Many people world wide know I have struggled with my second Z6, modified by LifePixel to be "full-spectrum". There have been all sorts of issues with the camera, first and foremost a very strong striping of the images in UV, plus the register distance is way off the mark.
I will not attempt describing these problem on NG as they are amply dealt with on our "sister site" here:
https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/3228-nikon-z6z7-as-a-uvir-conversion-the-bad-news/page__fromsearch__1 . Go there and enjoy the 'pleasure' of being an
alpha tester for a camera conversion service.
For now, I decided to keep the Z6 -- despite the banding issue (which can be dealt with using the Topaz Denoise plugin, awkward but doable) and its offset register distance. For the latter I decided to add shims to the various adapters I either have, or are constructing, for this camera. The advantage is the shims can be easily removed once the camera has had its register distance corrected, but as of now, the local Nikon repair techs neither have the repair manuals nor the required tools for such operations on any Z. Until the situation improves I can use my custom adaptation.
The native Z lenses are suitable only for IE emulation or IR, and as of now, only the 14-30 and 50/1.8 are usable candidates to this end. Apparently they have sufficient focal adjustment to cope with the bad register distance of my converted Z6.
Today, I commenced the adjustment project by adding 0.6mm shims to the Nikon S (RF) - Z adapter and this measure made my old rangefinder lenses focus properly with a little to spare in the distant region. As focus tends to move closer when using filters, this behaviour is about as good as it gets.
The old rangefinder lenses do have [simple] coatings yet pass some UV. Probably not very deep into the UV band, but sufficient to give the "UV look" to everyday objects. Filter threads are varying from 40.5 to 52mm thus a lot of step rings are required. Fortunately the legendary 8.5cm f/2 Nikkor (made famous by David D. Duncan in the Korean war) has 48mm threads thus the Baader U fits directly. The lens flares badly unless a very long shade is provided, though.
Here is the "new" Z6 with the 8.5cm lens and a makeshift long hood.
I had a lot of fun using this combination today. It felt enjoyable to escape the pressure of getting "perfect" UV photos for a change
Lupines run rampant on a road verge. These species are now on the national Black List and it is forbidden to sell stock of them.
The nearby river is in spring spate these days, thus heed the warning sign and mind your steps. Falling into the current might be fatal.
