50 years Nikon F Mount
The Nikon F lens mount is 50 years old today. Happy birthday!
"Longest history among lens mounts for 35mm-format SLR interchangeable lenses/cameras"
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 4:46 PM
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
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86 Comments:
"Total Production of NIKKOR Lenses for Nikon SLR Cameras Reaches Fifty Million."
William Sampson did terrific Nikon lens mount AI conversions for us with much better cosmetic appearance of the ADR strip than available elsewhere so that our pre-AI lenses are modified to be compatible with modern digital Nikon cameras.
"The Cycle" of camera buying from Thom Hogan's wonderful blog:
We
1) start with a simple, uncomplicated, small camera
2) yearn for bigger, fancier cameras
3) earn enough to buy a series of bigger, fancier cameras until...
4) have the biggest, fanciest camera
5) get tired of lugging heavy stuff around and learning hugely complex controls, so...
6) yearn for smaller, simpler cameras
7) buy progressively smaller and simpler cameras until...
8) end up shooting with a simple, uncomplicated, small camera.
WORLD CLASS LENSES for Nikon cameras:
Some of the best manual focus lenses in the world are available for the Nikon F mount (expensive, but highly recommended):
Zeiss ZF lenses manufactured by Cosina, especially the 21mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/2 Macro, and 100mm f/2 Macro.
Voigtlander Cosina 125mm f/2.5 Macro.
Leica R lenses, available used, converted with Leitax mounts (used with manual stop-down), especially the 28mm f/2.8 (latest with built-in hood), 90mm f/2 APO, 100mm f/2.8 APO Macro, 180mm f/2.8 APO, and 280mm f/4 APO.
Achieve perfect focus on modern cameras with a Katz Eye custom focusing screen, or with live view and a Zacuto Z-Finder.
The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, and 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II autofocus zoom lenses are also superb, but heavy and expensive.
See, related discussion.
"Photography, the word itself, invented and defined by its author, Sir John.F.W.Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society, Somerset House, London:
' ... Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation ... ' "
"Glass is no longer 'timeless.' The lenses are as electronic as the cameras. They will have electronics that will go bad or become obsolete. ... Don't get attached to anything electronic. It will break your heart." —OneSixFortieth
R.I.P. Kodachrome, 1935-2010
See, Marilyn Monroe and her Nikon F.
... and 60 million Nikon lenses manufactured as of March, 2011!
"When the time comes that defeated Japan is again permitted to enjoy the benefits of world trade, a vast market for photographic goods of all sorts will be open to American exporters. Japanese photographers recognize the superiority of our photographic products over theirs and are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to purchase American cameras and equipment." —Popular Photography magazine, 1946.
Subject: Nikon Feature request
Feature request: Please add focus masking to live view and electronic viewfinders as a focus assist. See this demonstrated with Capture One Pro.
[Thanks to Graham Mitchell and Doug Herr for pointing out this next "big thing."]
" ... focus masking in conjunction with live view ... instant feedback on areas of critical focus ... "
Sony calls this Focus Peaking in the NEX cameras.
Two part Video:
The Nikon F Story
(NHK World video)
"At one meeting with Microsoft's Bill Gates to discuss integrating Kodak's photo CDs with Windows, Kodak Chairman Kay Whitmore fell asleep." —Kodak's long fade to black
Nikon has made a monumentally stupid decision that the company will no longer supply repair parts.
We have 14 Nikon bodies and over 50 lenses acquired over the past five decades which made sense because of the combination of excellent quality, superb reliability, and the availability of independent camera repair companies that have kept every piece of our Nikon equipment ever purchased still fully operational.
Nikon's decision to put all independent repair technicians out of business by refusing to sell parts makes it now questionable if Nikon cameras and lenses are anything but short term disposable products with expected lifetimes of only 5-7 years. As the professional Nikon bodies are now $2,500-$7,000 rapidly depreciating luxuries, while the lenses often are $2,000 each and much more, their decision to withhold parts makes purchasing new Nikon system products a very dubious proposition.
