Bill McKenna

I've been considering getting a Nikon Z body (Z6ii or Z9) and I've read conflicting opinions regarding how much you "lose" when using F mount lenses on Z bodies (obviously with the adapter). Can anyone who has used both F mount and Z mount lenses on Z bodies weigh in on whether they are seeing any difference in the quality of their images. What are any other issues to be aware of? Thanks for the help. Bill

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

I haven’t noticed any image quality degradation.

ricosha Loc: Phoenix, Arizona

I'm following

Robertl594 Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket

I have many. The only ones I have used on my Z9 are the 200mm f/2.0 and the Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art. I see no degradation in image quality or speed. This has been MY experience. HOWEVER, I have also purchased the Z lenses as I think that since they have been designed for the Z mirrorless format, they are a bit more optimized for that format. To my eye, I cannot see a difference however. There is the size of the FTZ to consider.

If you have a lot of F glass. I see no reason why you need to change those for Z glass. You would have to be doing some pretty major pixel peeping to see the difference, not sure you will be able to.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

I think the biggest issue using F mount lenses on a Z body is that they are noticeably bigger and heavier, in addition to the need for an FTZ adapter, and may not balance as well as native Z lenses on the smaller lighter Z bodies. Many of the new Z lenses are also said to perform better than their F mount counterparts, but F mount lenses should all work as well on a Z body as they did when mounted on a DSLR.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

How could you "lose" anything, at least, optically? The legacy F-mount covers 60+ years, spanning from before auto-focus, through kluged solutions with the body provided the AF motor, to modern and fully electronic solutions with the focus motor in the lens. The only 'risk' is whether you own some of the kluged solutions, dependent upon a focus motor in the SLR/DSLR body, something that is not provided by the FTZ adapter (literally: F to Z). You do 'gain' a bit more size and weight with the additional equipment between the lens and body. The full-frame AF-S lenses should all perform exactly the same, if not better, due to improved AF capabilities of the Z-bodies.

For higher resolution cameras like the 45MP Z7 types, there may be issues about the optical quality of the lens, something first observed with the jump to 36MP of the D800. Depending on your lens(es) and experience with these higher resolution sensors / bodies, you may or may not have already swapped out the weaker lens(es) in your legacy herd. But, for 24MP mirrorless bodies, again, the F-mount lenses should be just as good, if not better.

ricardo00

I bought a Z9 and primarily used F mount lenses until recently (was waiting for a Z mount lens that would be an improvement over my F mount glass) and can say that, if anything, the F mount glass worked better on the Z9 (faster focus) than on my D500. Just curious why do you want to get a mirrorless Nikon? Maybe you should wait till the Z8 is released?

Bill McKenna

I'm shooting a lot of plays lately, and the actors don't like hearing the shutter going off on my D6 and/or D850. I shot my last play with a rented Z6ii and was very happy with the results (using my F mount lenses). I could keep renting the Z camera body, but it might just be easier to buy a Z camera.

niteman3d Loc: South Central Pennsylvania, USA

Maybe I missed this or it doesn't apply, but you don't mention what you're coming from... FX or DX? Point is that if my understanding is correct, full frame Z bodies automatically switch to DX mode when a DX lens is mounted and that halves your megapixels, so the Z5 or Z6 will yield 10 megapixels which I'm guessing *will* change image quality to some degree? Also mentioned by Paul is the fact that there are compatibility issues with certain F-mount lenses and the FTX converter. Example, my early version of the Tamron 18-400 does not connect the electronics whereas the later versions of the same lens supposedly do work (on my Z50, I'm waiting to see if the Z8 release lowers the price of the Z7II).

Bill McKenna

I'm shooting FX with my D6 and D850, and all my lenses are newer F mounts.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Given two FX bodies already, neither 'out of date', you do need to ask: what am I buying in a new mirrorless camera?

Another FX 24MP body?
Another FX 45MP body?

There are process improvements of mirrorless, and AF tracking differences, especially something like the Z9. But, the real visual differences are the native mirrorless lenses, not legacy F-mount lenses in front of a mirrorless sensor.

Bill McKenna

Thanks.

ricardo00

Sounds like the Z9 might be right then. I think the glass you have would work fine. There might even be used ones that you can pick up for a decent price now that the Z8 will shortly be announced if you are willing to go for used ones.

therwol Loc: USA

I know nothing about the D6, but the D850 has a "silent" mode where an electronic shutter is used in the Live View mode. The only drawback is not having a viewfinder in that mode. Someone behind you in a theater may not like having the rear screen of the camera in front of them. Same problem with cell phone cameras, of course.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

I also straddle the F- and Z- mount divide. As has been stated, you lose nothing optically ny using F- mount lenses on Z bodies. In fact, with the increased focus points with mirrorless, you gain even with the « older » lenses.

The benefits of mirrorless are tangible, but may or may not be relevant for your shooting. As a birder, I appreciate the 20 FPS of the Z9. I like the ability to see my exposure and histogram before taking the shot. I like IBIS, and silent shooting. None of these are optical issues. My favorite lens is the 500mm PF, even with the FTZ and sometimes a TC. I recently acquired the Z 100-400, primarily because it weighed less thsn the AF-S 80-400. Again, not an optical issue.

Good luck with your shooting!