Author Topic: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses  (Read 29501 times)

Michael Erlewine

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Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« on: July 11, 2019, 21:59:37 »
I wanted to compare a group of high-quality APO lenses as used on the Nikon Z7 Camera with the new Voigtlander 65mm and Voigtlander 110mm APO lenses.

I shot both single shot photos at f/8 and stacked images as well, but am only showing here the single-shot images at f/8 since stacked images involve too much color changes, etc. to put folks here through. They all look good too, but take special color handling.

The lenses are:

Voigtlander 65mm APO-Lanthar f/2.0
Voigtlander 110mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
and
Nikkor “O” CRT f/1.2
Printing Nikkor 95mm APO f/2.8
Lecia 100mm Elmarit-R f/2.8
Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
Schneider Macro-Varon 85mm f/4.5
El Nikkor APO 105mm f/5.6

The Coneflower was photographed in similar natural light. No sharpening, color crunching, or retouching was done on the images.
These are just as they came out of the Nikon Z7, with enough Levels to make them all about equal in light distribution.

What have I learned from this.
I have learned that all of these lenses, including the new Voigtlanders look pretty good. I did note that perhaps the early bellows lenses (APO El Nikor 105 and the Schneider Macro-Varon APO 85mm are not as up-to-date as to color as some of the other lenses. You be the judge and tell me.
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Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2019, 22:01:10 »
SECOND GROUP

I wanted to compare a group of high-quality APO lenses as used on the Nikon Z7 Camera with the new Voigtlander 65mm and Voigtlander 110mm APO lenses.

I shot both single shot photos at f/8 and stacked images as well, but am only showing here the single-shot images at f/8 since stacked images involve too much color changes, etc. to put folks here through. They all look good too, but take special color handling.


The lenses are:

Voigtlander 65mm APO-Lanthar f/2.0
Voigtlander 110mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
and
Nikkor “O” CRT f/1.2
Printing Nikkor 95mm APO f/2.8
Lecia 100mm Elmarit-R f/2.8
Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
Schneider Macro-Varon 85mm f/4.5
El Nikkor APO 105mm f/5.6

The Coneflower was photographed in similar natural light. No sharpening, color crunching, or retouching was done on the images.

These are just as they came out of the Nikon Z7, with enough Levels to make them all about equal in light distribution.

What have I learned from this.

I have learned that all of these lenses, including the new Voigtlanders look pretty good. I did note that perhaps the early bellows lenses (APO El Nikor 105 and the Schneider Macro-Varon APO 85mm are not as up-to-date as to color as some of the other lenses. You be the judge and tell me.
MichaelErlewine.smugmug.com, Daily Blog at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelErlewine. main site: SpiritGrooves.net, https://www.youtube.com/user/merlewine, Founder: MacroStop.com, All-Music Guide, All-Movie Guide, Classic Posters.com, Matrix Software, DharmaGrooves.com

Chip Chipowski

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2019, 22:44:15 »
Michael, I thought of you when I saw this local Nikkor posted for sale.  It is a little pricey but sounds quite exotic:

https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/phd/d/vancouver-fax-ortho-nikkor/6924548066.html

Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2019, 22:49:14 »
Michael, I thought of you when I saw this local Nikkor posted for sale.  It is a little pricey but sounds quite exotic:

https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/phd/d/vancouver-fax-ortho-nikkor/6924548066.html

Look like a very large and heavy lens. Thanks for the info.
MichaelErlewine.smugmug.com, Daily Blog at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelErlewine. main site: SpiritGrooves.net, https://www.youtube.com/user/merlewine, Founder: MacroStop.com, All-Music Guide, All-Movie Guide, Classic Posters.com, Matrix Software, DharmaGrooves.com

PeterN

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2019, 10:53:21 »
Thank you for the comparison. I downloaded the files and compared them. It is not a very scientific approach but to me the VL125 seems to be the sharpest with the VL65 second when I compare this set of photos. The bokeh of the Nikkor 95mm looks wonderful (perhaps because it is also softer?). But in general each lens shows its merits. 
Regarding sharpness: who said that sharpness is a bourgeois concept?
I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your photos.
Peter

Birna Rørslett

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2019, 11:27:39 »
--
Regarding sharpness: who said that sharpness is a bourgeois concept? ---

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #6 on: July 12, 2019, 12:36:03 »
Thank you for the comparison. I downloaded the files and compared them. It is not a very scientific approach but to me the VL125 seems to be the sharpest with the VL65 second when I compare this set of photos. The bokeh of the Nikkor 95mm looks wonderful (perhaps because it is also softer?). But in general each lens shows its merits. 
Regarding sharpness: who said that sharpness is a bourgeois concept?
I thoroughly enjoyed looking at your photos.

It's hard when these are little JPGs. Looking at the originals in ProPhoto RGB in Photoshop is a different story. Certainly the CV-125 is not the sharpest of the bunch. Of course, "sharp" has many definitions, IMO. I look at the interstices dark parts of the images. They all are quite sharp and who knows whether f/8 is the same in all of them. LOL. Who can say?

They all can do the job. The Printing Nikkor, to me, is very sharp, if you look at the sharpest part, but it does fall off to the right. Etc., and so on.