An expensive set of ultra-reliable lenses used for 50 years and still good as new and ready for another half century was very affordable. But new Nikon professional lenses that are unreliable and use electronics and motors that break, are much more difficult to repair than mechanical devices, and if they will become unrepairable after 5-7 years are unreasonably unaffordable to most.
While Kodak's mismanagement induced bankruptcy is a tragedy, Nikon's dreadful decision to monopolize parts and service is a slap in the face to its loyal customers who should think carefully and analyze the vastly changed value proposition long and hard before buying new Nikon products at escalating prices.
A Nikon professional camera with lenses that cost a small fortune made sense years ago due to the longevity. A Nikon professional system of equivalent cost now but that is rapidly depreciating and unrepairable in roughly the same time frame as a laptop computer (but at perhaps ten times the cost) no longer makes economic sense.
This is the last straw. We were carefully considering Nikon lenses such as the new 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 200mm f/2, and 24-70mm f/2.8 and worried about reliability over time, but now with no independent camera repair companies to keep these plastic/electronic/motorized toys running long after Nikon gets bored with them, it becomes easy to just say no thanks to Nikon, we'll just continue to use what we have – the optically superb older glass held by beautifully machined metal (with aperture rings!), gorgeous functional sculptures that retain their value and could well outlive us all.
How to make Canon lenses just as good.
"They just looked at the pictures? Some people just don't get what photography is about!" —Grevture on GAS (gear acquisition syndrome)
"the live view implementation on the Nikon D800 and D800E was a gigantic blunder on the part of Nikon"
"A Kodak Technological Forecasting group ... decided in the late [1980's] that digital would not become an important imaging method until about 2020. I disagreed with that and went to ... management with my opinion only to be rebuffed. ... Company policy was made based on that ... even though most everyone disagreed ... They believed that it would take over [30] years! (1988 - 2020 or thereabouts). The problem was that top management agreed with the forecast and 'sat' on any dissenting opinion." —Rowland G. Mowrey, Kodak Photo Engineer and Kodachrome inventor
"Nikon is not innovating any more, just plodding along with the same blinders on (36 megapixels is nice, but does not count as innovation especially with mangled Live View and no EVF—Sony will get there first). Canon has the same ingrained inertia as Nikon. Both will have their lunch eaten by Sony is my prediction." —Lloyd Chambers
Camera innovation wish list:
No mirror and no mechanical shutter (nothing that can cause mechanical vibration to blur the image);
Full frame sensor (24x36mm, or even better 36x36mm with varying aspect ratio limited to the available sharp field of view of the lens on a camera that takes both 35mm and medium format lenses, but no need to ever hold the camera sideways);
On sensor phase detect autofocus (eliminates need for mirror and makes focus mis-calibration impossible);
Superb quality electronic viewfinder with focus peaking and magnification, that is as good as the best optical viewfinder;
23mm high eyepoint viewfinder that shows a huge image;
Moving sensor that does self cleaning, in-body image stabilization, Scheimpflug tilt, and final focus;
Camera can detect focus all over the image and set the tilt and position of the sensor for optimum focus;
Can manually focus or lens autofocus approximately and then have the camera autofocus exactly by moving the sensor (same function as Nikon TC-16a but without the magnification and accomplished by moving the sensor instead of a teleconverter lens element); because the lens focus is approximately correct the image quality of floating element lenses is not impaired by the sensor focus;
Full still imaging resolution at video frame rates;
Assist to pick out the sharpest image from a sequence of frames;
Sensor resolution that matches the best Leica and Zeiss lenses;
Direct, non-modal control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, focus, zoom, and white balance with knobs or rings, not menu's;
Ability to pick autofocus point by eye (like the Canon EOS 3);
Camera thickness and interchangeable lens mounts, adapters, or camera models, that allow use of all great legacy manual and autofocus lenses from all manufacturers without losing lens automation;
Ability to use both rangefinder and retrofocus SLR lenses;
Ability to add a sensor cooling accessory;
Efficient multilayered sensor that captures all wavelengths at all locations, unlike Bayer sensors;
Ability to vary spectral sensitivity among UV/visible/IR;
Ability to use infrared (which is half of daylight but currently wasted by photography) to reduce luminance noise without changing color;
Ability to do monochrome at full sensor resolution;
Nothing that causes the ability to do helicoid manual focus or mechanical aperture function (including changing aperture and automatic aperture stop down during exposure) to be lost.
