Adapter thread. The new Lords of the Rings.

[Birna Rørslett]

The 'tube' lens is cute ...

[Kenneth Rich]

Well, I don't know if it is cute or not, but it is a question about a lens and the Lords of the Rings: I have, I'm almost ashamed to admit, a Contax G1 which I have not seen for about five years, but I know it is sleeping in its bag, undisturbed. My question is, could its f2 lens find a use with the  retro Z Nikon I've not yet bought, or would I be spending more good money to save a very unwise cause. Yes, more fool me for not accepting that the Contax G 1 was born too late, that the present was digital cameras even then! GRRRRRR! Yes, nobody forced me to buy, and it was a beautiful camera. . . .

[Bent Hjarbo]

Somewhere on Nikongear there is a description of a G1 lens conversion, but I am not able to find it, at least if memory serves me well.

[simsurace]

I converted the planar 45/2 for Contax G to Nikon Z. It was a non-reversible job, but since the AF mechanism of the original lens was broken, it was a way to give new life to this lens.

https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=9151.0

[Kenneth Rich]

We'll, hanks to contributors on this thread, especially Simsurace, and the fact my lens is undamaged, I've learnt that adaptors to mount a Contax G lens to a Nikon Z camera  body are available and provide manual lens features to some degree. That is a win win result for me, as I can consign the G 1, sans lens to the garbage far less painfully!  Maybe it is possible to combine a second adaptor and gain other features.  Some one will probably come along with more knowledge than I have and add it to the solution.  Being a passionate Df owner who uses only manual lenses and manual settings  should pay off here. I think buying a Kipon adaptor is the start for me. Thank you.

[Kenneth Rich]

Well, Kenneth, you can laud and magnify all you want, some of you must be thinking, but this Contax G system has some unwelcome peculiarities, and the only positive thing I  can see is the fact that apertures are not controlled by the camera body-focus, yes, and poorly, it seems, but aperture is not, and thus aperture preferenced auto exposure only, I think, but which does not bother me as I am totally manual oriented, thanks to my age-1958 being my baptism by an Agfa camera.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[Jan Anne]

Interesting video of the Megadap FE-Z adapter and AF tests with several Sony and third party lenses:
https://youtu.be/NdZLpcKtqg8

[Lucabeer]

Hello everybody! New user here (apart from the introduction post in the specific section)!

I have bought a Megadap MTZ-11 for my Nikon Z6, with the purpose of using it with a couple of old Leica lenses and a couple of AF-D Nikkors (mostly my beloved AF-D 105/2 DC). I have immediately updated its firmware to version 3.0, and the behaviour is quite decent with some lenses (rather fast and very accurate), and slower with others (the DC actually hunts a bit, but that was to be expected given its low contrast and its wicked spherical aberration that has always troubled all AF systems).

I was curious to try the "calibration tool" that is offered on the Megadap website, which is nothing than a "different" firmware to flash on the adapter via USB. I flashed it following the instructions, I turned on the Z6... and nothing happened. The adapter does not extend or retract: it does nothing. Top display on the Z6 says F--, and the adapter is seen as a purely mechanical unit (menu says MF).

I then flashed the 3.0 firmware back, and the MTZ-11 works just as fine as before.

Has anyone tried the Megadap calibration tool, and if so... does it actually do something? Do you see the adapter extending and retracting during the procedure?

For info, my Z6 is updated to the latest firmware (3.40).

Thanks!

[Erik Lund]

The 105mm f/2 AF-D DC lens is an IF lens, Internal Focusing, so get get the best result for AF you need to set the lens focus distance close to where you actually shooting or all of the lens elements in the IF lens group will be in a non optimal setting

[Lucabeer]

The 105mm f/2 AF-D DC lens is an IF lens, Internal Focusing, so get get the best result for AF you need to set the lens focus distance close to where you actually shooting or all of the lens elements in the IF lens group will be in a non optimal setting

Hi Erik! Absolutely so! Since I only use the DC lens for portraiture, my approach is to pre-focus it at around 2 meters (which is fine for a "heads and shoulders" framing), and then let the Megadap do the fine-tuning. But still, it hunts a bit (especially in AF-C). And the more the DC ring is offset towards "extreme" values, the more it hunts. But, as I said, it is to be expected: aspherical aberration is a wild beast and a tough challenge for AF systems. And in spite of this, I still value this lens A LOT: images shot with it require almost no post-processing at all. It always surprises me by nailing the right tonal richness just out of the camera.

The only thing I cannot explain, is why the calibration tool provided by Medagap doesn't seem to work AT ALL.

[Lucabeer]

Any kind user with the Megadap who could find the time to try if the calibration procedure works on a Z6/Z7 with 3.40 firmware? Thanks!

[Jan Anne]

My Megadap ETZ11 adapter does not use the calibration feature so can’t test it for you and I can’t remember one of our members having the MTZ adapter either as nobody mentioned it on the forum before.

[Lucabeer]

A quick update: Megadap updated their calibration procedure for the MTZ, and now it works as intended even on a Z6/Z7 with 3.40 firmware.

[John Geerts]

A quick update: Megadap updated their calibration procedure for the MTZ, and now it works as intended even on a Z6/Z7 with 3.40 firmware.

Thanks for the update !    On the Megadap website, only firmware V 3.0 is shown. 

How is your experience with the various Nikkor lenses on the Z6/Z7 after the firmware-update ?

[Lucabeer]

Thanks for the update !    On the Megadap website, only firmware V 3.0 is shown. 

How is your experience with the various Nikkor lenses on the Z6/Z7 after the firmware-update ?

Yes, firmware 3.0 is the latest for MTZ and it works with camera firmware 3.4.

What wasn't working was the calibration firmware, down at the bottom of the page: now that one is 3.0 too.

My experience with some Nikkor lenses is as follows: very fast with AF 50/1.8 from 1990, very fast with the classic AF 16/2.8 fisheye, quite slow with the AF-D 105/2 DC and the AF-D 80-200/2.8 (push pull version). Eye detection works well, and precision with AF-S focusing is great. AF-C on the other hand tends to hunt a bit on slower lenses, especially in low light.