Using vintage SLR lenses like Minolta MD, Pentax K, Canon FD on Nikon Z6/Z7?

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Like the title says, does anyone use old SLR lenses from Minolta, Canon, Pentax or Nikon? Or even Leica R? I'm interested in how the Z6 or Z7 performs with lenses from the 70s and 80s, perhaps even with slightly newer lenses like the Nikon 28-70mm f2.8. I have a bunch of Minolta Rokkors and Pentax-M lenses, and I can buy Super Takumars and Canon FDs from my local pusher.
 
I've got Canon FD glass that I've used on mirrorless digital in the past and it works fine. Don't currently have an adapter for the Z6, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work well.

Best,
-Tim
 
I have used old Leica M, Zeiss (east and west), Meyer Optik in Praktina mount, M42 Russian, L39 Cooke, Minolta MD, Nikkor, Pentax Super Takumar, Topcor Exa mount, Leica R (both macro and normal) and East German projector lenses on my Sony A7s without issue.
 
I think the op may be able to change the title by using the "advanced" function on the edit feature? I've used all the lenses you mentioned on film cameras, and by far the best was the Leica R glass, especially the R 90 Summicrons and Elmarits, which may be too long if that camera you have has a less than full frame sensor. From what I've seen on the web, the R lenses still retain a lot of their imaging character even on digital cameras. Be careful w/ the newer Nikon lenses, as the G lenses do not have a way to adjust their apertures. It's done w/ the SLR camera's hardware.
 
Archiver said:
Like the title says, does anyone use old SLR lenses from Minolta, Canon, Pentax or Nikon? Or even Leica R? I'm interested in how the Z6 or Z7 performs with lenses from the 70s and 80s, perhaps even with slightly newer lenses like the Nikon 28-70mm f2.8. I have a bunch of Minolta Rokkors and Pentax-M lenses, and I can buy Super Takumars and Canon FDs from my local pusher.
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My Leica R lenses are amongst my best lenses: They're what I use on my Leicaflex SL, Leica R6.2, and Leica CL (digital) cameras. They worked beautifully on the Leica M-P typ 240 and Leica SL that I had too. I can use them on my Leica M-D as long as I use scale focus, of course.

No reason they would not work beautifully on the Z6 or Z7 unless Nikon did something funky with the sensor stack (like Sony did with the A7 ... wides have problems past a certain point).

G
 
I use Leica R lenses, Pentax M42 lenses, Carl Zeiss Jena M42 lenses as well as Leica M and of course screw mount in addition to NIKON F and Nikon rangefinder lenses with adapter on my Z6. They work outstanding.
 
Steve M. said:
Be careful w/ the newer Nikon lenses, as the G lenses do not have a way to adjust their apertures. It's done w/ the SLR camera's hardware.
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Thought I would mention that Nikon G lenses and the even newer “E” lenses work well, really well, with the Z6 and Z7, along with the FTZ mount you would need to adapt any Nikkor F lens, old or new, to the Z mount. Lenses like the G and E generations, without aperture rings on the lens itself, the aperture is controlled by a dial on the body just the same as it is on a Nikon DSLR body.
It’s the F6 that’s incompatible with G or E lenses.:(
FWIW.
 
Larry, the only reason I purchased the native Z mount 50mm F1.8S is because the 50mm F1.8G lens is loud while shooting video (while it is continuously auto-focusing ) while the native lens is silent.
 
Larry Cloetta said:
Thought I would mention that Nikon G lenses and the even newer “E” lenses work well, really well, with the Z6 and Z7, along with the FTZ mount you would need to adapt any Nikkor F lens, old or new, to the Z mount. Lenses like the G and E generations, without aperture rings on the lens itself, the aperture is controlled by a dial on the body just the same as it is on a Nikon DSLR body.
It’s the F6 that’s incompatible with G or E lenses.:(
FWIW.
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My F6 works with my 50 1.8G and 60 2.8G. Oh yeah and my 24-120 VR G. I think some others too. It's the ones with the electronic aperture mechanisms that it fails.

Back on topic, my Z7 works very nicely with my minolta 58 1.2, and pretty much any other old skool slr lens. With Leica M lenses it's ok.
 
Huss said:
My F6 works with my 50 1.8G and 60 2.8G. Oh yeah and my 24-120 VR G. I think some others too. It's the ones with the electronic aperture mechanisms that it fails.
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Sorry, Huss, thanks for the correction. I knew that, having had an F6, and a 50/1.8G. Late night brain fade, starting ever earlier.
 