List of Favorite/best Photography Books (about taking pictures).
I don't get it! How can camera manufacturers make such great new camera bodies with such easy to fix fatal flaws?
Would love to have a Nikon D800E, but not if it can't focus with manual lenses. So lets see, the autofocus module is often out of alignment which makes using it for focus confirmation unreliable while Nikon is doing a coverup about the problem but there might be a secret fix, the live view is messed up showing only every third line so you can't easily tell when in focus (and still lacks both an electronic viewfinder and focus peaking), and the finder screen isn't designed to actually show if you're in focus and isn't intended to be replaceable???
NIKON WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR (it could be a matter of corporate survival)? When some other company (perhaps Sony) beats you to market with just the right inexpensive full frame mirrorless camera, don't be surprised when your DSLR sales collapse.
Would also love to have the Leica M (typ 240), which fixes almost every prior limitation of the legendary line of rangefinders (adding live view, electronic viewfinder, and focus peaking) at a price almost as ridiculous as the model non-name, but then omits sensor cleaning???
Perhaps should just continue to enjoy taking pictures with the wonderful Nikon D700 for another couple of years and keep waiting for a more affordable full frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with electronic viewfinder that will be ideal for manual focus lenses.
"It is estimated that 380 billion images were taken last year, most with a camera phone. Over 380 million photos are uploaded on Facebook every day. Instagram is growing exponentially and had four billion photos uploaded as of July 2012."
Course: Coping Strategies for People with Gear Acquisition Syndrome ;-)
"Nikon just cannot get its act together; most every new camera model has different behavior and new bugs with Live View. [It] is an absurd and ridiculous incompetence." —Lloyd Chambers
R.I.P. Bryce Bayer 1929-2012.
"Nikon Corporation is pleased to announce that total production of NIKKOR lenses for Nikon interchangeable lens cameras reached seventy-five million at the beginning of November 2012."
The Live View performance of the Nikon D800 is "terrible."
Dammit, Nikon, get your act together so we can buy your cameras:
"The [Nikon] D800E has ... mangled Live View ... and a truly awful focusing screen for manual focus."
Nikon, if you don't fix this, you are forcing us to abandon your brand and move to the first well done full frame mirrorless camera.
Subject: Knocking off Canon? No, just the opposite!
Thom Hogan wrote on February 4, 2013 that, "most photography buying is going to become just pro users and very serious hobbyists soon". This insight seems exactly right, and I think it is me that he is talking about. I'm a serious hobbyist using Nikon bodies since 1965 with a collection of world-class and apochromatic manual focus lenses for the Nikon F mount that I need to be able to focus.
Now I'm recently on Medicare with declining vision, with a wonderful Nikon D700 that works great and that I can accurately focus with live view (especially using a Zacuto Z-finder LCD magnifier), or with the Katz-eye focusing screen.
So what's next? Knocking off Canon? No, Nikon instead seems to be intent on Knocking off Nikon with new professional cameras that (if the reviews are correct) I can't purchase since I just will not be able to reliably manually focus.
I wrote to Nikon 2-3 years ago warning them that I would need focus peaking. I'm ready to buy a Nikon D800E, but can't since not only does it not include the focus peaking that I asked Nikon to include (which would cost Nikon almost nothing), but the D800E's default focus screen is unusable for manual focus, there is no replacement, the incompetently designed line skipping live view is too blurred to focus accurately (no, I'm not going to ruin jpeg processing in an attempt to partially compensate), there is no electronic viewfinder offered, and the phase detect autofocus (even when not defective or mis-calibrated as is so frequently reported) is too inaccurate to use electronic rangefinder focusing as a substitute for manual focus. How disappointing that Nikon makes a great camera that is, for my purposes, unusable.
I see no hint that Nikon understands that I can't buy a D800E if it can't be used to focus my world class manual focus lenses, no indication that they intend to do anything about the absence of any usable focusing screen, nor to fix live view. (This from the same company that designed the gorgeous DW-2 forty years ago?) As far as I can tell, Nikon no longer cares and does not value me as a customer. (If they did care, wouldn't their best DSLR's have interchangeable finders like they used to?)
