Wide angle zoom lens recommendations for Nikon

[O]

I also like the Irix 15mm a lot. Before switching to Nikon I shot Pentax and really enjoyed the abundance of "vintage" lenses for the system. The Pentax K mount offered a wealth of great used glass at reasonable prices. When I moved to Delaware that meant bird photography and at that time the Pentax AF system was not good enough so I switched to the D500 and now the Z9.
Nikon's transition to Z/mirrorless means there is an ever increasing abundance of excellent F mount glass at great prices. Today I just added an almost mint Nikkor AF-S 16-35mm f4 G VR ED Lens at an attractive price for my landscape photography. It has a 77mm filter thread so I can use my filter holder. I feel this will be a very good compliment to the Irix 15mm lens. From what I've read it has pretty good optical performance for my landscape efforts at a significantly lower cost than a new Z mount lens.

Have a lot of respect for that 16-35 as a great all round lens.
Yes FX bargains galore, wow its a buy fest for some LOL.

 

[bjanes]

If you want to be able to use the lens on both your Z9 and D850, you will need to stick to F mount lenses. F mount lenses can be used on a Z body with an FTZ or FTZII adapter, whereas a Z mount lens can only be used on a Z body as there is no adapter for Z to F.

If you are willing to use the lens only on your Z$2709, you can take advantage of the fact that Z wide angles benefit from the wide mount of the Z bodies and shorter distance from the flange to the sensor. Both the Z 14-30 f4 and the Z 14-24 f2.8 are good choices. I have the Z 14-30, which is nice, small/lightweight, and takes filters. From what I have read, the Z 14-24 is amazing optically, lighter than its F mount counterpart and also takes filters.

I sold my f/mount 14-24 f/2.8 and bought the 14-24 f/2.8 S for the Z mount. Never liked the bulbous front element of the f/mount version. Overall, the 14-24 S is somewhat better optically (see review by Thom). This lens does accommodate filters, but they screw into a large and bukly accessory lens hood which takes 112 mm filters. A B+W polarizer set me back US $270. I haven't yet used the polarizer with this lens, but I understand that a non-uniform result often takes place with extreme wide angle lenses. Do any of our members have experience using a polarizer with this lens?

Also, I seem to recall from a post by Lloyd Chambers that the f/mount version has focus shift when stopping down. If you focus wide open as is done with a dSLR at f/2.8 and take the shot at f/8 you lose sharpness due to the focus shift. With the Z9, focus would be at f/5.6 and there would not be much shift at f/8 and there is no need for calibration (fine tuning). Most focus shift occurs at the initial stops in stopping down.

Bill

 

[BillW]

I sold my f/mount 14-24 f/2.8 and bought the 14-24 f/2.8 S for the Z mount. Never liked the bulbous front element of the f/mount version. Overall, the 14-24 S is somewhat better optically (see review by Thom). This lens does accommodate filters, but they screw into a large and bukly accessory lens hood which takes 112 mm filters. A B+W polarizer set me back US $270. I haven't yet used the polarizer with this lens, but I understand that a non-uniform result often takes place with extreme wide angle lenses. Do any of our members have experience using a polarizer with this lens?

Also, I seem to recall from a post by Lloyd Chambers that the f/mount version has focus shift when stopping down. If you focus wide open as is done with a dSLR at f/2.8 and take the shot at f/8 you lose sharpness due to the focus shift. With the Z9, focus would be at f/5.6 and there would not be much shift at f/8 and there is no need for calibration (fine tuning). Most focus shift occurs at the initial stops in stopping down.

Bill

One interesting thing about the lens hood and 112 mm filters. You can also use that hood with its 112 mm filters on the Z 24-70 f2.8, Z 70-200 f2.8, and the Z 14-30 f4. I bought two of the Nisi equivalent hoods last year (the Nikon hood was not available then) and put a polarizer on one and a 6 stop ND on the other. Shared the two filters using the hoods on my Z 14-30, Z 24-70 f2.8 and Z 70-200 on a landscape oriented trip to the Icelandic Highlands last fall. Very useful.

 

[BillW]

I sold my f/mount 14-24 f/2.8 and bought the 14-24 f/2.8 S for the Z mount. Never liked the bulbous front element of the f/mount version. Overall, the 14-24 S is somewhat better optically (see review by Thom). This lens does accommodate filters, but they screw into a large and bukly accessory lens hood which takes 112 mm filters. A B+W polarizer set me back US $270. I haven't yet used the polarizer with this lens, but I understand that a non-uniform result often takes place with extreme wide angle lenses. Do any of our members have experience using a polarizer with this lens?

Also, I seem to recall from a post by Lloyd Chambers that the f/mount version has focus shift when stopping down. If you focus wide open as is done with a dSLR at f/2.8 and take the shot at f/8 you lose sharpness due to the focus shift. With the Z9, focus would be at f/5.6 and there would not be much shift at f/8 and there is no need for calibration (fine tuning). Most focus shift occurs at the initial stops in stopping down.

Bill

I don‘t have the Z 14-24 lens. But I have used a polarizer on a number of wide angle lenses. Maximum polarization in the sky is generally at 90 degrees from the sun. Depending on where the sun is and the direction you are photographing with a wide angle lens, this can produce wide variations in the effect of the polarizer on the sky in your field of view.

 

[bjanes]

One interesting thing about the lens hood and 112 mm filters. You can also use that hood with its 112 mm filters on the Z 24-70 f2.8, Z 70-200 f2.8, and the Z 14-30 f4. I bought two of the Nisi equivalent hoods last year (the Nikon hood was not available then) and put a polarizer on one and a 6 stop ND on the other. Shared the two filters using the hoods on my Z 14-30, Z 24-70 f2.8 and Z 70-200 on a landscape oriented trip to the Icelandic Highlands last fall. Very useful.

Bill,
Thanks for your informative reply. The use of additional lens hoods to facilitate easy changing of filters is a useful adaption. I bought the Nisi equivalent lens hood since it is a better build--aluminum rather than plastic and has a gasket to prevent light entering from the back side of the hood. I use the original HB-97 to hold a polarizer. I don't have the additional lenses you mention but have found that neither of these two hoods will fit the 100-400 Z or the 70-200 f/2.8 FL f/mount lens. I haven't upgraded to the Z version 70-200 mm since I can use the old lens on the D850 and the Z9 with the FTZII adapter. Thom Hogan says the optical performance of these two lenses is very close.

Bill