Zeiss ZF (Nikon) mount adapter to Sony F3

[Ed David]

Anyone know of any options? Who wants to make one of these?

[Brian Drysdale]

A bit early yet, but I imagine the usual people will supply adapters for the F3 mount.

[Jason Bodnar]

Many people are interested in this option and an adapter should be available after the first of the year. MTF are already working on one..

Mounts & Adaptors

[Ed David]

This is great news thank you. Off to pre-order the F3.

[Jason Bodnar]

Update- MTF is now taking pre-orders

Lens Adaptor.Com

[Thierry Humeau]

Great to see MTF coming out with these adaptors so fast. I am really interested in using SLR lenses on the F3 for practical and economical reasons for ENG/EFP style work. It looks like Nikon DX lenses would be a great fit since according to MTF, when use in conjonction with the Nikon lens adaptor, the focal length ratio would be 1:1. MTF says that the Nikon mount has an aperture control ring but it is unclear to me if this applies to older style Nikkor lenses with aperture rings or if this feature will also work on DX lenses which have a mechanical iris but no external control ring.

Also, pardon my ignorance but is the F aperture rating on DX lenses comparable to full frame DSLR lenses? I am just trying to figre out how using APS-C lenses on the F3 will affect DOF when comparing to using fast, full frame DSLR lenses.

Thierry.

[Thierry Humeau]

Looks like an interesting lens to use with MTF's Nikon mount:
Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X PRO AF

T.

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

Great to see MTF coming out with these adaptors so fast. I am really interested in using SLR lenses on the F3 for practical and economical reasons for ENG/EFP style work. It looks like Nikon DX lenses would be a great fit since they are precisely designed for APS-C DSLR sensors which have pretty much the same footprint as super 35mm. MTF says that the Nikon mount has an aperture control ring but it is unclear to me if this applies to older style Nikkor lenses with aperture rings or if this feature will also work on DX lenses which have a mechanical iris but no external control ring.

Also, pardon my ignorance but is the F aperture rating on DX lenses comparable to full frame DSLR lenses? I am just trying to figre out how using APS-C lenses on the F3 will affect DOF when comparing to using fast, full frame DSLR lenses.

Thierry.

I got a prompt answer from Mike Tapa, the guy behind MTF and he says that the F3 Nikon mount will indeed allow manual iris control on all Nikon lenses, including DX series. Cool!

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

Looks like an interesting lens to use with MTF's Nikon mount:
Tokina 20-35mm f/2.8 AT-X PRO AF

T.

Also, the Nikon adaptor looks like a great fit for Nikon's DX series lenses. No cropping.

[Alister Chapman]

I'm trying to get my head around the "no cropping" claim for DX lenses, I don't believe this is correct or at least it is somewhat missleading.

As far as I know, a 10mm lens is a 10mm lens, so the FOV will be the same whether it is a DX lens or a non DX lens, so when used on an F3 a DX lens will have a FOV 1.5x longer than it would be on a full frame 35mm sensor, just the same as any other lens. I don't believe Nikon adjust for this in their lens designation.

One thing that a DX lens will be is cheaper as the image circle is smaller and also a 16mm DX lens, which is designed to act as a wide lens, should have less barrel distortion than a 16mm standard lens which would be regarded as a semi-fisheye.

The smaller image circle of a DX lens means that the lens can't be used on a FF 35mm sensor without serious vignetting.

[Alister Chapman]

Re DX lens cropping and FOV:

I think the confusion stems from the way Nikon may be measuring the FOV. Because the image circle projected by the DX lenses is considerably smaller than that of a 35mm Full Frame lens the FOV when measured across the image circle of a DX lens will longer than the FOV measured across the larger image circle from a full frame lens. So it could be stated that the FOV of a 35mm DX lens is the same as that of a 50mm FF lens when you take into account the different size image circles.

However, most people are not including the size of the image circle when they try to work out equivalent focal lengths. Instead they are using imager size as the limiting factor and so a 35mm lens on a sensor smaller than a full frame sensor will have a longer FOV, DX lens or not.

Checking through various photography forums the same DX lens confusion exists there as well. However the consensus seems to be that if you could use a DX lens on a FF sensor then the FOV would be 1.5x wider.

[Thierry Humeau]

The no crop factor with DX Nikon lenses comes straight from Mike Tapa on his web site so I assume he is correct. The Super 35mm sensor footprint on the F3 is roughly 20% smaller than a full frame 35mm SLR. This added to the fact that the Nikon lens adaptor sets the DX lens a some distance of the camera's focal plane, that may explain why there is no crop factor with those lenses. I am also at lost in trying to figure out what lenses I would need to get using the MTF Nikon mount on the F3 to match what I get when using a 16-35 2.8, 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 on a full frame Canon 5D camera. I'll see if Mike can jump on this forum to explain.

Thierry.

[Mike Tapa]

Hi Guys, thanks for taking the time to discuss this.

Sorry I had not jumped in earlier, but we are up to our necks with orders for the PL and Nikon G to M43 adaptors destined for AF100s all over the world

I did go to the Nikon website to check the specs of DX lenses and found that the 35mm focal length DX lens has virtually the same FOV as the 50mm full frame lens.

So, attaching a 50mm FF lens to the F3 will give a crop of 1.5X.
This is not to say that the lens becomes 75mm, but you get an angle of view equivalent to a 75mm lens.

The way I see it, if Nikon's 35mm DX lens is used on a camera with as near as damn it, the same sensor size, then nothing changes, unless, of course, the lens is not a true 35mm.

I think it really is a question of do we think in terms of focal length or FOV?

The no cropping claim is more an explanation of the fact that the DX format lenses will just about cover the F3 sensor (there is only about 0.2mm difference on the diagonal)

As soon as there is an F3 available for extensive tests, either Alister or myself will try some DX lenses and compare FOV with FF lenses.

In the meantime, these Nikon G adaptors and the Canon FD version are being manufactured right now and will be shipping by mid Jan. This will be followed by a Sony Alpha/Minolta to F3 adaptor too.

[Thierry Humeau]

Thanks Mike. I think in real world terms, the reason why using Nikon DX lenses on the F3 with MTF's Nikon adaptor will show no crop is because the sensor size on Nikon DX cameras (24mm x 15mm) is very, very close to the F3 Super 35mm imager (25mm x 14mm). Nikon DX sensors are APS-C (Sony, Nikon DX, Pentax) types.

You can see a sensor size comparison overlay chart here:
File:Sensor sizes overlaid inside.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And Nikon DX camera sensor sizes here:
Nikon DX format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, a great chart from Abel Cine to compare the field of view of various large sensor digital cameras to a Super 35 sensor:
http://blog.abelcine.com/wp-content/...final_1200.jpg

Best,

T.