NIKON Zf + Adapted F Mount Lenses 🤯 OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE! 

i get happy every time Matt brings out the old NIPPON KOGAKU 50mm lens. love the vintage glass.

This is the test I’ve been waiting for. Finally confirmed that F lenses and FTZ adapter work super well.

Glad to see a video with some actual visuals and indication of the performance with F glass. Waiting to receive my own Zf soon and given my legacy collection of F-mount stuff, seeing it work so well is very reassuring. I have a 24-70 that's been with me for nearly a decade and I absolutely love the 85 1.4 for portraits, but getting it to behave has always been a bit of an issue. The fact I could also get decent results from my 50 1.2 AIS and a 24 2.8 AIS that I could swap that over to an FE2 for film is just more kit flexibility to look forward to.

Big shout out to Matt for this video, cant thank enough. I am just waiting for my new Zf and I already have my fare share of F mounts. Really glad you kept the real visual from the lens as well.

Great review. I bought the Z mount version recently and love every minute of shooting with it.

Very cool Nikon ZF and a large range of F-Mount lenses and you got really good images and video of beautiful Felicia with a wonderful smile. Great video.

Despite the size, interesting to see how those F mount lenses performed. Thanks for dropping this one.

Great comparison Matt. As someone who has gone back to the future into the Nikon pre-mirrorless system it's really useful to see how the lenses perform with the FTZ adapter.

Thank you, good test. Were there some cases where it showed a sharp af square on the display but the shot was unsharp?

For using manual lenses on the Zf there's in my opinion even a more useful option called "focus confirmation". It will change the color of the AF point to green in case the focus is correct. It works great, reliably and quickly. The only issue is that it works only with lenses with electrical contacts. That means nor with for example a Minolta Rokkor 58mm f1.2 PG.

Thank you for the great video. Would you mind telling me what hood you had on the 105/f1.4e in your test? Much appreciated.

Great video about all this lenses.

enjoyed the video, I got a ZF 2 weeks ago. so far so good. bought if with the 24-70 kit lens.

I wound up cancelling my Nikon order and getting a black Nikon ZF from a dealer that had them in stock and now have mine. Cheers!

I have a 50 1.4 S too! In the late 60s, my father bought a whole Nikon kit when he visited Japan. I still have all his gear.

Excellent video, great info.......the 105 E......WOW!! Cheers

I didn’t know how much I needed this video to make my purchase decision. Thank you!

They seem to track pretty well for stills. Would these work well adapted to video also?

What screen recorder are you using? Thanks

Great test, Tx

Question: can I stack adapters to use A mount Minolta lens to E mount and then E to Z mount?

Great test of these adapted lens! Tried my buddy's Zf with the adapted Leica 50 f1.0 by Voigtlander and love that it has the subject detection and grabs the eyes when focusing. I've been using my Voigtlander 58 1.4 and 40 f2 with the FTZ adapter on my Z8 and really like the results. I sold the 40 for the Z mount f1.2 version, I can't wait to get that MF subject tracking on the Z8. I've always liked the 105 f1.4 and 85 1.4, I had 2 85 1.8 , the D and the G which I got refurb from Nikon but, never got a chance to use it before selling all my Nikon f mount lens. Good to know these work well on the Zf.

Great content .I got a lot of MF and AIS lens may I know which ZF camera to get? Thanks a lot

Great review, Matt, but also one has to mention that Felicia is a very beautiful model and moves absolutely professionally. Kudos to Felicia for the great work!

I LOVE this video! This is what has been missing until now. FWIW, I assume the Viltrox honed in on the chin due to the presence/contrast with the mole. Thanks Matt!

Nice to have some good news for Nikon aficionados today that the future showed it's face. Thanks for doing the tests.

The 200mm f2.0 performs in such an admirable way (AF we know about the quality). It's just amazing.

I have a question that you can help me with, I have a Nikon D810 and I can't get the flash to syn. Do I have something set wrong in my camera? Reply

Ive been stuck with a d5100 and thinking of upgrading to the zf with the ftz ii. I have some f lenses with a backfocus issue. Will this camera correct for it?

Hi Matt. I would like to ask you if you have any experience using Z cameras with Leica M lenses. Is it worth the extra cost, or you can achieve the same quality with Z lenses? Thanks

wow, the 50-1.4 works..cool. i have the same lens, got great low light shots whilst in Shangai, actually that was the best part of being in Shanghai!! this vid was by far one of your greats. thanks Matt !!!

