I'm impressed at how far Viltrox have come as a company. I bought a few of their LED panels a long time ago, and the company name was spelt wrong on the Amazon listing. Now they're beating Sigma and tamron at getting Z mount lenses and accessories out.
I'd like to add a few inputs here as I bought a Viltrox NF-Z a couple days ago. My glasses are as follows, Nikon 35mm f1.8 DX, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8II (non-OS), and a Sigma 150-500mm f5-6.3 coupled with a Nikon Z5 full frame MILC (I came from Nikon D7500, a DX-format DSLR that's why my setup are mostly for crop sensor cameras). Now, the 35mm f1.8 works wonderfully on DX mode, however there is no way to override to FX mode except for turning the adapter to lose its contacts, and by then you can only manual focus and you can't adjust the aperture value (unless you adjusted the aperture value WHILE maintaining contacts with the camera, AND THEN slightly turning it to lose contacts and it will maintain that aperture). Do refer to some other youtube videos for the vignette. You could get away with a 1.2x or 1.3x crop, or probably even a vignette control on post processing as the 35mm DX is one of the better performing DX lenses on FX cameras in terms of vignetting. The Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 on the other hand, although it is classified as a DC lens (Sigma equivalent of DX), you can set the framing mode to FX, albeit with the image circle so bad, it's almost artistic. Good news is, at around 15mm and higher, the image circle disappears and yes you can autofocus with this lens. The Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC version however, goes back to similar like the Nikon 35mm f1.8G DX, focuses great and functions normally on DX mode but it doesn't allow FX override unless you slightly lose the contacts and setting the aperture beforehand. On FX mode, it has image circle similar to the Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm but the worst part is, it doesn't go away as you zoom in to 50mm, nor does it minimize. It just stays there so a 1.5x crop is mandatory anyway. Sigma 50-150mm f2.8II (non-OS), now this is the worst lens to be coupled with the Viltrox NF-Z. I could say it's incompatible even but I haven't tried this lens on a crop sensor Z camera so I couldn't rule it out just yet. The only good news is that the image circle for the Sigma 50-150mm v2 is slightly larger than a standard DX/DC lenses, and you could get away cropping at around 1.3x from the original FX-mode (requires losing the contact pins) and that's about it. Because the bad thing is, it's unusable on DX-mode. As soon as it is coupled with the Viltrox NF-Z adapter, there is this patternised mechanical sound coming from the camera, and the aperture value inside the LCD keeps on registering on and off, as if it is almost trying to tell you that there's an error with the lens. After a while, the camera just gives up, and it shows an error saying 'Error. Press shutter-release button to reset.', press shutter-release, and repeat. Honestly, I'm not too much surprised, this lens couldn't even autofocus on my Nikon D7500 while on Live View mode, and sometimes it stutters to focus on my even older D3400 on normal optical viewfinder mode (almost as if you're using a Canon 24-70mm with the infamous flex cable focusing problem if you ever had one). I don't know for sure, it could be faulty flex cable, or the adapter. But this lens was announced on December 2007 which is ancients ago, so there could be some kind of feature(s) that wasn't designed in the contact pins to be compatible with current and more modern cameras. My copy of the lens doesn't even focus well, it misses focus either slightly to the rear of the subject or slightly to the front of the subject (the lens itself is well known for this issue). Last but not least, the big a*s 1.8kg Sigma 150-500mm f5-6.3 is very good, and apparently has a quieter Optical Stabilization (OS) operation compared to when using it with my D7500 DSLR. On my DSLR, it somehow activates every time shutter is half-pressed, or back button focus (if you're one of those guys using back button focus) is pressed. This is quite a big issue because every time the OS activates, the imagery kind of vibrates, ruining your shot if you released the shutter at the same time. But on the Viltrox NF-Z, this lens works wonderfully, 'nuff said. Notable mention, the Nikon AF-P 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 DX VR, functions normally as it should on DX mode. On FX override (lose contact pins), 18mm has bad image circle and a 1.5x crop is necessary, but it goes away as you zoom in to 55mm. So that is about it. In general, I find coupling my F-mount glasses to the Viltrox NF-Z to be a bit tighter than it normally would on my DSLRs, especially on my Sigma 150-500mm. Also, the adapter has an extra 'play' after the mount clicked, it can rotate just enough to lose the contact pins, helping you to override to FX mode. But alas, it does what it does, which is mounting an F-mount lens to a Z camera. Gosh, this is such a storybook, maybe I should make a video out of these reviews. Sincerely, I hope this helps you.
I had been looking for any information on whether or not DX crop could be avoided with this adapter, thanks for testing and sharing the results! It’s a shame it doesn’t, but not too shocking
I can confirm that it works with the Tamron 90mm F2.8 SP Macro. The lens is not focusing with the Nikon FTZ II but does with the Viltrox NF-Z. Good job Viltrox.
Thanks for the review. I've really liked Viltrox offerings for Nikon Z, but I think VILTROX MISSED THE BUS HERE... If they offered this with a drop in filter option it would sell like hotcakes. Maybe they'll see my commend t and come up with a version II with drop in filters 🙂
I have both Nikon and viltrox I think the viltrox switch on the side is for on off auto focus . May be it's a on off button . I use mine on the Tamron 150-600 g2. It seems to work great. I used a old Tamron 20-40 it worked so I am not sure about the list. I have ordered the Tamron updater to reset up date the 150-600 g2.The Nikon one got cheap so it's a spare . I got the viltrox 13 mm have no worries recommending those two items waiting for my converters for marcio. The Nikon two times converter to f mount did not work the 150 - 600 would not fit the f mount for so I have ordered the Tamron 2x converter for f mount . Hope this helps because the problem is Nikon and Tamron 2 X converter requires research.
Hello!! I just bought a new z5 and I have 2 sigmas art 35mm and 24mm. It would work the Viltrox adapter?. The autofocus works too with sigma? Greetings from Mexico!
Hello, do you know if the viltrox adapter works with a tamron 150-600 g1 lens with autofocus? I have the FTZ and it doesn't work with autofocus, only with manual focus. Thank you
@@BarryMountford Ah bugger, I'm still trying to find a way to get it to full frame mode and still be able to autofocus. So annoying as used to be able to do it with my d850
@@airjaff Try losing the contact pins ever so slightly. Demount and rotate just a little bit, only to lose the contacts. You can still use your DX lens on full frame mode, albeit only on manual focus and no way to control the aperture unless you mount it again properly, set your desired aperture, and the demounting it slightly again.