameras even more so on Sony etc
The tempered behavior on NIKON Z must be due to the very thin cover glass.

Thus far I have noticed corner "issues" with the Leica M Summilux ASPH at f/1.4 that were reduced on stopping down to f/5.6. The WATE lens performed much better. I need to do more testing - need longer days and better weather. I brought just a 75mm Apo-Summicron with me on Xmas travel which performs quite well as you might expect. Not as convenient to use as the Z kit lens, brought it for the aperture.

[Birna Rørslett]

I have no expectations of old optics being "better" than native lenses on the Z cameras. I do hope their characteristics otherwise transfer well to the new system, though. That suffices for me. The newest Nikkors in F mount should be equally well capable of making quality records with the Z as with their native F mount camera, however.

[Birna Rørslett]

Spent the New Year's Eve in company of a lot of merry people. Amongst them a genuine Leather Man in full regalia, with a partner recently emerged as transgender to complicate matters further. We had a lot of thoughts to share and discuss adding to the event being even merrier.

He asked me to shoot a few  pictures and I obliged using the Z6 and the 50/1.8S. Light was lousy thus had to up ISO to 12800 or higher, which the Z6 easily took in its stride. Processing the NEFs later was less easy as Photo Ninja still lacks Z6 support (it handles Z7 files well, though).

[Frank Fremerey]

the 1.8/50S seems to be a real winner. Wow.

the story is also a good one.

[Birna Rørslett]

The next lenses to assess on the Z cameras are the following,

• 15 mm f/4.5 Voigtländer Heliar (made by Cosina in native F Nikon mount, early '00s)
• 50 mm f/1.4 Nikkor (2005 model for the Jubilee Nikon S3 camera)

Both lenses are tiny compared to the native Z-mount optics and as they are quite recent designs, should provide decent performance as well. A native Z lens this wide will not appear for a while it seems (plans for a 14-30/4 do exist though).

The Heliar sits snugly inside a "dumb" F-Z adapter (Fotasy), whilst the 50 Nikkor rides atop the Birna-Amadeo Z-adapter I completed a day or two ago.

[Michael Erlewine]

The next lenses to assess on the Z cameras are the following,

• 15 mm f/4.5 Voigtländer Heliar (made by Cosina in native F Nikon mount, early '00s)
• 50 mm f/1.4 Nikkor (2005 model for the Jubilee Nikon S3 camera)

Both lenses are tiny compared to the native Z-mount optics and as they are quite recent designs, should provide decent performance as well. A native Z lens this wide will not appear for a while it seems (plans for a 14-30/4 do exist though).

The Heliar sits snugly inside a "dumb" F-Z adapter (Fotasy), whilst the 50 Nikkor rides atop the Birna-Amadeo Z-adapter I completed a day or two ago.

Do you have any idea where I might get a short extension (like 8mm or so) for Z-mount to Z-mount?

Also, received the RRS L-Bracket for the Z cameras. It is nice and it extends to the left (facing forward) to allow the various HDMI connections, etc. to fit in without effecting the vertical mounting. I have other L-Brackers, but this is expensive but nice, IMO. It also has an Allen wrench inset into the L-Pracked held there by two magnets.

[CS]

Also, received the RRS L-Bracket for the Z cameras. It is nice and it extends to the left (facing forward) to allow the various HDMI connections, etc. to fit in without effecting the vertical mounting. I have other L-Brackers, but this is expensive but nice, IMO. It also has an Allen wrench inset into the L-Pracked held there by two magnets.

So they copied what Kirk did with their monopod head and attached an Allen wrench to the device. Good idea! Another good idea, IMO, is this better wrench from Acratech.

https://www.acratech.net/accessories/stainless-steel-allen-wrench

[Birna Rørslett]

Do you have any idea where I might get a short extension (like 8mm or so) for Z-mount to Z-mount?
---

I repeat what is already stated: this is only trivial if the rear end is Z mount and the front is not. Native Z-Z extension will probably not surface in a while. The reasons are quite obvious as the native Z lenses require electronic communication with the camera thus one has to have a proper Z *camera* mount and pass-through contacts installed. Plus, the Nikon engineers will be horrified to learn that users wish to abuse their carefully optimised corner-corner sharpness lenses by adding extension to them Do not forget that added extension never can improve the quality of a lens, only reduce it.

However, as I already have an appointment with a rep of Nikon UK next week, I will relate to them a wish for a Z extension tube. I might even build one myself after talking to my insider Nikon repair tech who might provide me with [some of] the required parts.

[CS]

I'm thinking about trading in some of my older Nikon gear toward a Z6/24-70/FTZ. WTH, I don't use the old stuff, so I think I would get more value from trading it for something that I would use, like a Z6/24-70-/FTZ combo. Comments?