Thank you so much Matt for this breakdown :) Exactly what i wanted and it seems some others as well hehe. And i was SO happy to see that you felt the 58 G as well as the 105 F1,4 worked so well, two of my favorite lenses too, so looking forward to trying those on if i indeed now get the Zf in the end. It was also great seeing how they looked on the camera and with the adapter, and hearing you adress how it felt on some occasions to get an idea of what to expect later. I still wish they could have at least made that adapter a little smaller in some way, just for the aesthetics if nothing else , but hey, im happy they work well at least if i need to use them. I think im more inclined to use it with maybe the Z 40mm SE lens or the native 28 if i need af most of the time, but pairing it wit M lenses or M42 lenses etc for the manual goodness and fun, and those adapters looks to be smaller as well. Fun times! :) /regards Martin.

Why my viltrox lens is not connecting with z f not showing f stop

It's really cool that the new cameras finally seem to work well with old f-glass. I know that the newer Z-mount lenses are in many ways superior, but somehow I often prefer the look of pictures taken with their f predecessors.

I appreciate it for including the 70-200 F2.8. If your 70-200 f2.8 FL ED works well then I guess my 70-200 f2.8 VR 1 will have no problem too. I'm still thinking if I should get the Z6ii or Zf.

Hello Matt Once again I end watching this video saying to myself that NO I won’t sell my 105 f/1.4 nor my 200 f/2 VRii You are the one who made me discover these two beasts of lenses and even if I have switch to mirror less cameras in the L mount alliance and Leica AO lenses, I still keep these jewels in case of I come back to Nikon … and the Zf might be the camera that makes me love the Nikon mirror less cameras I love my Df and I find the Zf so nice too.

Any idea why Nikon is still not allowing you to switch off DX crop mode for DX lenses? I just saw what the 8-15 does in the wide end, so the image circle being so small shouldn't be a problem (an argument I've heard before). Some DX lenses do cover the whole frame (with some vignetting) and I think an FX shot with the vignetting will be more versatile than a shot forcefully cropped to DX.

Has anyone done a video on how to shoot slo-mo with the ZF and new firmware?

My Viltrox F to Z adapter gets a little stuck when unmounting. Seeing your lens with the same issue, I am guessing their manufacturing tollerence may not be exact.

I wish you would test the megadap etz21 pro with z8 with sony autofocus lenses to see if it’s possible for easier swap to nikon with it

I don't see purchasing this camera body anytime soon but it's nice to know that it will work well with the lenses I currently own. I love how at the 12 minute mark on, the model tried to put the rear lens cap on. She was twisting it "righty tighty" and it wasn't working. She figured it out though! Thank you That Nikon Guy!

I like it when zoomed in peaking is still working, me old M50 once u zoomed in there is no peaking.

Great video Matt. I was wondering what adapter are you using in this video? Thank you in advance!

I have the Zf and it’s Amazing! Got the adaptar to use my f mount Nikon lenses.One of my fav lens is the Nikon 180mm 2.8 AF and I always get that WOW factor when viewing photos taken with that 180mm regardless which camera I use. But going back to the point of using f mount lenses I’ve been getting amazing results with my Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 the first edition.

Thanks for doing the 200-500! Now you’ve really tempted me. I’ve got so much F glass.

Thank you so much for another great review! I really wished that Nikon would adopt the same split focus screen that the Fuji XT line up has (since the X-T1 to the latest versions). It makes manual focusing a lot easier. One box shows your the entire frame and the smaller box shows you a zoomed in version of the focus point.

I would like to know how my 1970's Nikon 500mm mirror lens will work on these modern mirrorless cameras. I also have a Celestron C90 mirror lens in universal screw mount with a Nikon adaptor. Which is 1,000mm. But I need my rock-solid tripod and self-timer.

As someone who owns and uses more than 100 manual focus lenses, I really like the fact the Nikon still has eye focus. I'm pretty sure my Sony A7 IV doesn't do this. So for me, I would be very tempted to buy this Nikon Zf just for vintage lenses. Cool review Matt.

I use the 58mm f1.4 on my Z7 and it work’s brilliantly, although I often stop down to f2.2 to get really sharp results.

Awesome & Thanks :)

I don't plan on getting the Zf anytime soon being that I am back re-discovering Nikon DSLRs after being away for a decade, but when the time does come the Zf is my top choice for mirrorless, plus it will sit beautifully camouflaged in my collection of Nikon FEs. It is great to see that my favorite F lenses are ranking excellent on the Zf which only makes my future purchase easier. Thank You!

Thanx!

Thanks again for the look at the Nikon Zf. (fun camera). I'm hoping that Nikon will add/enable the manual focus assists (subject detection) in Manual Focus Mode for the Z8/Z9 with it's next firmware update.Off topic, but interesting: New Sony a9iii looks like a fairly expensive - but ground breaking - addition with the first global shutter.

12:37 why does it sounds like Dankeschön German word for thank you haha I love it

I just hope Nikon bring out a new Z6 and Z7 with the same if not better autofocus performance.