If I posted all the stacked photos, they all are very sharp throughout, but the color suffers from stacking, every time.

I use all of these, but tend to have my favorites, which might not be your favorites.

If I had any of these lenses, I could get the job done. LOL.
MichaelErlewine.smugmug.com, Daily Blog at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelErlewine. main site: SpiritGrooves.net, https://www.youtube.com/user/merlewine, Founder: MacroStop.com, All-Music Guide, All-Movie Guide, Classic Posters.com, Matrix Software, DharmaGrooves.com

Nasos Kosmas

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2019, 07:34:39 »
Difficult comparison cause not the same focal distance
I have seen a lot of interesting fotos with CVs from you and I really appreciate this series of lenses
To my eyes as I see from my iPads screen: el Nikkor apo 105

Dr Klaus Schmitt

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #8 on: July 13, 2019, 11:32:45 »
Michael, I thought of you when I saw this local Nikkor posted for sale.  It is a little pricey but sounds quite exotic:

https://portland.craigslist.org/clc/phd/d/vancouver-fax-ortho-nikkor/6924548066.html

Nah, only good for very large format (and I mean VERY large); not Apo and not that sharp !! Had a similar one, sold it to an Asian LF shooter who is VERY happy with it!
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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #9 on: July 13, 2019, 11:35:57 »
SECOND GROUP

I wanted to compare a group of high-quality APO lenses as used on the Nikon Z7 Camera with the new Voigtlander 65mm and Voigtlander 110mm APO lenses.

I shot both single shot photos at f/8 and stacked images as well, but am only showing here the single-shot images at f/8 since stacked images involve too much color changes, etc. to put folks here through. They all look good too, but take special color handling.


The lenses are:

Voigtlander 65mm APO-Lanthar f/2.0
Voigtlander 110mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
and
Nikkor “O” CRT f/1.2
Printing Nikkor 95mm APO f/2.8
Lecia 100mm Elmarit-R f/2.8
Voigtlander 125mm APO-Lanthar f/2.5
Schneider Macro-Varon 85mm f/4.5
El Nikkor APO 105mm f/5.6

...

For me, the Apo EL Nikkor 105mm and Macro Varon 85mm wins, then the Voigtlander 65mm APO-Lanthar - and it is about the overall appearance / impression, not just "sharpness" as I'm with Cartier-Bresson about this... ;-)

Thanks for doing that Michael!!
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Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2019, 12:42:01 »
For me, the Apo EL Nikkor 105mm and Macro Varon 85mm wins, then the Voigtlander 65mm APO-Lanthar - and it is about the overall appearance / impression, not just "sharpness" as I'm with Cartier-Bresson about this... ;-)

Thanks for doing that Michael!!

Yet, the Apo EL Nikkor 105mm and Macro Varon 85mm have the worst color-coatings or whatever, IMO. This becomes clear with stacking.
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Dr Klaus Schmitt

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #11 on: July 13, 2019, 15:16:54 »
Yet, the Apo EL Nikkor 105mm and Macro Varon 85mm have the worst color-coatings or whatever, IMO. This becomes clear with stacking.

You mean the lens coating? And why is is worse, does it change the natural representation of the true color of that flower?? Certainly the Apo EL Nikkor has an older type of coating, whereas the Macro Varon should have a modern one, as that lens is just a few years on the market.
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Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #12 on: July 13, 2019, 16:10:05 »
You mean the lens coating? And why is is worse, does it change the natural representation of the true color of that flower?? Certainly the Apo EL Nikkor has an older type of coating, whereas the Macro Varon should have a modern one, as that lens is just a few years on the market.

It's more the stacking process messes with the natural color, IMO.
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Macro_Cosmos

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #13 on: July 17, 2019, 12:01:44 »
It's more the stacking process messes with the natural color, IMO.
1. Make sure you have a very stable setup
2. Uncheck automatic colour and brightness in Zerene Stacker

Zerene Stacker will compare each image to the first one of your stack and adjust the gamma channel in an attempt to equalise the mean and variance in luminance, this will alter colours slightly or drastically depending on how brightness and contrast were being processed.
This should allow the most accurate colours to be preserved, since you are minimising the software's altering on images.
 
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Michael Erlewine

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Re: Nikon Z7 with TechArt TZR-01 Adapter and APO Lenses
« Reply #14 on: July 17, 2019, 14:33:47 »
1. Make sure you have a very stable setup
2. Uncheck automatic colour and brightness in Zerene Stacker

Zerene Stacker will compare each image to the first one of your stack and adjust the gamma channel in an attempt to equalise the mean and variance in luminance, this will alter colours slightly or drastically depending on how brightness and contrast were being processed.
This should allow the most accurate colours to be preserved, since you are minimising the software's altering on images.

Thanks! That is helpful. I have never tried and will, although I do a lot of retouching, so have to see how that setting affects retouching.
MichaelErlewine.smugmug.com, Daily Blog at https://www.facebook.com/MichaelErlewine. main site: SpiritGrooves.net, https://www.youtube.com/user/merlewine, Founder: MacroStop.com, All-Music Guide, All-Movie Guide, Classic Posters.com, Matrix Software, DharmaGrooves.com