Leica M to Nikon Z AF- adapters?

[Harry the K]

There are lots of adapters on the market to adapt Leica M lenses to Nikon Z bodys.
Two of them, by Techart and Fotodiox, even offer AF performance with built in motors.
Is there any real world experience with those AF- adapters?
Thank you for your answer!
HtK

 

[Photon42]

I had not a lot of luck with Techart. First one was a direct import and stopped working after a couple of days. No response from the seller. The second time I bought the "improved" version from a local store at a good discount - and that one did not work at all right out of the box (Z8). I could return that one for a full refund. Their adapters can easily be overstressed by too heavy lenses. There is seemingly no mechanism in the adapter to prevent that from happening. You may be more lucky, but honestly, I would only buy from a place which takes full responsibility on these products.
TT Artisans provides an adapter reading 6-bit code. Not sure how well that works in all cases, but it is at least a good idea. And maybe an patent infringement ...

 

[splitimageview]

I have a Megadap af adapter and it is slow but accurate. I rarely use it with M lenses, but mostly SLR lenses with a second interim adapter (I.e., Nikon F to M adapter plus the Megadap M to Z.)

For IBIS I programmed a selection of focal lengths into the Z menu.

For the record I have no native Z lenses. It is reliable enough that the adapter is essentially permanently attached to my Z.

The other nice thing about it is that it can enable closer focusing than with a dumb adapter since it has a helical.

I previously had TechArt af adapters for Sony but haven’t tried any other af adapters for Z.

With longer focal lengths sometimes the lens has to get assistance to get close and the adapter does the rest. This happens with the TechArt adapters on Sony as well.

Also have used a Sigma af adapter for Canon EOS to Sony which worked well.

 

[PatrickT]

I had the Techart TZM-02 autofocus adapter for a little while and used it with my Zf and the VM 35mm f/1.5 and Minolta 40/2. It worked well! Didn't have any problem with it at all for the week or so I used it.

I ended up getting rid of it for a couple reasons:
1. It is relatively heavy
2. I decided that I'd generally prefer to manually focus my M lenses on the Zf. Not because the Techart didn't work well, but because I decided I wanted the experience of manually focusing.

For someone who wants their M lenses to autofocus, based on my experience, I'd recommend it. I kinda regretted getting rid of it and might get another one at some point.

 

[Harry the K]

So, mixed experiences.

Techart 2 times defective, af slow but accurate (that´s exactly how I focus manually), heavy,.....

I decided to let the af functionality go and rely on the focus peaking, which is very good in the Z5. I ordered a Novoflex adapter.

Thank you for the input, gentlemen, you saved me money and hassle!

 

[PatrickT]

So, mixed experiences.

Techart 2 times defective, af slow but accurate (that´s exactly how I focus manually), heavy,.....

I decided to let the af functionality go and rely on the focus peaking, which is very good in the Z5. I ordered a Novoflex adapter.

Thank you for the input, gentlemen, you saved me money and hassle!

FWIW, I thought the focus was shockingly fast for what it was. Not as fast as native Z lenses, but pretty fast.

Also, I'm not sure if the Z5 supports this, but I ended up going with the TTArtisan 6Bit adapter for my Zf, which enables focus confirmation via the center (and other) boxes. This is worth it's weight in gold for me, as it means I don't have to use the ugly focus peaking, or punch in, leading to a more streamlined experience.

 

[Dogman]

I currently use TTArtisan dumb adapters on all my M-mount lens used on my Z5. They're cheap enough to buy one for each lens. I Iike the shape and the build of them but I wish the big all caps TTARTISAN billboard wasn't so prominent. Those for Fuji simply have their logo on them. None of my M-mount lenses are coded (Zeiss, Voigtländer, Jupiter-8, etc.) so I had no use for an adapter that reads the coding on the lenses.

 

[splitimageview]

Also, I'm not sure if the Z5 supports this, but I ended up going with the TTArtisan 6Bit adapter for my Zf, which enables focus confirmation via the center (and other) boxes. This is worth it's weight in gold for me, as it means I don't have to use the ugly focus peaking, or punch in, leading to a more streamlined experience.

OK I think this is only on the ZF, but can someone explain how this works?

 

[maddoc]

I have the Techart AF adapter, which is heavy but works reasonably well under good to fair light conditions. A native Z-mount lens is huge compared to that adapter plus for example a Summicron lens but possibly of the same weight. No luck for me with the chipped TTArtisan adapter that enables focus aids with M-mount lenses. I had two copies of that adapter, one was stuck at 135mm focal length setting and the other at 28mm. Since this would be required to get correct IBIS feedback, I returned both of those adapters. The TechartAF adapter features focal length transfer via the aperture wheel of the camera. Another plus, it allows to be used in combination with AF focus priority, which means the camera can be set to only take a shot when the subject is in focus with any mounted dumb lens.