As much as I would like a D800E, I'm not buying a camera that doesn't allow me to easily focus the world's best lenses.
I expect that after almost half a century with Nikon, they will soon lose me as a DSLR customer just as soon as someone offers the right full frame mirrorless camera designed for accurate manual focus.
"Where's my D700 replacement?"
D800 terrible at manual focus:
I happily use optically and mechanically superb (especially apochromatic) manual focus lenses on my Nikon D700. My old eyes are able to focus using a Katz Eye focus screen and DK-17M eyepiece magnifier, or with magnified live view especially with a Zacuto Z-Finder, or sometimes with the electronic rangefinder's green dot.
From what I have read, I'm disappointed to find that the Nikon D800 isn't a suitable replacement because it won't allow manual focus with sufficient ease and accuracy: There is no replacement focus screen with a split prism that is optimized for manual focus or f/1.4, live view is blurred and defective due to line skipping, and even when the D800 autofocus module calibration is not defective, the tolerance of the green dot electronic rangefinder is not tight enough for the more accurate focusing needed with the higher resolution sensor. (Nikon also ignored my written plea for focus peaking in their new camera.)
I'd love to be able to get the Nikon D800 with its better sensor, so am hoping that you can tell me that I'm all wrong and that what I've read about manual focus being unsatisfactory with the D800 is not so.
But since the D800 is apparently so bad at manual focusing, and Nikon seems not to be listening, I suspect that my next digital camera will be a full frame high resolution mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with high quality electronic viewfinder featuring magnification and focus peaking for manual focus with an adapter to attach my Nikon mount lenses – instead of a Nikon DSLR. (Hopefully besides mirrorless, also with a fully electronic shutter so there is nothing left in the camera to cause vibration.)
I find it inexplicable that Nikon laudably continues to maintain lens mount compatibility after fifty years and 60 million Nikon lenses manufactured, and still sells AI-S lenses, but yet it seems has now dropped the ball when it comes to being able to tell if a manual lens is in focus on the D800. Say it isn't so!
(Background: Since I'm not photographing things in motion, I've always thought that it was easier to manually focus than to fight with an autofocus mechanism over what to focus on. After using half-frame 35mm as a kid, as an adult I refused to compromise again on small film/sensor size so progressed from a Nikon F in 1965, to EL-Nikkormat in 1972, to a wonderful Nikon D700 four only years ago. The only two actually significant advances for me over more than a half century of photography (aside from improved film emulsions) were aperture priority metering, and full frame digital capture with auto ISO and live view. While waiting, I'm happily using my D700 while also playing with recently acquired Hasselblad 200 series and Rolleiflex medium format film cameras. All my 20, 50, and 100 year old cameras and lenses work as good as new. In contrast, I'm disinclined to invest much in modern autofocus Nikon G lenses because their lack of aperture rings limits their use to Nikon bodies only (so they won't be able to live on like Leica R or Contax C/Y lenses) and because I expect that with plastic construction, electronics, and motors, and with Nikon's parts war on independent repairs, the AF-S lenses will break and become unrepairable only 5-7 years after each model is no longer manufactured.)
Here is a real life example of what I mean about "the AF-S lenses will break and become unrepairable only 5-7 years after each model is no longer manufactured."
"The Five Stages of the Camera Buying Process."
"Over 500 million photos are shared a day on just Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Flickr, and that number is still growing rapidly. Know any conventional cameras that integrate well with those four services?"
"Nikon Service Still Playing Impact Damage Game"
The Sony "A7R Live View makes the Nikon D800E Live View look like garbage." —Lloyd Chambers
"Besides upsetting Sigma lens compatibility ... Nikon ... firmware updates appear to kill two birds with one stone: third party battery replacements apparently don't work in the cameras, and Nikon batteries apparently don't work in third party battery grips for those cameras. ... Bad move Nikon. Bad move." —Thom Hogan
Nikon sure isn't firing on all cylinders when a top Nikon lover website's review of Nikon's latest digital SLR camera has to say FOUR TIMES that Nikon's design choices are "not the end of the world." Damning with faint praise!
