Nikon Z6ii w. adapted lenses - Which is which?

In another thread, I promised the OP to shoot a few snaps with my Nikon Z6ii to illustrate what a couple of adapted lenses would look on that particular sensor (24.5MP BSI).

I thought that some of the readers here might find it entertaining to guess which is which before I report the results in the other thread.

 

This is not a lens test, it is merely photographs taken from the same position with different adapted lenses.

Here's what I did:

All shot from a tripod.

Focus is on the silver center screw on the upper black frame of the yellow cargo bike.

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/FOCUS.jpg

All lenses shot @5.6 ISO400, Auto White Balance, Auto shutter speed as it was windy w moving clouds and couldn't use the same settings, but no exposure was below 1/250.

 

JPEGs right out of the camera, no compensation of any kind on the adapted lenses.

Nikon probably did a bit of work in-camera on the Z lens images, but examples are included for reference.

 

The JPEGs are big - Fine full size from the camera - be patient. They are uploaded to my own server to avoid any image processing that some storage servers will do without telling.

 

Focal length is obvious, but which lens took which photo? Match lens # to picture "Pic X"

 

50mm:

#1 Nikkor Ai 50/2.0 (late 1970's)

#2 Leica Summicron 50/2.0 v3 (early 1970's)

#3 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@50

 

Pic D Pic E Pic F

 

35mm:

#4 Nikkor Auto O.C 35/2.0 (early 1970's)

#5 Leica Summicron 35/2.0 v3 (early 1970's)

#6 Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.4 SC v1 (early 2010's)

#7 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@35

 

Pic J Pic K Pic L Pic M

 

28mm:

#8 Nikkor AiS 28/2.8 (mid 1980's)

#9 Voigtlander Ultron 28/2.0 v1 (early 2010's)

#10 Z24-70/4.0@28

 

Pic G Pic H Pic I

 

And the final easy one

 

20, 21, 24mm:

#11 Nikkor Ai 20/3.5 (late 1970's)

#12 Voigtlander Color Skopar 21/4.0 v1 (early 2000's)

#13 Z24-70/4.0@24

 

Pic A Pic B Pic C

 

No awards. But share your thoughts if you like.

 

I'll update the thread with answers during Sunday - unless I have a hangover.

Ok, first off, I know nothing about any of these lenses, never used any of them.

 

And I think shooting at f5.6 probably masked a lot of optical traits, making it much harder to tell the difference.

 

I looked carefully at all the photos, trying to judge on sharpness, contrast, bokeh, without actually knowing how any of them rendered, made some guesses.

 

Then I spotted what I assume was an autofocus error.

 

Then I thought about it a little and decided that you probably shot the zoom shots in sequence, merely zooming between each., so I looked at framing.

 

After that, I assumed that you shot all the Nikon F mount lenses together, so I looked at the people (and the bag!).

 

Anticlockwise tilt is Leica mount, clockwise tilt Nikon F mount.

 

Then I rewrote my answers!

 

Whilst feeding my 2 month old daughter.

 

So if anything doesn't make sense below, now you know why...

 

Zoom = A, D, G, L,

Nikon F mount = C, F, H, M

 

 

50mm

D = 3

E is the Summicron (2)

F = 1

 

35mm

Pic L is #7, the Zoom, because it's missed focus on the cart and picked up the bench behind, you wouldn't have made that mistake with a manual lens! ;)

M = 4.

I reckon K is #6, as it's a bit more contrasty (looking at the bench behind the cart) than the other two - I'm thinking 30 years of lens design makes up for the typically lower sharpness and contrast from a faster lens.

 

28mm

G is the Zoom (10), I is the Voigtlander (9), H is the older, softer Nikkor (8).

 

A is #13, B is #12, C is #11

 

 

I'm probably completely wrong.

 

Thanks though, was fun.

This is very interesting. None of the images is "worse", within the limits of focus/exposure/sun vs clouds. One may have a personal preference though.

 

Particularly interesting to see no color fringing in the corners of the 20-24 mm images. Some allegations on the web that the BSI sensor of the Z6/Z7 is better than the sensor of the Z5 in this regard since the actual photosite is closer to the cover glass.

 

My best guesses are:

 

50 mm: D = Nikon 24-70; E = Leica 50; F = Nikon 50. I will say that D and F are so very close.

 

35 mm: J = Nikon 24-70; K = Leica 35; L = Nikon 35; M = Voigt 35

 

28 mm: G = Voigt 28; H = Nikon 28; I = Nikon 24-70

 

20/21/24: A = Nikon 24-70; B = Voigt 21; C = Nikon 20.

Ok, first off, I know nothing about any of these lenses, never used any of them.

 

And I think shooting at f5.6 probably masked a lot of optical traits, making it much harder to tell the difference.

 

I looked carefully at all the photos, trying to judge on sharpness, contrast, bokeh, without actually knowing how any of them rendered, made some guesses.

 

Then I spotted what I assume was an autofocus error.

 

Then I thought about it a little and decided that you probably shot the zoom shots in sequence, merely zooming between each., so I looked at framing.

 

After that, I assumed that you shot all the Nikon F mount lenses together, so I looked at the people (and the bag!).