ZivcoPhoto said:
Larry, the only reason I purchased the native Z mount 50mm F1.8S is because the 50mm F1.8G lens is loud while shooting video (while it is continuously auto-focusing ) while the native lens is silent.
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I didn’t mean to imply that there were not good reasons for buying Z mount lenses for Z mount cameras, only meant that G and E lenses can be used on Z bodies.
 
I cannot comment on how the Z6 or Z7 perform but I would expect they would perform well based on my experience with every other system I have used to mount vintage lenses.

I have used lenses from every marque you mention (yes I know its sad, it is my obsession) and they all make at least some lenses that are still excellent today. Not every Nikon or Canon or Pentax or Minolta lens is excellent but some and in fact most are are and its part of the fun to find out which ones you like. Truth is that you will find that the majority of vintage / classic lenses of any reputable make are wonderful on digital cameras even by today's standards. As a generalization the only ones that I can think of that present particular problems are some old very wide angle lenses that are not retro focus and have their rear element too close to the film plane or sensor. In this event the angle of the light rays hitting the sensor can be too oblique for the sensor to cope properly . Not a problem for film. But is a problem for sensors which typically require light rays to be more perpendicular.

To the list of camera types you have mentioned I would add Konica lenses (much overlooked but mostly superb Japanese lenses), Zeiss, Voigtlander, Exakta or any of the other top end German brands (including of course Leica) also perform brilliantly. Oh and while your Pentax M lenses can be expected to perform well for my money the pick of the bunch are the Pentax M42 screw mount lenses (labelled Takumar) that preceded your bayonet lenses. They are built like a tank and optically are lovely. However don't confuse these early Takumar lenses with later Pentax Takumar labelled bayonet mount lenses which are said to be not so good - I have not tried them for this reason.

One final comment. Many older lenses have "character" that is to say they are not as technically perfect and clinical as some lenses made in recent years but to me this is a positive and boy do they make up for it in the way they make lovely artistically rendered images. There are lots of reviews of specific lenses on the internet. Before buying lenses research them not generally by their makers name but by the specific lens you are looking at. There will be images posted made by these lenses so you will soon get an idea if you like that lens or not.
 
I've used various Meyer Optik and Asahi (Pentax) Takumar lenses in M42 mount on my Z7. Sometimes the lenses have trouble stopping down past f8, but it is probably a fault of adapter tolerances.

I also even bought the Fringer EF-NZ adapter so I can use canon EF lenses. I have the Canon EF 50 1.2 L and it's glorious! Autofocus works like a native Z mount lens, very snappy and accurate.
 
peterm1 said:
Oh and while your Pentax M lenses can be expected to perform well for my money the pick of the bunch are the Pentax M42 screw mount lenses (labelled Takumar) that preceded your bayonet lenses. They are built like a tank and optically are lovely. However don't confuse these early Takumar lenses with later Pentax Takumar labelled bayonet mount lenses which are said to be not so good - I have not tried them for this reason.
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I share@peterm1's admiration for the screw-mount Pentax Takumar lenses. I have tried one of the Takumar Bayonet lenses, which were a budget line of K-mount lenses introduced I think in the late seventies or early eighties. I had a 135mm f/2.5 Takumar Bayonet and found it very soft at anything wider than f/8. Sample size = 1, so FWIW.
 
AAlfano said:
I share@peterm1's admiration for the screw-mount Pentax Takumar lenses. I have tried one of the Takumar Bayonet lenses, which were a budget line of K-mount lenses introduced I think in the late seventies or early eighties. I had a 135mm f/2.5 Takumar Bayonet and found it very soft at anything wider than f/8. Sample size = 1, so FWIW.
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I had one of these when I shot film professionally and it was actually fairly good, even wide open. It did have some flare issues that my other Pentax lenses didn't have since I think it was single coated, not multi-coated. The built in hood wasn't long enough to be that helpful; a longer one was useful but backlighting wasn't this lense's strong point.
 
20210717-_DSC4250.JPGRan across this thread - one of the reasons I bought my Z6 was to use some of my old FF lenses - Minolta, Nikon and Pentax. Been using a couple of old Minolta MD lenses - 28/2.8, 35/2.8 and a few older PF's 58/1.4 and 58/1.2. They all have been excellent. Of course this is at 24 MP, may not be as good on the Z7. Manual focusing on the Z6 is a breeze ( I grew up on MF SLR's so this is not a problem). Attached is a recent image with the 28mm... if you have a nikon Z you should really look into these older MF lenses - there are some good ones out there that can be found for a very reasonable price.

train-paristown-area-of-louisville-ky
 
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I have had experience with Yashinon and Fujica screw mount lenses, Y/C lenses, and they are great if in good shape and you can get a good adapter. I also second the Konica lenses. I never used them but they were once a favorite of many pro photographers in the far east.
 
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