Dear Santa ...
Ming Thein says: "They shot themselves in the foot. Why release a camera with pre AI lens support, but no good means to focus those lenses? Idiots. It is no easier to focus than the rest of the current Nikon DSLRs, i.e. difficult. ... most of the camera companies – Nikon, Leica and Canon especially – are so arrogant that they do whatever they please, because they can get away with it."
Congratulations to Fujifilm for creating a digital camera with well designed sensible control knobs.
Terrific articles about the current state of camera gear:
Can You Trust the Camera Makers?
Last Camera Syndrome
Too bad about the Sony A7R Shutter Vibration issue because, as others have said, "a camera that builds auto-blur into the design is not one that will go into my bag."
Nikon, please wake up.
"Some of the best manual focus lenses in the world are available for the Nikon F mount (expensive, but highly recommended):"
[Add to the above list ... ] the Zeiss 55mm f/1.4 APO-Distagon Otus and the Zeiss 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar T* ZF.2!
"I just don't understand why Nikon would have such a big hit with the D700 and then wander away from the model designation and the spirit of the product." –Mike Johnston
"the wise choice by Zeiss to continue building aperture rings into new designs for Nikon F-mount ... makes an investment in any Zeiss ZF.2 lens a long-term value no matter what camera platform is used."
"I prefer manual focus as focus will always be on what I focus on instead of the camera deciding." —Steve Huff
"There are many Zeiss lenses that look great, but without autofocus they are almost useless with the provided focus screen" of the Nikon D800E. —Larry Gebhardt
D750: Too Little, Too Late?
Another full frame Nikon DSLR, another disappointment.
Nikon, why is there still no focus screen or electronic viewfinder that will let me manually focus (with magnification when needed) on a current full frame DSLR?
Is Nikon really so petty as to cripple manual focus on all their DSLR cameras just to interfere with competition from amazing Zeiss lenses? Shame on Nikon, but this does not force me to buy Nikon lenses, instead it forces me to also not buy a newer Nikon DSLR camera body.
After 50 years of shooting Nikon cameras, guess I'll be sticking with my great Nikon D700, but just until Sony puts an electronic shutter on their A7r followup camera.
Huge missed opportunity for both of us, Nikon!
"Fifty years from now when your great grandchildren are using your Zeiss lenses, the focus will still be functioning unlike your plastic Nikon with the broken AF motor." —DaveOls
Features that ought to be standard on all higher-end cameras soon.
See focusing screens.
A suggestion to Nikon and Canon as they transition from DSLR to mirrorless using the same lens mount, is to utilize the space formerly occupied by the moving mirror to improve image quality by implementing a triple monochrome sensor design using a trichroic prism assembly. This idea has long been used for high quality video cameras and earlier for three film strip Technicolor movies.
"My Sony wishes include a vibration-free electronic first curtain shutter, 50+ megapixels, a non-lossy file format with less cooking of the raw file, in-body image stabilization, and a slightly larger and sturdier camera body for better controls (more usable with gloves and big hands)." —Lloyd Chambers
"Edward Weston used a lens he bought for $5 at a flea market."
"At a time when Nikon and Canon are constantly raising their prices and complaining about shrinking margins, they need to stop being afraid of change and start weaning their customers off of hand-assembled Rube Goldberg machines." —Lee Saxon
The answers to all your photography questions.
"Beware of the photographer with only one camera. He/she probably knows how to use it." —C. Jensen
"How to design mirrorless right."
"Why you buy/upgrade gear?"
Pathetic: "The only current Nikon software that can install on a new Mac and work correctly is…wait for it…none."
"Food for thought ... any camera with less then 50 megapixels won’t even fill the computer screen you’re likely to have in 2-3 years: an 8K display."
"Reducing the automation will help you feel more connected to the shooting experience." —Stephe
Hugely disappointing Nikon D5/D500 camera announcements today.
I don't care what incremental improvements Nikon has made to the DSLR, the missing built in electronic viewfinder is a deal breaker for me.
