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Forums > Back > I rejoin the system 16 years later...
#1
Lightbulb 
Once upon a time, when I was working at a newspaper in St. Pete's - to be precise, just starting there on what ended up to be a 10 years' journey - I was given my first taste of "proper" cameras, DSLRs of course, by using the Nikon D70 the paper owned. The lenses were lousy: the Sigma 18-50/3.5-5.6 and the truly mediocre 28-300; then, the Nikon 24-85/2.8-4 which was better but still pretty unremarkable.

A short while later, in March 2006, I bought my first DSLR, the Minolta Dynax 7D, but my run with that system was also short, until April 2007 when I switched to Canon, and have been using the system in various shapes for 15+ years. The most remarkable and consistent items in the pack were, in order of appearance, were the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS (bought in June 2008), the Sigma 14mm f/2.8 HSM, and then the 16-35/4 L IS lens and the 1D Mark IV camera, all of which are in use today.

Lately, however, I've gotten the itch to upgrade again. And while the financial situation has not been too rosy, somehow I set my sights at the topmost target... One not in my "brand of choice", to boot. And got through with it in the end.

Enter... Nikon Z9.

The plan is to use it with all the Canon optics I have, and alongside the 1D Mark IV. The second camera I've had, the Canon 80D, will sadly have to go, probably. But with today's inter-adaptability, I think I'll make due just fine, especially since the first tests done with the Z9 + Fringer adapter + Canon 16-35/4 lens have been very encouraging.

The rotation direction will be a thing to keep an eye on, however. Smile

EDIT: I've tested most of my lenses upon returning to St. Pete's (and of course the first to be mounted on the new camera was the EF 24-85/3.5-4.5, what else). The first negative surprise is that the old Sigma 14mm f/2.8 doesn't work, at least not stopped down - something makes a few pained noises, but there's no shot. Guess its provenance as the Sigma film lens from the 90s has finally caught up to it. Wide open, it works, if the wide open pictures from this lens are to be considered "working". Bummer... at this rate, I might let this lens go if anyone'll have it, because what's the point of the 14mm lens when you can't use it on the format that gives the widest coverage? I might just as well use the 16-35 on the Z9...

EDIT2: Alright, there'll be clemency for the Sigma... turns out the adapter was not running the latest firmware, and updating it to 1.70 has resolved the issue.
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#2
Z9 .... nice ... albeit brutally big.
Chief Editor - opticallimits.com

Doing all things Canon, MFT, Sony and Fuji
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#3
Not that large in my mind since I've been using Canon 1D series cameras for ages. I have to admit that Z9 seems to fall a little short in the robustness department compared to the Canons. And not because of the articulating screen which is a pretty odd construction.
[Image: IMG_6797.JPG]
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#4
Yep, similar here. For someone used to 1D-series cameras or the 1-digit Nikons, the Z cameras below the Z9 literally lack some grip.
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#5
Guess I can even follow in your footsteps, Markus, and do some testing because finally I have not just an FF body, but a high-res one to boot (the 22-25MB JPEG files are something to watch out for, LOL, and I can't understand what to do with the few NEFs the camera has produced before I realized that I should've checked the default quality settings...)
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#6
Oh, wow, now I get it: you already have the Z9? Congrats! I am sincerely jealous now Wink

Carelessly reading your post yesterday I somehow interpreted you tried one with your lenses.

Well, regarding testing, I think I "warned" you already in the past: don't underestimate the amount of time and effort it takes Wink

Yeah, those NEFs are awefully big. The Z7 NEFs I produce for the MTF analysis (also those with the D850) made me upgrade my NAS this spring to somehow archive all that data.
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#7
Yeah, I emptied all the stockings and cereal boxes where I stored my "savings", got deep in debt and sprung for a Z9, the Fringer EF-NZ adapter and the card. Finding a small~ish card was the most troublesome. Smile And I had to get a 120GB one in the end.

Maybe I will test it in "combat" tomorrow. There appears to be a difficult shoot in pitch darkness... right what the doctor ordered.
So far, I've tried all my lenses, and even one I just have access to. The Tamron 70-300/4-5.6 either has defective VC, or just freaks out, so switching off VC and relying on IBIS yielded the best results. Canon 16-35/4, 24-85, 70-200/2.8 IS mk.1, 100-400 mk.1, 24/1.4 II, Tamrons 45 and 85 all worked well. Sigma 14/2.8 HSM required the adapter firmware to be upgraded. I'll keep trying various lenses anyone around me has to see how well they work.

Guess I'll get a native lens (I have set my sights on the 24-120/4) sometime down the track, but only after I cover all the debts incurred by this purchase.
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#8
My worry is that you are exploiting only a tiny bit of Z9 potential with lenses used through adapter, you will see yourself moving to native mount soon
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#9
(11-14-2022, 02:58 PM)toni-a Wrote: My worry is that you are exploiting only a tiny bit of Z9 potential with lenses used through adapter, you will see yourself moving to native mount soon

Why is that? The AF is very fast and seemingly precise. Of course the proof will be in the action, but hopefully I'll have the opportunity for testing soon.

And no, I don't intend to switch all my lenses to the native mount - I intend to keep the 1D as well. Besides, it would take another huge investment of money I simply don't have now, and hardly will in the next couple of years. Some of my Canon gear is unsellable anyway because it's so worn and old (at least three of the lenses, anyway - the 14, the 70-200, the 100-400).
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#10
(11-14-2022, 12:45 PM)Rover Wrote: Guess I'll get a native lens (I have set my sights on the 24-120/4) sometime down the track, but only after I cover all the debts incurred by this purchase.

Well, I guess that means I should finally get my act together and publish some reviews for you to read Wink

Regarding the Tamron 70-300 VC: not sure if this is the reason, but the Nikon version of that lens does not work with the FTZ adapter due to firmware issues. The newer version of the lens, that was officially only sold in Japan (A030) does work, though. Same issue with most f/2.8 Tamron zooms: the G1 versions do not work (at least not reliably), the G2 versions do.

It's maybe a bit more complicated with the fringer adapter, though.
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