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samuel_lipoff

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  1. I should mention that the only difficulties I've had with lenses on my Z6 are AF and AF-D (focus screw) lenses. They won't autofocus with the FTZ and while you can manually focus them, of course, they have much worse manual focus feel and generally shorter (less precise) manual focus throws than Ai and Ai-S lenses. I own a 28mm f/1.4 AF-D, a 60mm f/2.8 AF and 85mm f/1.4 AF-D lens, each of which have a somewhat delicate plastic A/M focus ring that's prone to cracking, and short manual focus throws with poor feel. I have just this week been playing with the Megadap AF adapter, which provides some measure of autofocus for both AF/AF-D lenses as well as Ai/Ai-S lenses. My initial usage suggests that in good light on contrasty subjects with a large aperture autofocus is fast and accurate (albeit very noisy) --- accurate enough for even critical sharpness at f/1.2 on the 58mm Noct-Nikkor --- but in low light or on flat subjects or stopped down the autofocus is hit or miss and like stepping back 25 years. I'll make a more full report in a few weeks when I've had more experience with more lenses in more situations. Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/1.2 Ai on Nikon Z6 with Megadap AF Adapter, single point autofocus at f/1.2, 1/4000 sec, ISO 100
  2. There is no optical issue with adapting F-mount lenses to Z. I think the admonition to get optimum performance by using native Z-mount lenses is misplaced. AF-S F-mount lenses focus on the FTZ instantly and give beautiful IQ on the Z's sensor. And manual focus lenses are far easier to focus with the EVF than they are with a DSLR. If you have a non-AI lens that you are reluctant to use on the FTZ, just buy a $200 manual focus adapter (with a close focusing helical) by Kipon (I got mine from B&H). I moved from a D700 to a Z6, and all of my gripes about the Z6 are ergonomics related (I miss the concentric lock switch around the focus point keypad, I miss the little three position switch for AF-C, AF-S and MF), I think the slightly larger D700 is actually more comfortable to hold, etc.) But the IQ and focus performance, in either AF or MF, is clearly better. I was skeptical of EVFs for a long time too, but the Z's EVF is the best I've ever seen and honestly I don't miss the OVF of my D700 at all.
  3. Ugh, the moving focus point drives me nuts. I think it's because it's easy to bump the four-way controller. My D700 has a simple solution: an optional lock switch concentric with the four-way controller. They removed that on the Z6, much to its detriment. (Of course, you can always switch the Z body into MF mode and MF with native Z-mount lenses too).
  4. I have used several M-mount lenses with my Nikon Z6 since 2019 and I think the Nikon Z is actually the best platform for using M-mount lenses. The Nikon Z has a thinner cover glass than the Sony cameras, and I've yet to see any color fringing issues even with M-mount lenses as wide as 15mm, and as you say is more reasonably priced that Leica bodies. I've set up my Z6 so the [AF-ON] button results in a 200% magnified view, making manual focusing a snap. Size-wise, M-mount lenses balance well on the Z6 (better than F-mount lenses, IMO) and of course you don't have rangefinder coupling or finder blockage issues. If you get a manual adapter, I recommend the $47.99 one on eBay under "LM-NZ/M Close Focus For Leica M VM ZM Lens to Nikon Z6 Z7 Camera Adapter Macro." That's what I have been using and it has no play, and the focusing helical feels great. I was nervous given the low price, but figured if it doesn't work well I'd just throw it away and get a more expensive one. But it's great. No matter what adapter you get I recommend one with a focusing helical to allow M-mount lenses to focus even closer (often with good results). Here is where the one downside of using M-mount lenses on the Z system with a manual adapter comes into play though: even if you sent a focal length and aperture for a non-CPU lens in the Nikon Z body, it won't record the focal length or aperture in the EXIF header. This only works if you are using a non-CPU lens with the Nikon FTZ adapter, and it's a maddening change from the D700 days. Finally, I will say that I have just recently purchased (but it hasn't arrived yet) a Megadap Leica M Lens to Nikon Z-Mount Autofocus Adapter, which should allow autofocus on Nikon Z cameras with M-mount lenses as well as focal length recording in the EXIF header (albeit through a kludgey method).
  5. And while I'm at it, a 28/1.4 and his honored elder. (And yes, that's an HN-9 screw in lens hood on my 28/1.4 AF-D, not the s̶l̶i̶p̶-̶o̶n slip-off HK-7 lens hood):
  6. Two Noct-Nikkors hanging out in the afternoon . . . Ai and S . . .
  7. I know that I started this thread 10+ years ago, but it happened again! The $200 repair only lasted ten years. My local repairmen can't find any replacement parts and Nikon says that they stopped repairing this lens in 2015. But I think I have found a better replacement: a metal ring. If you search Google for "New Metal Nikon M-A M/A Ring for Nikon AF 28 f/1.4 D Lens" you can find an eBay seller in Hong Kong who sells these, for about $100 each. Not cheap, but with a metal ring this shouldn't happen again.