Despite shooting Nikon for 50 years, I'm never going to buy another Nikon body (DSLR or mirrorless) without an EVF to make perfectly accurate magnified focus with my manual lenses easy.
" ... to those who find the reproductive nuances of such Zeiss products pleasing." —Jan Cohen
Nikon has produced one hundred million lenses.
"How To Stress [or Not Stress] A Camera Lens."
"Sony overtakes Nikon for the #2 position in the U.S. full-frame interchangeable lens camera market."
Nikon's 105mm f/1.4 lens looks amazing, but I'm not going to buy any of the new Nikon "E" lenses which have electronic apertures so they are not backward Nikon F mount compatible and also cannot be readily adapted for use with other systems, such as awesome Sony mirrorless cameras. (Terrible naming choice by Nikon to reuse the "E" designation to now refer to electronic aperture control, but which previously referred to Nikon's cheap consumer lenses with manual aperture rings, and also causes confusion with the unrelated Sony mirrorless "E" lens mount.)
So Nikon has finally announced its full frame mirrorless cameras.
Wanted Nikon Z7 mirrorless full frame camera updates:
F to Z mount adapter with AI following tab*, automatic aperture stopdown lever, and motor that autofocuses manual focus lenses
Adapted AI, converted AI, AIS and AIP lenses should work just the same as they do on professional Nikon SLR's and DSLR's, with no quirks or missing capabilities*
Z mount torque sensor that can trigger automatic EVF magnification when focus ring of an adapted lens is turned
Manual focus assist using on sensor phase detection to display all the autofocus indicators, including the electronic rangefinder*
Unmagnified EVF viewing with a magnified central spot that can show an enlarged portion of the image (with the chosen area of magnification movable to anywhere in the image)*
Support for unlimited number of non-CPU lenses, with ability to enter any focal length and maximum aperture, ability to name any lens, and recording EXIF data including actual aperture*
Eye autofocus*
Pixel shift* (The expensive high resolution model, the Nikon Z7, lacks 4 exposure resolution doubling that its existing sensor shifting hardware could provide. What were they thinking?)
Autofocus and tracking at least as good as the Nikon D850 DSLR*
Real time RAW histogram*
Automatic expose to the right*
Global electronic shutter with high resolution and fast readout (on chip readout like the sensor in the Sony A9 camera), that eliminates the mechanical shutter so the camera has no moving parts
Electronic pixel shift sensor IBIS that eliminates sensor actuators so the camera has no moving parts other than its dust vibrator
Dual memory card slots*
Dials or lens rings for direct manual setting of focus, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and exposure compensation (with "A" auto setting to let the camera choose)
*Obvious stuff that Nikon should not have omitted.
Nikon could have produced full frame mirrorless cameras years ago and iterated since, as Sony did. Nikon could have gotten started by providing the Nikon D850 DSLR with electronic viewfinder live view. But not surprising, since Nikon doesn't seem to care to listen to its customers, for example, lacking any evident established way for photographers to give feedback to Nikon design engineers and management in Japan.
Nikon Z7 + FTZ adapter - wanted improvements:
Matrix metering with AI/AIS/AIP lenses
Electronic focusing aids with AI/AIS/AIP lenses, i.e., when in focus, the 'autofocus' areas change color and there is an electronic rangefinder
(Will a third-party adapter fooling the Nikon Z7 camera into thinking an AF-D lens is mounted turn on matrix metering and electronic focusing aids with AI/AIS/AIP lenses?)
Unchipped AI and AIS lenses do work, but not well, on the new Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera using the FTZ adapter, because exposure does not use matrix metering. (So expect to have to do manual exposure compensation all the time.)
A Nikon full frame DSLR will work much better than the new Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera with older AI/AIS manual focus lenses.
But a Nikon full frame DSLR won't let you use an electronic viewfinder with magnification or focus peaking to make manual focusing much easier. (This can be very important, especially for older photographers with decreased visual acuity.) The otherwise excellent Nikon D850 DSLR, for example, seems a bad choice for manual focus lenses, lacking both interchangeable focus screens, and an electronic viewfinder option.