As the 75 1.2 relates to kind a similar 105 1.4. Would you say the viltrox would b e a good replacement for the 105 for a fraction of the price?

Woohoo, first one here! The ZF has become my dream camera. 😍

i just orderd one today with the 40mm2.0 i own the z50 and a old d300s its my first Fullframe Camera

Are the lenses that can be used with the FTZ as sharp on the Zf as when using them with my DSLR?

Excellent Video! this helps me in deciding to go fpr Zf instead D850 @ getting immediately into Mirrorless Realm instead of staying in DSLR for time being. Thank You Matt

I bought (and have) the Zf to replace and upgrade from my D7100. Bought the 50mm 1.8 S , Z lens and LOVING it. I'm adapting my Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 G2 and once I updated the firmware to V2 it works WONDERFULLY well. Both lens just look a little silly looking modern on the FM2 styled body, but I'm really happy with it

FTZIII better have the AF screw for AF-D lenses. I was thinking of selling my old glass but some third party just released an F to Sony FE adapter that has the screw drive so there is still hope for my beloved AF-D lenses.

May I check if there is any F to Z autofocus adapter available in the market currently? The only closest ones I can find is Techart PRO (TZM-02) and Megadap (MTZ11)Leica M to Nikon Z Autofocus Adapter.

With really old school manual focus lenses a good thing to have would be to get different colored focus peaking for the eyes which light up only when they are in focus. That would help to not have to zoom in 100% everytime.

Nice, why don'y you use the smallrig grip for those bigger lenses?

Ordered one of these from Nikon and they have yet to fill my order! They do not have them in stock! What a bummer when you have money to spend, and you cannot spend it!

Fantastic video Matt❤ Can we consider the scores you gave for F mount lenses using on a ZF , will be same if you used those with Z9? Or will the scores be more using with a Z9? Your views please 😊

I have a Sigma Art 135mm f1.8 with F-mount I used, as my favorite portret lens, originally on my D850, then with FTZ on my Z7II, and now on my new Zf. On my D850 it didn't have the fastest AF but it was ok.On my Z7II, the AF was struggling and unreliable, but now on my ZF, it works like a breeze. Even much better than on my D850.

In Germany the 14-24 2.8 was at the time for many photographers THE reasson to move to Nikon!!! A legend at its time!

0:21 gorgeous modelling work. The girl next to the model also does pretty well.

Too bad some of mine were not testet :-) Nikkor 105 2,5, Voigtländer manual 58 1.4 but a great video Matt!!

Are you a back button focus guy, Matt? I’m finding with the ergonomics of the Zf that it is a bit more difficult to use that button to focus, how I normally do. Absolutely amazing camera though!!

Wait, they make auto focus now?

Imagine The next 200 F2 z to be plena line with 11 bladed aperture, now that would be something.

Hi Matt! I am a portrait photographer. I own the Z6 and have enjoyed working with it for the past 6 years . I am about to get a new cam body, should I go with the Zf or Z7ii ? Unfortunately can’t buy a Z8 or Z9 .

doesn't an adapter lose an F stop?

Why does Nikon not make an FTZ with a built in focus motor to focus AF & AF-D screw drive lenses? It's the one thing putting me off of migrating. I'm still tempted to get a D780 instead.

Matt, very nice and productive exercise, especially for those people who own bunch of F mount Nikon lenses and willing to go for Z mount mirrorless body. On similar lines, I have one request. Recently Nikon released its highly anticipated Z6iii claiming outperforming camera with its partially stacked sensor. Can you do similar exercise (as per your time convenience) of testing F mount lenses performance on ‘Nikon Z6 III’? More precisely VIDEO features. Lots of people like me, not confident to guess ‘how our bunch of F mount lenses work on Z6 III for video? and lingering on the fence. It will help a lot for people to make the decision. Thank you once again.

Great information Thanks! This camera is the most compelling reason yet for Nikon to introduce an FTZ adapter with a screw drive for the millions of excellent old D lenses. I just do not understand what is holding Nikon (or some 3rd party) from doing that.

I use my own custom picture control presets of NX studio and upload them to my cameras. Does anybody know if the dedicated black and white switch on the Zf can be programmed to a custom preset rather than just the monochrome

thanks for doing this matt. legacy lenses and the Zf are part of the nostalgia the camera is made for. I wish they produced a retro AIS-Z or maybe ZAIS line of lenses. I think (hope) the retro line of Z cameras is here to stay. I shoot my 28-70 and 80-200 AF-S ED lenses on the Zf and have been very impressed with the results. I agree that the F mount small primes sort of lose their appeal a bit due to the added length of the FTZ. I actually prefer to shoot my Leica M mount 35/50/90 combo as the adapter length is minuscule.