 

[Harry the K]

FWIW, I thought the focus was shockingly fast for what it was. Not as fast as native Z lenses, but pretty fast.

Also, I'm not sure if the Z5 supports this, but I ended up going with the TTArtisan 6Bit adapter for my Zf, which enables focus confirmation via the center (and other) boxes. This is worth it's weight in gold for me, as it means I don't have to use the ugly focus peaking, or punch in, leading to a more streamlined experience.

I prefer focus peaking because it shows the complete focus plane, while the focus square turning green is never where I need it.

 

[Harry the K]

I currently use TTArtisan dumb adapters on all my M-mount lens used on my Z5. They're cheap enough to buy one for each lens. I Iike the shape and the build of them but I wish the big all caps TTARTISAN billboard wasn't so prominent. Those for Fuji simply have their logo on them. None of my M-mount lenses are coded (Zeiss, Voigtländer, Jupiter-8, etc.) so I had no use for an adapter that reads the coding on the lenses.

Dumb is good enough for me.

 

[Photon42]

OK I think this is only on the ZF, but can someone explain how this works?

With my Z8, the adapter and a coded lens Lightroom shows the lens name plus shutter speed and aperture ("set" by the Z camera). If the focus mode of the Z8 is set to M, the little box turns green once focus is acquired (or at least the camera thinks so ...) Not too bad in eyes.
I actually just tried it.

 

[Freakscene]

OK I think this is only on the ZF, but can someone explain how this works?

On the Zf it also activated with eye focus, so that if you have that mode set and you are manually focusing it will automatically find an eye in the frame and the focus box goes onto that, and, if you have the zoom set it will zoom in on the eye as you focus too.

Edit - the eye focus function is great enough that in my view _all_ mirrorless cameras should do it. Currently not even all Nikon mirrorless cameras do it, I actually think it is restricted to the Zf (but don’t have time to keep up with everything to be certain).

 

[maddoc]

On the Zf it also activated with eye focus, so that if you have that mode set and you are manually focusing it will automatically find an eye in the frame and the focus box goes onto that, and, if you have the zoom set it will zoom in on the eye as you focus too.

Edit - the eye focus function is great enough that in my view _all_ mirrorless cameras should do it. Currently not even all Nikon mirrorless cameras do it, I actually think it is restricted to the Zf (but don’t have time to keep up with everything to be certain).

If I remember correctly the Z8 has the same feature.

 

[kxl]

Just took delivery of a Techart TZM-02, and judging from the few photos that I have take in my home office for the past 10 minutes, this seems like a winner. I mounted my Zeiss ZM 50mm/1.5 Sonnar on my Z6 III. I set it to my typical AF settings, AF-C, using AF-ON to acquire focus, shutter button to capture the image only, etc... and I just took pictures of things around me. Focus is fast (obviously not as fast as the fastest native AF Z lenses), but fast enough for my needs.

From what I've read, the adapter struggles a bit with acquiring focus when using a lens with FLE. I have a Thypoch Simera lens that I can use to check that out this coming weekend. I also want to check its performance at night and low contrast scenarios.

In this image, the bottle of eyedrops was about 30 inches away. There was sufficient contrast for the adapter to acquire focus, and it did so quickly.

In this image, I wanted to check if the face/eye detect would still work--it did.

 

[splitimageview]

It should focus fine with FLE, they are probably just providing a disclaimer for those type of lenses. An FLE will adjust elements based on focus distance but if the lens is focused at infinity to work with the adapter, then the floating element mechanism won't be active.

Let's say a floating element becomes active at 2 feet for example, if the lens is focused with the Tech Art the lens it may be set on some other distance but still in focus with the Tech Art, and not engage the floating element.

 

[kxl]

An FLE will adjust elements based on focus distance but if the lens is focused at infinity to work with the adapter, then the floating element mechanism won't be active.

That's true--since you start with the lens focused at infinity and the adapter moves the entire lens, FLE becomes moot.

 

[Freakscene]

The cameras inevitably struggle with adapters because they are not as well integrated with the AF system as lenses. The motors are typically less powerful and have lower torque and for some lenses the adapter motors are moving more mass with less power and torque than OEM lenses usually have.

The camera also focuses based on phase and contrast. The lens is designed such that through part of the focus range the configuration changes to optimise aberration control. Its contrast transmission will be altered by focusing close by moving the adapter without moving the floating element. The camera will focus less well because the aberrations will be less well controlled, decreasing contrast and resolving phase differences less well.