  8. Wow thanks for all the replies. I'll check out the Nikon 14–30mm f/4 Z lens, of which I was previously unaware. Has anyone used the Laowa 15m f/4 Wide Angle Macro (F-mount)? Is it usable at infinity, or is it really more of a macro lens? Is the shift capability usable on FX or does it vignette too much?
  9. I'd like a 15mm rectilinear lens for my Nikon Z6 that doesn't break the bank. MF is fine. As I see it there are four main options: • Voigtländer 15mm F4.5 Super Wide Heliar (M-mount) • Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D Lens (Z-mount) • Nikon 15mm f/5.6 QD·C (F-mount) • Nikon 15mm f/3.5 Ai-S (F-mount) The Voigtländer is the smallest and least expensive, and I already have an M-mount adapter. I tried three copies (two III, one II) in a store yesterday and all of them seemed oddly soft across the whole frame and didn't improve on stopping down. I didn't see any purple fringing, however. I have not been able to find a copy of the Laowa locally. A friend has the 15mm f/5.6 (although he has the ultra rare Ai variant) and it's optically excellent. Is the f/3.5 equally good? They are both big and heavy. Am I missing other options? Presumably the F-mount Voigtländer that would ordinarily require mirror lockup could work on the Z with an adapter, but I think it's the same optical formula as the M-mount version. I'd rather not get the 14–24 zoom, although I know it's optically fantastic (I've rented it before and it's great). The Zeiss options (Milvus and ZM) both seem quite a bit more expensive. I don't need to use this often, so I was hoping not to spend more than about $1000. I was hoping to like the Voigtländer but the three copies I tried all seemed unusable. Has anyone tried the Laowa? Thank you!
  10. Thanks to Dieter Schaefer I have been doing this. It's not exactly what I wanted with easy exposure compensation, but it is very helpful. Basically my Ai-S Nikkors and other MF F-mount lenses run in stop-down metering mode, which is just fine as the EVF compensates brightness. I find that in dark conditions I simply set the minimum shutter speed that I can comfortably handhold for the given focal length and trust the auto-ISO. That works fine. In bright conditions, however, I have to twiddle the shutter speed command dial until I see the ISO raise above ISO 100 to know that I'm not blowing out the highlights. This is a funny way to do things. And in really bright conditions, I have to manually twiddle the minimum ISO to Lo 1.0 as 1/8000 isn't very fast with wide-aperture primes. (Yes, I could add an ND filter also . . .) And because the EVF on the Z6 is so awesome at compensating, I find that when I have to rapidly switch back and forth between bright and dark conditions, I sometimes end up taking a photo at 1/8000 and ISO 51,200 instead of 1/30 and ISO 200. Crazily enough, in bright conditions ISO 51,200 doesn't look half bad, but obviously this is not preferable.
  11. Although I prefer faster primes, I have been debating getting either the 35/1.8 or the 50/1.8. I find I use my Nikon Z6 most often with the Voigtländer Nokton 40mm f/1.4 and a third party M to Z adapter with an in-built close focusing helical. This lens is small, but very disappointing; beyond IQ it flares uncontrollably wide open, and so I find myself most often using it at f/2.8, which defeats the purpose of having a fast lens! The close focusing helical is nice though. On my DSLR, I most often use 28mm or 85mm, but if I had to pick just one lens it would be the 45mm f/2.8 Ai-P. I am leaning towards the 35/1.8, if for no other reason than the better reproduction ratio, which I find useful in a single "walk-around" lens. I also already own four different F-mount primes between 45mm and 60mm, which I can use with an adapter. But I am wondering if there is any reason comparing the lenses themselves to prefer the 50mm over the 35mm?
  12. A took a weekend trip to a friend's wedding in Phuket, Thailand and had to travel light. I only brought the Nikon Z6 and my Noct-Nikkor 58m f/1.2 Ai lens (with a third party F to Z mount adapter). Many things about the Z6 annoy me compared to my D700, but I bought the Z6 specifically to be able to focus fast manual focus glass like the Noct better than is possible on a DSLR. The Z6 battery life is poor, it's not as comfortable to hold, Bluetooth transfer of even 2 MP files is so excruciatingly slow that I turned it off all weekend. There's some strange non-linearity with the exposure as I stop down the aperture for which I need to manually compensate. Easy exposure compensation doesn't work. I have to run my MF F-mount glass in full manual mode, which means setting a reasonable exposure, and letting Auto ISO do the work, and then double-checking that the ISO doesn't go up to 10,000 or that the ISO isn't pegged at ISO 100. And I have to do this all over again when I'm in video mode. The exposure doesn't compensate if I'm zoomed in to check focus. The eye sensor broke after a couple weeks and I have to manually press the button next to the viewfinder to swap between the viewfinder and the rear monitor. Video doesn't auto rotate. If I accidentally switch back into still photo mode before I press the Record button again to stop the video, I loose the video. Help doesn't work in the menus. The sensor gets dirty more easily (which I'm only reminded of during rare excursions to f/11). Am I complaining about all those warts? Not after I look at the images on my monitor. Absolutely gorgeous IQ and perfect focus almost all of the time, even wide open. Oh, Noct. Honestly, I'm still a little annoyed at those warts because they seem to be things that Nikon has solved in the past or are trivial to solve, but overall I'm not complaining. With my D700, even with an auxiliary focusing screen, getting good results at f/1.2 came to down luck, prayer, and some focus bracketing at 5 fps. With the Z6 getting good results just requires stoicism in the face of ergonomic annoyances.
