Z 24-50mm F4-6.3 on my Z8?

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russellsnr

russellsnr

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Hi, mainly I try to photograph birds but fancy a shot at Land/Seascapes, as a starter lens looking at a Z 24-50mm F4-6.3 on my Z8.
Any thoughts please?
I have some LEE filters & adapter rings from my Canon days.
Thank you, Russ.
 
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russellsnr said:
Hi, mainly I try to photograph birds but fancy a shot at Land/Seascapes, as a starter lens looking at a Z 24-50mm F4-6.3 on my Z8.
Any thoughts please?
I have some LEE filters & adapter rings from my Canon days.
Thank you, Russ.
Click to expand...

UK prices of excellent (and better) Z 24-70 f4 S when I got my one a while back was around the £419 mark. I got a mint one boxed with a 12 month warranty for £420. Can't understand why anyone would buy a new one at £1050 at the time.

For landscapes why not get a couple of manual focus vintage lenses? A decent 24mm f2.8 will cost around £50 and I just bought a lovely Soligor 35mm f2.8 for £20.

There are tons of Helios 58mm f2 44 variants that are cheap too. Adaptor prices vary with the mounts. M42 are cheapest and the ones with bayonets on both ends are a bit dearer. A plus is that you are not locked into Nikon (Takumar, Olympus, Minolta, Zeiss and others are superb) and if you get vintage Nikon lenses I think most will fit on the FTZ. I have a pre ai Nikon 105mm f2.5 and it fits on my FTZ.
 
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dabhand16 said:
UK prices of excellent (and better) Z 24-70 f4 S when I got my one a while back was around the £419 mark. I got a mint one boxed with a 12 month warranty for £420. Can't understand why anyone would buy a new one at £1050 at the time.

For landscapes why not get a couple of manual focus vintage lenses? A decent 24mm f2.8 will cost around £50 and I just bought a lovely Soligor 35mm f2.8 for £20.

There are tons of Helios 58mm f2 44 variants that are cheap too. Adaptor prices vary with the mounts. M42 are cheapest and the ones with bayonets on both ends are a bit dearer. A plus is that you are not locked into Nikon (Takumar, Olympus, Minolta, Zeiss and others are superb) and if you get vintage Nikon lenses I think most will fit on the FTZ. I have a pre ai Nikon 105mm f2.5 and it fits on my FTZ.
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Hi, many thanks for the reply, I do have somewhere a few old Russian made lenses M42 fits I used with my Canon years ago so just need an adaptor. Russ.
 
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russellsnr said:
Hi, many thanks for the reply, I do have somewhere a few old Russian made lenses M42 fits I used with my Canon years ago so just need an adaptor. Russ.
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For me the manual focus vintage lenses have brought the fun back into photography. I now use them pretty much all of the time for my day to day photography. I bought my 24-70 from a small independent dealer BTW. Most of MPB ones were ex-kit lenses not boxed and they only offer 6 months warranty, although they were probably OK.
 
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dabhand16 said:
For me the manual focus vintage lenses have brought the fun back into photography. I now use them pretty much all of the time for my day to day photography. I bought my 24-70 from a small independent dealer BTW. Most of MPB ones were ex-kit lenses not boxed and they only offer 6 months warranty, although they were probably OK.
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Hi, what adaptor did you go for please? Thanks.
 
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russellsnr said:
Hi, what adaptor did you go for please? Thanks.
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For many years I used Fotasy ordered from rainbow_imaging.com in New York. Good quality and cheap with it! They were on UK ebay. Some time ago they vanished form UK ebay so I messaged them on USA ebay but they never replied. On their website they only post to USA :(.

You can still get them over here but at double the price! K&F Concept are good, expensive and have unethical packaging. They are cheaper direct from China if you can wait. Also special offers are frequent. Erth are cheaper than K&F and very ethical packaging. There are lots of generic ones, no doubt made in the same factories as the big names but as there can be variation, so once you find a brand that is OK stick to them unless they don't make adaptors for a lens you have/get. I do see issues with adaptors from time to time and it is wise to buy from somewhere with a returns policy.

If you have an interest in vintage lenses I have some info and pictures on my website. link in my signature. No wall hangers, but proof enough that you can get acceptable images without spending a fortune.

Bargains that spring to mind: Miranda 24mm f2.8 £30, Vivitar 24mm f2.8 £0 gift, Hoya 135mm f2.8 immaculate - £12. Sun Optical 135mm f2.8 mint £19.99 inc and later a Hanimex 135mm f2.8 in excellent condition 19.99 inc delivery delivery both from Ffordes in Scotland. I like 135mms. Got 8 including 2x Zeiss 135 f3.5s, long story........
 
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russellsnr said:
Hi, mainly I try to photograph birds but fancy a shot at Land/Seascapes, as a starter lens looking at a Z 24-50mm F4-6.3 on my Z8.
Any thoughts please?
I have some LEE filters & adapter rings from my Canon days.
Thank you, Russ.
Click to expand...
Check the DXOmark lens database for lenses with the Z9 (or D850) and you will find which lenses are sharpest and best suited to landscape photography. I would expect the 24-70mm or a 28-75mm lens to be much sharper than the 24-50mm lens. In its price range it would be better to buy a 35mm prime like the Vitrox 35mm f/1.8 AF lens. The only downside with the Vitrox is its using 55m size filters. Step-up adapters can be used but this makes the use of the hood a problem.
 