Can someone explain the basic idea of what Nikon is doing after they decided not to include an aperture-ring AI feeler on the FTZ adapter? (It's clearly different with the ZTF from what they did in the past on consumer DSLR's that lack AI feelers, but how?)
RDMSguy summarizes Matt Granger's Nikon Z7 review video (28 minutes), Fantastic but Flawed ... 4 Flaws of the Z7:
I
• single card slot that is far too easy to bump open, thereby compromising weather-sealing
• poor buffer
• "autofocus overall is not at market leading quality"
• "lenses with FTZ adapter are usable but not going to blow your hair back"
• "there’s viewfinder lag and wobble, so it’s not like this remarkable, never-before-seen-quality viewfinder"
• crippled USB-C
• can’t fully power the camera just by USB-C.
• "Second, and this is unbelievable, you can’t charge the battery while using it. They’re completely missing the point of what USB-C has to offer."
"There are serious flaws, and I do think they are intentional. The Sony A7III has so much more, so holding that stuff back is really quite foolish."
"The more I shoot my [Nikon] Z7 the more I find it can't do. ... The weird reality is the more of a lifelong Nikon shooter you are, the more likely you are to be dissatisfied with the FTZ's lack of integral AF motor and lack of aperture-ring feeler that makes it not particularly compatible with many of our lenses that still work great on FX DSLRs." —Ken Rockwell
Followup, nine years later. Nikon never made another DSLR that I could use to visually focus my manual focus lenses, so I never did purchase another Nikon DSLR, nor did I ever purchase any more Nikon lenses.
My camera innovation wish list:
Global electronic shutter that completely eliminates the limited lifetime and vibration producing mechanical shutter. This is expected to be the natural evolution of cameras as electronics gets faster, especially with higher speed on-chip sensor readout.
Electronic on-sensor image shift to eliminate mechanical image stabilization.
Full sensor resolution image capture at video frame rates. (With assist to pick out the sharpest image from a sequence of frames, with eyes open, smile, etc.)
Automatic detection of changing focus, so that the electronic viewfinder of a mirrorless camera can magnify the image whenever the focus on a legacy mechanical lens is being changed, to make manual focusing easier. This could be done on existing cameras with only a firmware upgrade.
23mm high eyepoint viewfinder that shows a huge image, and can be used when wearing glasses without vignetting. [Like the gorgeous Fujinon binoculars.]
A 36mm x 36mm sensor for full frame with varying aspect ratio size limited to the available sharp image circle of the lens on a camera, but no need to ever hold the camera sideways. So portrait and landscape images, different aspect ratio's, square images, etc. are selectable with the camera horizontal.
Direct, non-modal control of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure compensation, focus, zoom, and white balance with knobs or rings, not menu's. (If a knob or ring is set on "A" for automatic, the camera chooses and optimizes that parameter.)
Re: Z7II vs. D700
The D700 (with x2 flip down optical magnifier and Katz Eye focus screen) which I still have is outstanding and more than met my camera needs for most of a decade. My reason for getting a Z6 when it became available was to get more viewfinder magnification to make it easier to manually focus with aging eyes.
Have been quite surprised at how few camera innovations actually mattered to me since getting a Nikon F (phototomic FTn) as a college gift from my dad in 1965 (to replace my childhood Mercury II half frame). The 1972 EL Nikkormat having aperture priority automatic metering was a huge improvement over match needle. But it took digital full frame with the D700 to be worthwhile to move forward from the EL Nikormat! (Since I'm not shooting fast moving things, I just never warmed up to fighting the camera over where to focus as being much of an improvement over manual focus.)
So primarily shooting with only four Nikon bodies in 55 years! [Not counting duplicate or triplicate film bodies to have B&W film in one and color film in another, etc., or for a stereo pair.]*
Never was able to get a D850 because of the lack of interchangeable focus screens optimized for manual focus. Similarly disappointed that the FTZ doesn't have the full compatibility with Nikon AI/AIS type lenses that the D700 has, lacking a coupling to sense the aperture. (Like my wife's tiny consumer D40 didn't have.)
