Awesome! I see you put the little spirit levels in your hotflash shoes, me too! It keeps the contacts clean and if you put the camera on the tripod it makes leveling a snap! You can't go wrong, you can get 5 for under $10 on Ebay!
Post your latest purchases.
- Thread starter 87mstng
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Awesome! I see you put the little spirit levels in your hotflash shoes, me too! It keeps the contacts clean and if you put the camera on the tripod it makes leveling a snap! You can't go wrong, you can get 5 for under $10 on Ebay!
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
Been sleeping horribly lately. Had a dream last night that I couldn't sleep so I started browsing the Adorama site and bought a Z6 with lens and FTZ adapter. Woke up, had coffee and checked my email and I have a tracking number from Adorama. So, apparently I sleep bought a new camera :hurt:
Danno
Senior Member
I had a friend that "drink bought" a Harley chopper with a springer front end. Beautiful bike at 50 feet... Unsafe at any speed:unconscious:
You will need to let us know if it gets delivered... LOL...I think you will be much happier with the Z camera than my buddy with the chopper..
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
Camera showed up today in a 12#(!) box from Adorama. Got the Z6, (the old one) 24-70, FTZ, 64GB XQD, XQD reader, Rode mic, a couple extra batts and other bits and bobs. Only had a few minutes at lunch to play around with it, but I can already tell this was the best accidental purchase I've ever made! Several things I need to change in the menu and get familiar with the new layout. Its not completely different than what I am used to, but different enough to throw me off. Took me a bit to find the AF mode and still cant find live view but I really like the EVF! Saved a bunch of moolah going this route rather than acquiring the necessities piece by piece. I have been second guessing myself the last couple days, the thoughts of returning it, the thoughts of going with the Z5, but I will be keeping this fantastic camera. That unfortunately means I must make the difficult decision on what camera needs to go, the D7500 or the D800 or both and which lenses also must go.
Danno
Senior Member
Congrats on the Z6. You will love it. I would recommend Steve Perry's book if you want to get a handle on the focus system. I would stay away from most of the other popular YouTube folks. They do not really use the camera and do not know the best settings. Hudson Henry is a great YouTube resource. He uses the cameras for stills and videos. Congrats!
Bikerbrent
Senior Member
Did you get an adapter to allow you to use your FX lens on the Z6? If so, I would keep the FX lenses. If you don't have the adapter, I would get one. I would also recommend that you keep the D7500 and Sigma C 150-600 lens for wild life photography as the extra reach of this body and lens combination would be nice to have.
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
Thanks Brent. Yup, I got the FTZ adapter and am very impressed with the results I can get using any of my FX lens. Even the old screw drive lenses, if they're sharp lenses, they work well with this system. My only gripe is how the camera automatically chooses DX if you mount a DX lens. I have a Tokina 11-16 f2.8 DX lens thats a perfect 16mm prime on my D800 shot in FX mode. But as soon as you mount it on the Z6, there is no way to over ride the camera to force it to shoot in FX mode like I could on the D800. My other wide angle lens is the V1 Tamron 15-30 f2.8 but it doesn't focus using the FTZ adapter. Very pleased with the Z6 though and will just have to start saving my pennies for a new wide lens.
Are you considering a mirrorless lens or a DSLR lens? I've been following some real estate photographers - one of them named Nathan Cool recommends this Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 lens. Considering its price for a fast lens (regularly $699 but on sale for $599), it looks to be pretty darned good. However, I don't know if Tokina lenses are compatible with the mirrorless adapter.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1458862-REG/tokina_opr_af168fxn_opera_16_28mm_f_2_8_ff.html
Bikerbrent
Senior Member
Have you contacted Tamron to see why the 15-30 is not working with the FTZ adapter? Perhaps it just needs an update to operate correctly.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
Why would it NOT be? Tokina's Nikon mount is strictly a mechanical/electrical connection. It doesn't use internal software like Tamron or Sigma. IOW, it appears to the adapter the same as any other Nikon F mount lens.
Because he mentioned his Tamron won't focus with the adapter....
