I have just got the Megadap MTZ11 adapter for Autofocusing Manual Focus lenses on Nikon Z Cameras. It is built for using Leica M lenses, but with adapters it can be used for many other lens mounts. I added a Nikon F to Leica M adapter to use some manual focus lenses I have. I can also use it for autofocusing Nikon D lenses, since the Nikon FTZ adapter doesn't (annoyingly) allow AF with those lenses.
The lens pictured above on my Z7 is the Laowa 15mm f/4 MF lens. This lens has a shift lens apparatus, but more importantly for me has an amazing macro facility, which allows very close up images with a super wide angle lens. This gives a unique look that I like very much. It's very difficult to manually focus this lens on the Z7, so I thought I'd buy this adapter. This is what it produces.
Shot wide open at f/4, I was within about an inch from the frosty branches, with the 15mm angle of view and with background bokeh. This gives a pretty unique perspective. And the adapter made the focusing much easier. So what's it like to use?
What the adapter does is to move itself backwards and forwards. The lens doesn't move, the adapter does. It's well made and seems pretty robust. Now whether that stands the test of time, with the adapter moving I cannot say. In terms of the autofocus, it's OK under certain circumstances. Now it would be unrealistic to expect AF speed that is equal to what we get from modern cameras. It is designed to work primarily with Leica M lenses, which have aperture rings. It also works better if you do a bit of rough focusing first. Then the barrel of the adapter doesn't have to move very far. Megadap have a video on their website, which is a bit misleading since when they move the focus point around everything is pretty much in the same plane of focus. And doing that it does work OK. It's not that fast, compared to current cameras and lenses and it is noisy, but it is 100% accurate. If it has to go from close up to infinity it takes a while and makes a disconcerting grinding type noise. So, not recommended.
So, what is it useful for? For me it is very much a focus confirmation adapter for difficult to focus MF lenses. It is for prime or zoom lenses with aperture rings. I tried a Nikon 28-80mm D lens on it and it didn't work since the lens defaults to f/22. As mentioned above it is ideal for my Laowa 15mm f/4 lens, particularly in macro mode. Because the Laowa doesn't have any electronic connection with the Z7 body I can't use the Nikon white dot focus confirmation, so focusing the lens is very difficult. This adapter makes it a lot easier. There are other uses. If you have some really good manual focus lenses, say Leica M, then you can get AF with them. There are already adapters that do this for Sony cameras, this extends the possibilities to Nikon Z cameras. This adapter can also help if your eyes are not what they were.
I have a Samyang Nikon fit 85mm f/1.4 lens. It's seriously sharp and using it with the Megadap adapter I can get 100% accurate focus.
- It seems well made
- It is 100% reliable and nails the focus every time (eventually!)
- It means that you can accurately focus MF lenses
- It works on difficult to focus MF lenses
- It's good for people who want to use MF lenses but don't have good eyes
- AF is slow
- Going from close up to infinity it 'hunts' focus and takes ages to lock on
- It needs good contrast subjects to lock on to
- It does not work well for fast action shots
- It's pretty noisy
- It's not cheap
The bottom line for all of this is the better the MF lens, the more useful it is. If you have some fast Leica M lenses for example, you could get some spectacular results, if you are prepared to give it some time. There is no way I would recommend anybody buying a Nikon Z camera, this adapter and some Leica M lenses, however if you already have a Nikon Z body and some good MF lenses, then it may be worth your while buying the adapter. I would suggest that you have to be sure that the lenses you have are worth the investment for the adapter. In my case I already had two excellent MF lenses that would benefit from AF. Therefore the adapter is worth it for me. For others that may or may not be the case.
