The Nikon System Now

Nikon Z7, Nikkor 105mm f2.5 AI-S

So with my Sony stuff gone, there's a few gaps in my setup to fill, but I still do have a nice selection of glass available to me, especially reasonably compact primes.

So what's in the rotation?

Standard kit:

Zeiss Distagon 2,8/21 ZF - my standard wide-angle lens and an absolute gem.

Z Nikkor 40mm f2 SE - My AF fast/compact prime for walkaround. Rather good, decently small and fast enough

AF-S Nikkor 24-85mm f3.5-4.5 VR G - Very solid and sharp general purpose zoom

Tamron SP 90mm f2.8 N-AF - My macro of choice even though it doesn't AF on the FTZ. 

M mount kit:

7Artisans 35mm f5.6 - Fixed aperture bodycap/small walkabout lens

Nikkor-S.C 5cm f1.4 LTM - Not only my cold dead hands lens, but a solid classic-rendering Sonnar type normal. Some issues with the M mount adapter mean I need to use a different adapter than I do for the other M lenses.

7Artisans 75mm f1.25 - Big, fast monster. Unique rendering and weak wide open, but lots of fun. 

F mount kit:

24mm f2.8 K - Classic Nikkor wide angle.

28mm f3.5 H - Classic low-contrast rendering, muted but beautiful colour, Kinda a PITA to focus due to low contrast, metal focus ring

28mm f3.5 AI - Classic and solid AI mild wide. Got it with the Z5ii in a 1 for 1 swap for my unloved 35/2 AI (a lens I've owned and not loved several times over the years, my least favourite Nikkor 35mm)

50mm f1.8D - Yeah, I have one, it's technically my partner's for her D50. Neither of us ever use it, but we won't sell it at this point

Micro-Nikkor 55mm f3.5 AI - Heirloom, came with my FE from my Aunt (who bought it new from the camera store I worked at as a teen). Will never sell this lens, and I love it, my 3rd one and I always get great results.

Nikkor 105mm f2.5 AI-S - The legendary Afghan Girl lens. Had a few copies previously, sold most foolishly (and broke one). Will not sell this one. 

Nikkor 200/4 Ai - This one needs a teardown, aperture is sticky. Nice lens otherwise and compact.

Nikkor 300/4.5 K AI'd - This thing sucks. But it's also worthless. Won't use or sell.

M42 kit

Super-Takumar 35/3.5 - Longstanding favourite. Keeping

Super-Takumar 135/3.5 - Tiny and decent. Fun and keeping.

I intend to add to all 3 kits. I miss my old (and formerly very complete) M42 kit, there's a few gaps in the F mount kit and I'm really enjoying cheap M glass.

Current priorities are:

1. AF telezoom

2. fast M wides - 28 and faster 35 for sure, then a modern 50 and last a 90. 

3. More ZF/ZF.2 lenses, especially a 35, 50 and 85. I miss my old 85/1.4 ZF.2 in particular. 

More native Z glass and M42 stuff when I can find it for pricing in the budget. 

The goal here is to get to a practical hiking kit quickly (UWA + normal + telezoom, and I just need the telezoom added), then focus on 'fun' lenses including backfilling some old stuff I sold and regret, or always wanted. 
 

So what about the Sony Lenses

Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 FE

This is the lens I'm going to miss the most from the Sony setup. I really liked this one, a great size and solid performance for a very reasonable cost. I will likely buy the Nikon-branded version, but it's literally twice the cost of a used Tamron in FE mount. In the interim I have my 21 Distagon which covers 90% of my needs in this space. 

Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary

This one was already on the chopping block. The OS is known to be wonky and randomly just doesn't, which I ran into. A big part of why I was willing to dump all my native Sony glass was my general low-level dissatisfaction with this lens. Optically it's solid but not exceptional, the handling is OK but getting the optional lens foot was basically impossible (shared part with the discontinued 105/1.4) and the OS just didn't right when you needed it to. It was either being replaced with the Sony GM or a different super-tele zoom anyways. Not sure which way I'll go here, maybe an 80-400G or 70-200+TC, or possibly I'll get a smaller zoom + 180-600. 

The final lens in my kit was the Viltrox 40/2.5. This was a great little lens, small & sharp, but I actually never used it outside of some test shots. Since I have the faster Nikkor 40/2 in Z mount, I tended to just use the Z7 when I wanted a lens like that. I carried teh Viltrox around as a gap filler between the 17-28 and 100-400, usually alongside my EF mount Voigtlander 90/3.5 APO-Lanthar on an EF->FE adapter, but the 90 got used for its great close focus and the neat little Viltrox generally sat in the bag and was sad. 
 

Since only one of the three native lenses I had was really used and liked, one needed replacing and I already had a great alternative to the third in Z mount, using those lenses as part of my trade in to get the Z5ii (which I got brand new) made a bunch of sense. 

Post-Summer Updates

Sony A7IV, Tamron 17-28/2.8

Well, it's been a long and busy summer with relatively little shooting. I got out with the camera a total of 3 times, and only shot 6-700 shots total across all of those. The A7IV is now just shy of 1400 shots.

The A7IV has been delivering what I wanted for hiking/landscape work, but I just do not really like using it for adapting lenses, the only adapted lens that's seen any real use is my EF mount Voigtlander 90/3.5 APO-Lanthar, which is fully coupled on my EF->FE adapter. 

This breaks into one of the issues with being dual system. I just like the Nikon more, even though the Sony stuff has been working well overall. I really wish I'd waited and bought the Z5ii instead (or just got that used Zf I was eying instead of the A7IV). Nikon has also solved the light body issue with the new Zr, although it is somewhat expensive (since it's really a Z6iii in a small body, not another Zf/Z5ii sibling, so it costs near Z6iii money, sitting halfway between the Zf and Z6iii in price, which is reasonable for what it is as a video body, but high for light carry).

This is kind of a pisser, since the Sony does work fine for its primary uses, it just has a few minor annoyances that irk me. The biggest one with native glass is how the metering display behaves when in M+Auto ISO. In short, it doesn't do anything even if you are bouncing off ISO limits. Which means you basically have to guess what the heck it's doing in a mode I REALLY like shooting in. The Z7 displays accurate metering in this use case.

The reality is the Sony A7IV spent a lot of the summer next to my desk hoping I'd pick it up, and I rarely did. I didn't shoot the Z7 much either, largely because every time I wanted to, I got indecisive. 

End result - After 6 months of ownership the A7IV and my 3 native lenses got traded back in and a Z5II came home with me.