Hey Matt, why don't you test out the PRONTO z mount auto focus adapter, would be awesome seeing these old lenses in video.

The ZF has to be the most enjoyable camera I've ever used !!

I'm thinking of ditching my Fuji XH2-S in favour of this camera for stills and the Sigma FP for video... Nikon absolutely nailed it!

I’ve bought one and a plena after your reviews - Nikon should send you a commission check - but I’ve found the body’s egos quite challenging. It’s so heavy and slippery I’m afraid of dropping it. For the first time ever - decades of shooting - I’m considering a camera strap! I’ll be looking to see if there’s a add-on grip for it. I should reward you - since I’ve been shamelessly taking value from your videos for 5 years or so - so I’ll look for your Nikon guide book. Cheers…

The Nikon 105mm f/1.4E is a wonderful lens.

Will the first FTZ work with thold lenses or just the FTZ II?

Is that a zelos watch?

Good to know the older DSLR lenses work so well! Definetly going to get a Zf in the near future. Felicia is such a doll! I need to move to Asia LOL

I just got z6ii and use ftz on my nikon is really not bad but cant compare to Sony

Sadly does not focus automatically with Af with mechanical link

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

The younger shooters like to hold the camera out at arms length and use the back LCD, holding the camera with both hands and not supporting the lens, and then complain about the ergonomics.

Hopefully if we do end up getting Z6 and Z7 cameras (or just any future Z cameras in general) they put an articulating screen on them. I do like the screen on the Z8 and Z9 since it doesn't fold outwards (risk of breaking off is my fear if bumped or something) but even that type of design work be fine too. But I would like to see them at least put articulating/flipping screens on their cameras moving forward (seeing that Canon has been doing this on even their cheapest of cameras for probably at least the past 10 years where as it's been a hit or miss with NIkon). That's one thing that sold me on the Z8 was the tilting screen in portrait mode which is helpful when shooting low (was always an annoyance on the Z6 and Z7). I do find it a little odd/funny that the Viltrox would cause the camera to not lock onto the eye but rather just the chin as i would think that eye/face detect would be mostly on the camera to determine what is an eye and what is a chin, etc. Unless this is due to lag by the lens changing focus, but even when you were using manual focus lenses, it still found those parts of the body (eye/face) so I'm a bit puzzled by this but again as mentioned, it could be the lens itself (as it seems) and this is one area where I sort of am concerned about Viltrox lenses (being that they likely reverse-engineered the AF routines and so they may not be as accurate -- obviously -- or fast as the Nikon ones). I imagine for non-moving subjects or just shooting things other than people (say landscape etc) then the Viltrox will probably be OK. That all being said ,I'm glad you tested the 35mm Viltrox as I was considering this lens as a cheaper alternative to the Z, but I think at this point, I'll just wait for a sale on the Z version and get that. It will be about $250 or $300 more but in the end, may just be a better shooting experience overall. Regarding the Zf, I'm holding off for now. I sold my Z6 II and put that money towards a Z8, and while retro camera was something I had considered when the Zfc came out, I've thought about it more and I really don't "need" the Zf. Maybe if they start coming up on the refurbished lists from Nikon for ~$1500 or maybe in a year or two I might consider buyying one one (or if I retire my Z7 II at some point and don't feel like replacing it with a 45MP body, then I might get a Zf to take its place but that is not likely any time soon). But it is nice to know that the Zf does exist and it performs quite well for the price and that it is going to be around for the foreseeable future. (Unfortunatley my Z6 II had developed some issues right outside of warranty and after about the third one, I decided to just sell it rather than risk having more issues -- had a few issues with the AF-ON button not registering being pressed, and it started to develop hot pixels quite often -- almost every shoot I was doing, so that was concerning as well and not even long exposures but just normal higher ISO images so that had me concerned -- something that hasn't happened on any other bodies I own).

Imagine if we could remove the "prism" from the body and have a small display like in the F3 style... A Nikon Z-HE :D

I'm going back to Nikon.

model is good ,i like she.thank you

It's funny, I tried the ftz adapter to use my favorite Nikkor lenses on my Z body, and none of them fully worked. However, I acquired a ziess Batis 18mm in E mount, which with the new Megadap adapter, does work 100% on the Z and is half the size of the Nikon Z S 20mm that I had and much much sharper than the nikkor 14mm aspherical prime. So since I have the adapter, and it's only 2mm thick, I'm now in the weird position of looking at adapting lenses made for Cannons to my Nikon... BIZARRO WORLD

The flow with this camera is it is not a DF

Handled the Zf at my local store yesterday. For me, the ergonomics are a disaster. Simply not enough to hold onto, Smallrig grip notwithstanding. The flippy screen feels fragile. I'm sticking with my Z5 for now.