 

Anticlockwise tilt is Leica mount, clockwise tilt Nikon F mount.

 

Then I rewrote my answers!

 

Whilst feeding my 2 month old daughter.

 

So if anything doesn't make sense below, now you know why...

 

Zoom = A, D, G, L,

Nikon F mount = C, F, H, M

 

 

50mm

D = 3

E is the Summicron (2)

F = 1

 

35mm

Pic L is #7, the Zoom, because it's missed focus on the cart and picked up the bench behind, you wouldn't have made that mistake with a manual lens! ;)

M = 4.

I reckon K is #6, as it's a bit more contrasty (looking at the bench behind the cart) than the other two - I'm thinking 30 years of lens design makes up for the typically lower sharpness and contrast from a faster lens.

 

28mm

G is the Zoom (10), I is the Voigtlander (9), H is the older, softer Nikkor (8).

 

A is #13, B is #12, C is #11

 

 

I'm probably completely wrong.

 

Thanks though, was fun.

Excellent reasoning and very thorough approach, Steve!

I'll post the results a little later and we'll see how well you did :)

Spoiler alert - the answer follows below:

 

50mm:

#1 Nikkor Ai 50/2.0 (late 1970’s) = F

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/50_F.JPG

#2 Leica Summicron 50/2.0 v3 (early 1970’s) = E

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/50_E.JPG

#3 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@50 = D

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/50_D.JPG

 

35mm:

#4 Nikkor Auto O.C 35/2.0 (early 1970’s) = M

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_M.JPG

#5 Leica Summicron 35/2.0 v3 (early 1970’s) = J

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_J.JPG

#6 Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.4 SC v1 (early 2010’s) = K

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_K.JPG

#7 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@35 = L

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_L.JPG

 

28mm:

#8 Nikkor AiS 28/2.8 (mid 1980’s) = H

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/28_H.JPG

 

#9 Voigtlander Ultron 28/2.0 v1 (early 2010’s) = I

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_I.JPG

 

#10 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@28 = G

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/35_G.JPG

 

 

20, 21, 24mm:

#11 Nikkor Ai 20/3.5 (late 1970’s) = C

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/202124_C.JPG

 

#12 Voigtlander Color Skopar 21/4.0 v1 (early 2000’s) = B

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/202124_B.JPG

 

#13 Nikkor Z24-70/4.0@24 = A

http://photo.forloren.dk/AdaptedOnZ6ii/202124_A.JPG

Thank you for doing this. The 24-70 Z lens does very well in comparison to the fixed focal length options.

Thank you for doing this. The 24-70 Z lens does very well in comparison to the fixed focal length options.

It is a very good lens in both performance build.

Excellent reasoning and very thorough approach, Steve!

I'll post the results a little later and we'll see how well you did :)

Eh, feels like I cheated, as it was forensic analysis rather than the optical properties of the lenses.

 

To be honest, I couldn't see much difference between them, except where noted in my answer.

 

Not sure if that means that the old lenses can still compete with ultra modern glass, or that the new glass is so good that a modern zoom can match or beat some primes that would have been among the best of their time?

By f5.6 nearly all lenses are more-or-less equal............:D

By f5.6 nearly all lenses are more-or-less equal............:D

Could be... ;)

By f5.6 nearly all lenses are more-or-less equal............

I would tend to agree. All cats are black in the dark.

 

Except..... the 21mm Color Skopar's edge fuzz looks like a cheap Cosina knock-off.... Oh, wait. It is!

 

And what happened to the magic pixie dust that makes Leica lens quality stand out like a sore thumb (according to Leica fanboys)? It obviously doesn't work unless attached to a Leica camera as well.:cool:

...

Not sure if that means that the old lenses can still compete with ultra modern glass, or that the new glass is so good that a modern zoom can match or beat some primes that would have been among the best of their time?

I don't know either, but I bought the z6 primarily to have a digital platform for some of my old lenses that doesn't see much use on my film cameras, and for scanning negatives.

I find the results much more useable than I expected, which is bad because then I'd probably continue to buy old lenses I don't need.

...

 

Except..... the 21mm Color Skopar's edge fuzz looks like a cheap Cosina knock-off.... Oh, wait. It is!

...

It certainly is the lens with the biggest problems, but I honestly expected much worse.

This lens is TINY, and the rear element is probably only 10mm from the film/sensor. On film, this 21/4 rivals the Super Angulon 21/3.4 which I think would find it equally difficult to reach the corners of a digital sensor.

It is also worth noting that at the time of introduction the Voigtlander was selling for a mere $350 including finder - a marvel in its own right.

The Nikkor 20/3.5 is doing better and is by itself a lens with a good reputation, but as can be seen from the comparison below, it is much bigger and further away from the sensor. Keep in mind the Voigtlander even has its hood mounted - the Nikkor doesn't.

By f5.6 nearly all lenses are more-or-less equal............:D

Only insecure photographers find it necessary to shoot wide open;)

...

 

And what happened to the magic pixie dust that makes Leica lens quality stand out like a sore thumb (according to Leica fanboys)? It obviously doesn't work unless attached to a Leica camera as well.:cool:

I think it is because I used a non-Leica branded hood - I should have disclosed that.