  13. Nikon Z6, Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AF-D, 1/3200, ISO 450
  14. I have a Nikon Z6 and an Android phone. I installed the SnapBridge app from GooglePlay and paired the devices. Here is what I would like to happen: 1) I'd like my phone to be connected when I am ordinarily using the camera without having to specifically connect it, in order to place a GPS location in the photos. 2) I'd like all of the images I take to automatically download to a folder in my phone's external SD card in the background, so that I can post them to social media and/or send them in a message, ideally at a low resolution (2 megapixel?) 3) On rare occasions, I'd like to be able to download a full, high resolution version of a few selected images. In theory SnapBridge supports each of these functions. But in practice I find they barely work. To get the GPS coordinates in my photos, I find I need to specifically start the SnapBridge app on my phone, even though I've left it to run in the background, and wait a while to make sure they are actually connected. At times, I find I need to restart my phone entirely! And even when it works, I'm never 100% sure that the camera remains successfully paired. I've set the images to auto download at 2MP via Bluetooth. Even if the devices are right next to each other, I find this takes many hours, in fact, often takes over night or over several nights, even for a just a couple hundred images. It also completely runs the battery of the camera down. I bought a third-party AC adapter for my Z6, but as slots into the battery port, the Z6 rejects it as a non-compliant third-party battery. (My D700 just has a port for an AC adapter, no monkeying-around with a faux battery required). I would even purchase the genuine AC adapter except that it was out of stock everywhere I looked when I tried to purchase it. I can connect via peer-to-peer WiFi (temporarily disabling the WLAN connection on my phone), which is much faster, but that only seems to be for manually selecting images to transfer. If I select all, it will download all the previously downloaded images again leaving duplicates on my phone. If I want to select only untransferred images I have to select each one, one-by-one, since SnapBridge doesn't have a "quick select" function, where you can hold and drag across many images to select them at once. So to use WiFi I basically have to transfer images, then connect my camera to my laptop, transfer the full-resolution images, and then delete them from my camera. It would be fine if it would transfer via WiFi when I'm at home on my own WiFi access point, as long as it happens automatically. I've disabled all power saving options on both SnapBridge and the camera, which is fine with me. However, sometimes even when there are no untransferred images, I find that my camera's battery is completely drained. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I was careless and left camera on during that time (I don't think so, but possibly?), but shouldn't it time out anyway? I have a strong suspicion that SnapBridge is responsible for the errant battery drain. Any idea what's going on? The only functionality that seems to work as I'd like is my third, and rarest, use case: downloading a couple specific images at high resolution. But even this hampered by the poor browser in the SnapBridge application. And why is Bluetooth transfer so slow anyway? Even Bluetooth 1.0 should support 700 Kbps, which means a 500 KB photo (average size for a 2 MP photo) would transfer in 6 seconds. Surely the Z6 and my two-year old phone are both operating with at least Bluetooth 2.0 anyway. Am I doing something wrong or missing something? This really feels like barely usable software to me.
  15. I recently purchased a Nikon Z6 body and an inexpensive aftermarket F-mount to Z-mount adapter, as I don't own a single Nikkor AF-S lens (all my Nikkor AF lenses are AF or AF-D lenses), so I figured no reason for the extra expense and size of the Nikon FTZ. I was hoping for the following behavior: - Set aperture on the lens - Set shutter speed on the rear command dial - Enable Auto-ISO - Set exposure compensation on the front command dial (without holding a modal button) However, it appears that the Easy Exposure Compensation custom setting isn't enabled in M exposure mode (according to the Z6 manual). With Auto-ISO enabled, though, why not? I tried to simulate this behavior in P, S or A modes. But none of them appear to work either. In fact, these modes don't really seem to work at all and I have to keep the camera in M. Is this behavior just not available at all? Or should I have bought the FTZ after all? (To be fair, it is not so bad to hold down the EV-shift modal button, but it's in an awkward position. I would also love to have the option to use Program mode and have the camera auto-select a reasonable shutter speed and reasonable ISO, so I don't have to remember to manually move the shutter speed from 1/8000 when I am shooting during the day to 1/80 when I am shooting in the evening).
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