I'm unlikely to buy Z lenses, no matter how great optically, because their motors and electronics are likely to fail and won't be repairable long term, and because they won't ever be adaptable to alternative camera systems. I'm very satisfied with the gorgeous manual focus glass, whether Nikon AI/AIS, Zeiss ZF, Voigtlander SL, Leitax converted Leica R, etc. (especially the apochromatic lenses) that are likely to keep working almost forever, and will adapt to just about any full frame camera system, now or in the future.
*[Eventually did acquire some other Nikon film camera bodies, i.e., F2, F3, F4, F100, just for fun, and to see what I had been missing, after people started practically giving them away when digital mostly replaced film.]
P.S. Other than infant mortality of a new EL Nikkormat body that had to be replaced in its first week (1972), and the FTn metering no longer functional, still have all of those camera bodies, and have not needed even a single Nikon camera body repair in 55 years! Impressive!
Re: Tell us WHY you shoot adapted!
I shoot adapted because over the years I've acquired many wonderful manual focus SLR lenses, especially apochromatic lenses which produce gorgeous color, that I can continue to use over the years, despite the abandonment of SLR mounts by modern mirrorless cameras. Accurate manual focus is even much easier using digital magnification with the electronic viewfinders of mirrorless cameras, which also helps compensate for decreasing visual acuity with age.
My adapted manual SLR lenses are made of metal and lack motors and electronics, so are likely to last indefinitely. The Auto micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 from 1965 and all these lenses that followed all continue to work well. The only servicing any ever needed was a few needing re-lubrication when focus got stiff when decades old. Because they were designed to accommodate the thickness of the reflex mirror, there is plenty of room to adapt them to all current and any future mirrorless mount. Remarkably, there is even sufficient room for new motorized adapters that will communicate with modern cameras to autofocus the existing manual focus lenses.
In contrast, any currently manufactured mirrorless camera lens almost certainly will be specific only to the mount it was designed for, and there won't be any room for an adapter to allow use with any different mount. This makes new lenses easy to become orphaned. Additionally, the motors for autofocus, vibration reduction, and aperture adjustment as well as the lens electronics are all likely to have limited lifetimes, and to become unrepairable due to lack of parts starting about 5 years after they are discontinued by the manufacturer. It will not even be possible to make replacement older semiconductor chips once the newer generation fabs supersede the previous technology. Camera manufacturers are refusing to sell parts, putting independent repair shops out of business, so it will not be like the old days when a repair shop would have a stock of old parts to use for repairs.
The expected limited lifespan and the lack of ability to adapt newer lenses to other camera systems, should the mirrorless system they were designed for cease production, make the new lenses an unattractive long term risk for an amateur. A multi-thousand dollar lens may be quite affordable per year it it lasts many decades, but perhaps not if it is useable for only a decade or so. Such limited lifespan modern lenses would seem only to make financial sense for professional use, being expected to wear out with continual heavy use over 5-10 years, requiring replacement anyway. I suspect that photographers are going to be shocked in future years when they discover that replacement motors and chips have become unavailable, especially to repair their incredibly expensive long telephoto lenses.
Nikon F to Z Lens Mount Adapter: "The FTZ lens mount adapter cannot automatically open and close lens diaphragms on manual focus lenses, so you manually have to open the diaphragm between shots for the most precise focus. Nikon got cheap and didn't include an aperture-ring feeler in the FTZ as in every FX DSLR, so it can't read the actual set aperture and doesn't read it in the finder, and cannot control the aperture from the camera for Program or Shutter-priority auto exposure. You could do all this — and get better Matrix metering — in 1984's Nikon FA than with this FTZ." —Ken Rockwell
For ease of using manual focus lenses on Nikon Z cameras, the electronic viewfinder should allow a central magnified circle, to allow framing and visual focusing without switching back and forth between magnified and non-magnified viewing. (This from a company that made all those different interchangeable focus screens for decades.) Also ridiculous is disabling (for no apparent reason) the in focus electronic indicators with manual focus lenses so the camera fails to signal when the it thinks the image is in focus.
Nikon has left out so many needed capabilities that frankly, using manual focus lenses isn't nearly the fun it should be, so I find myself using my iPhone instead.
On this day of January 24, 2024, the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh Computer, NikonRumors.com reported that "All Nikon F-mount products are out of production."
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