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
I sent Tokina an email... Tokina, in case you're not aware is head and shoulders in quality above anything Tamron makes... JMHO 
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
There are charts all over the internet stating which lenses work and which dont work with the FTZ adapter. The Tamron lens I have is the V1. They (Nikon) killed off the V1 lenses for use on the mirrorless system so they (Tamron) came out with the V2. You need the V2, the one with the ability to update via the tap in console to use properly with the FTZ (autofocus). My Tamron 85mm 1.8 works as it should, it has the ability to receive updates via the tap in console. I have 2 Tokina lenses, and both are spectacular. The problem lies with the FTZ adapter and or the firmware. My Tokina 100mm is screwdrive, therefore is manual focus only (still awesome to use on the Z because of the focus peaking and added in body stabilization, albeit sans AF due to the lack of a pass through drive gear that should have been included in the FTZ adapter). The 11-16 gets automatically cropped and that was a bit of a shock to me. With the Z6 camera, that lens is essentially useless to me now. I didnt see anywhere in the past year in looking into the Z's the crop was automatic. I assumed it was the same as my only other full frame camera where you could choose to force it to shoot full frame with a crop lens, showing the crops vignette if the image circle wasnt big enough, but there are many lenses including zooms where the end of the zoom, the image circle is not cropped. I really wanted to use that for my wide lens since its small, light weight and compliments the feel of the Z, the 24-70 F4 and 70-300. On FX, it's a 16mm f2.8 prime, but not with the auto crop. The Tokina 16-28 is a beast of a lens, just as big as the Tamron but without stabilization, which is why I chose the Tamron when I did. Bottom line, everything has plusses and minuses. If I had this issue in the Z7, I could live with it since DX crop is still 20mp, but 10mp on the z6? Not gonna happen. Not complaining, was just unaware of the limitations of a specific need. I am overall very happy with the Z6.
EDIT:
Just tried the Tamron again and it works better than the first try. It will autofocus with limitations. I upgraded to the latest firmware just released for the Z6 after trying the AF compatibility the first time but I don't know if that's what helped or if I was just in the wrong settings to get the right results the first time. I've run some tests around the house and in my experience, the Tamron 15-30 SP V1 will AF as long as the pick box is small. Pin point is best followed by single point. I tried wide small and that works too if the subject is big enough. As the pick box increases in size, its given too many choices to focus on and goes on a MAJOR hunting frenzy, racking back and forth and even doing some electrical buzzing and flashing the ISO 4-5 stops higher than normal. If gone on too long, the camera throws a message on the screen, Error- press shutter release button. The shutter button resets the error and you are able to try again. Not ideal, not too bad either. I can always manual focus with it too. It'll be a good band aid until I come up with a better solution.
EDIT:
Just tried the Tamron again and it works better than the first try. It will autofocus with limitations. I upgraded to the latest firmware just released for the Z6 after trying the AF compatibility the first time but I don't know if that's what helped or if I was just in the wrong settings to get the right results the first time. I've run some tests around the house and in my experience, the Tamron 15-30 SP V1 will AF as long as the pick box is small. Pin point is best followed by single point. I tried wide small and that works too if the subject is big enough. As the pick box increases in size, its given too many choices to focus on and goes on a MAJOR hunting frenzy, racking back and forth and even doing some electrical buzzing and flashing the ISO 4-5 stops higher than normal. If gone on too long, the camera throws a message on the screen, Error- press shutter release button. The shutter button resets the error and you are able to try again. Not ideal, not too bad either. I can always manual focus with it too. It'll be a good band aid until I come up with a better solution.
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Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
I sent Tokina an email... Tokina, in case you're not aware is head and shoulders in quality above anything Tamron makes... JMHO
Tokina responded by sending me an Excel Compatibility spreadsheet with all their lenses listed with various camera makes/models
https://tokinalens.com/download/document/60549b906780c.xlsx
It has a sheet for the Nikons and a seperate sheet for the Z cameras, and the FTZ. According to the sheet, there are 2 versions of the 16-28mm F2.8.. A DX version and an FX version... Both autofocus with the FTZ.. There is a note that one lens, their Opera 50mm might be a bit slower in autofocus but that note doesn't apply to the other lenses.
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Finally.
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
WooHoo! Congrats @Dangerspouse
Peter7100
Senior Member
Congratulations @Dangerspouse and here is to many thousands of happy clicks
TwistedThrottle
Senior Member
Very disappointed in the way my Tamron 15-30 (V1) acts on the Z and my other wide lens is for crop sensors, which the Z has no way of over riding and AUTOMATICALLY switches to crop when the lens is twisted onto the camera.
Thanks a lot, Nikon. I'll show you!
So I just bought a 14-30 from Nikonusa refurb sale.
when the lens is twisted onto the camera. Thanks a lot, Nikon. I'll show you!
So I just bought a 14-30 from Nikonusa refurb sale.