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Calson said:
Check the DXOmark lens database for lenses with the Z9 (or D850) and you will find which lenses are sharpest and best suited to landscape photography. I would expect the 24-70mm or a 28-75mm lens to be much sharper than the 24-50mm lens. In its price range it would be better to buy a 35mm prime like the Vitrox 35mm f/1.8 AF lens. The only downside with the Vitrox is its using 55m size filters. Step-up adapters can be used but this makes the use of the hood a problem.
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In full agreement. Of all Chinese manufacturers, Viltrox is probably the best. I adapted their EPIC 35mm T2.0 1.33 (PL) to both my Nikon and my Sony and the results are indistinguishable from the Atlas (for which I waited a year).
 
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Nimi said:
In full agreement. Of all Chinese manufacturers, Viltrox is probably the best. I adapted their EPIC 35mm T2.0 1.33 (PL) to both my Nikon and my Sony and the results are indistinguishable from the Atlas (for which I waited a year).
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I've got some Viltrox lenses and I've been very pleased with them. Started with a 56mm f1.4 for my Fujis and was so pleased with it I ordered an 85mm f1.8 mk2 for my Z6ii before I even ordered the camera! Saw several respected Youtube reviewers consensus that it was 95% as good as the Nikon Z 85mm f1.8 S and mine only cost £296 delivered! That is well under half of the price of the Nikon.
 
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Agree on the 24-70 being a better option, used they sell for close to nothing on MPB, compared to buying new. For someone starting with landscapes, it is a very good lense. No need to pay 1k for a tad more versatile 24-120 or even more for the 24-70 2.8. And since you have some longer glass wipdlife already 24-70 shoipd be fine (for me, 70 is too short for landscapes, but a ton of landscape folks are very happy with that length, so it definitely will work).

I sometimes look at the 24-50, simply due to size: as a small, cheap walk around lense that can be used in tight places. But then there is the 40 f2 or 26/28 f2.8, and I have a 24-120 as my primary lense. And a Z30 with the 18-50 for those accasions, if nobody esle is using it.
 
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hef19898 said:
Agree on the 24-70 being a better option, used they sell for close to nothing on MPB, compared to buying new. For someone starting with landscapes, it is a very good lense. No need to pay 1k for a tad more versatile 24-120 or even more for the 24-70 2.8. And since you have some longer glass wipdlife already 24-70 shoipd be fine (for me, 70 is too short for landscapes, but a ton of landscape folks are very happy with that length, so it definitely will work).

I sometimes look at the 24-50, simply due to size: as a small, cheap walk around lense that can be used in tight places. But then there is the 40 f2 or 26/28 f2.8, and I have a 24-120 as my primary lense. And a Z30 with the 18-50 for those accasions, if nobody esle is using it.
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My 14mm f2.8 Manual focus Samyang is not small or light, but it was cheap (used) and the results are really good.
 
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14 mm is really short! I am very happy with 20 mm at the shortest and and sometimes using a 16 mm fisheye. I admire people managing to produce great shots that wide, mine tend just have way too much boring foreground. That short so, manual or autofocus doesn't really matter IMHO.
 
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hef19898 said:
14 mm is really short! I am very happy with 20 mm at the shortest and and sometimes using a 16 mm fisheye. I admire people managing to produce great shots that wide, mine tend just have way too much boring foreground. That short so, manual or autofocus doesn't really matter IMHO.
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Here is a picture taken with my Samyang 14mm f2.8. Ignore the 15mm shown as the camera does not have 14mm in the non CPU settings!. Took a while to get into the right position as it was a bit tight from where I was shooting from.

ENTER IF YOU DARE by Graham Owen.jpg
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Honestly if I had to pick a least favorite Z lens, it would be the 24-50. It's passable for casual use cases but that's it. Personally I wouldn't throw any money at this one.

Much better off with the 20 1.8 S (my favorite 1.8, and my favorite 20 prime of ALL time), or, the 14-30 4 S.
russellsnr said:
Hi, mainly I try to photograph birds but fancy a shot at Land/Seascapes, as a starter lens looking at a Z 24-50mm F4-6.3 on my Z8.
Any thoughts please?
I have some LEE filters & adapter rings from my Canon days.
Thank you, Russ.
Click to expand...
 
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I have used the 24-50mm, the 24-70mm f4 and the 24-70mm f2.8 s.

I agree with the comments regarding the 24-50mm. The only advantage of this lens is its small size and low price.

The 24-70mm f4 is an S lens and produces satisfactory results. It is also relatively compact.

In terms of image quality however the 24-70mm f2.8 is the best IQ lens in the bunch (and of course the most expensive}.

I am personally biased towards high IQ lenses. The "holy trinity" of f2.8 zoom lenses are standouts in their zoom ranges and consistently test at the top end in DXOMARK scores. I think the 70-200 f2.8 tested out as the highest IQ zoom lens made by any manufacturer.
 
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