In June 2019, camera accessory manufacturer Techart released its TZE-01 adapter, which allowed Nikon Z mirrorless camera users to mount Sony E-mount lenses to their systems without losing the ability to use autofocus. Now, Techart is back at it again with the announcement of the TZC-01, an adapter that makes it possible to mount and use autofocus Canon EF lenses on Nikon Z mirrorless cameras.
Techart says the TZC-01 will work with EF-mount lenses from Canon, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina and Zeiss. In addition to ‘native’ autofocus performance, the lenses will also maintain aperture control, stabilization features and EXIF data. In total, Techart lists 62 lenses it says are proven compatible with the adapter:
Below is a demonstration of the adapter from Richard Wong:
Techart has also included a dedicated function button that lets you save a focusing distance to recall with the press of the button and an accompanying lens dock that will let you upgrade the firmware of the adapter.
Why don't they make a manual adaptor that gets power from the camera and adjusts aperature via a controll ring (like canon RF)and that way any lens would be compatible with any MILcamera via the adapter..(all beit without af) reverse engeneering would only need lens maufacture data not camera data as well..
problem is Techart themselves, I have bought adapters from them and they were very buggy. There is no Customer Service and they seem to make their money on selling half finished products. Then followed by hardly any firmware updates to resolve those bugs. Build quality seems ok. I spoke to rep from Kipon and he said they are too small outfit to solve all the problems on all their adapters. Personally if you by this product expect bugs and no customer service.
They should release a screwdriver adapter for old Nikon af lenses. Techart already has a similar screwdriver adapter for Contax G screwdriver af lenses to Sony.
I was also recently wondering about that. While there are now four adapters for Z to EF (Kipon, Fringer, Techart, and Steelring), there are none from Nikon F to R. It is likely not due to lack of technical expertise. Probably the demand is not there.
There are very few F mount lenses with an electronic aperture, so the adapter would need to have mechanical aperture control, possibly an aperture coupler as well. No manufacturer wants to deal with this, trust me.
Anyone use their Loxia and Voigtlander primes with this adapter on Z6/Z7 please comment, i want to move away from Sony system but will really hate to lose those lenses,
What I think it's a big mistake is Nikon not opening to other manufacturers the technical details to create Z lenses. And that can kill the whole system to be irrelevant in sales. Why can't we enjoy of native Tamron, Sigma, Samyang, Voigtlander... lenses?
Right now, I think my best option is to buy the Sony E to Z adapter in order to have a decent variety of lenses to buy. And that's sad.
Eh... Tamron, sigma and samyang will do fine on nikon and canon mounts. Pretty much like they have already been doing on EF and F mounts.
But I agree with you when it comes to voigtlander, or rather any manufacturer outside of asia. Like zeiss. I would love the milvus like lenses in native RF mount, but with auto focus. But that is a legal problem, and the reason why you don't have native mount AF lenses from zeiss for canikon.
It is a myth that Sony completely opened up the E mount spec, and for decades 3rd parties have made EF and F lenses with those being closed.
For the record Sony only offers sharing the "basic" E mount spec after 1st signing an NDA and then later meeting various requirements. And from there 3rd parties need to reverse engineer the rest. https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/e_mount/en/detail.html
True. But still. Those companies in japan seem to be "allowed" to reverse engineer the protocols for sony. And I think that partially opened e-mount spec allows external (to japan) companies such as zeiss produce AF lenses.
However this is not the cause concerning canon and the rest. No zeiss or outside of japan AF lenses due to legal reasons. Zeiss has explained this. I am sure they would produce AF lenses for canikon if they could since they would make loads. It simply has to do with "international license"
"Those companies in japan seem to be "allowed" to reverse engineer the protocols"
And Sigma was not allowed to reverse engineer the EF protocol? lol The fact is E mount is not an open mount. Sony says it is not. I don't know why people are dishonest and say it is (not saying you ever said that).
@tkbasic Sigma says about their E-mount lenses: "Note: This product is developed, manufactured and sold based on the specifications of E-mount which was disclosed by Sony Corporation under the license agreement with Sony Corporation." They say no such thing about Nikon/Canon mount products, so there's presumably a significant difference.
If you read the Sony site, you know Sony requires a lot in exchange for sharing their "basic" spec for e-mount, much if it undisclosed. First one must sign an NDA, and next the must sign a contract legally obligating them to do certain things. Sadly, Sony only provides a "basic" spec and the rest much be reverse engineered, which if not gives Sony a tremendous competitive advantage. You wan't see Sigma or other companies discussing this because of the threat of lawsuits since they first had so sign the NDA and the contract.
If Nikon is not willing to do it for their own cameras, I doubt any third parties would either. Although I think even if such adapter was $500, people would still buy it.
But then again, Nikon wants everyone to move to Z, so that's probably the bulk of the reason they never bothered with one compatible with the AF-Ds.
So at least one entity has deciphered Nikon's Z protocol (or were there already others?), which they had announced to not be published back when the system was introduced. On the other hand, we have seen Techart producing really good stuff, like the Contax G to Sony E adapter, and letting it quietly disappear again a bit later.
I've got an official reply from Zeiss that they cannot produce any lenses for the Z system unless Nikon releases the protocol. It is a legal issue. I guess all 3d party manufacturers have the same problem... only lenses with no electronic contacts for now.
I really don't want to use any adapted Zeiss Loxia / Voigtländer Helliar but I WANT THEM SO BAD... pitty.
You are right about the legal issue for zeiss, but this is not a global legal problem. Basically the same rules apply for MILC as it did for DSLRs. If the company is located in japan (Tamron, sigma, samyang etc) they can reverse engineer the protocol and provide us with AF lenses. Just like they do with DSLRs. It takes time though because they have to reverse engineer the protocol, and there are risks when it comes to compatibility.
For zeiss, voigtlander etc... the legal issue is that they are outside of japan. That is why you don't have AF lenses from them for DSLRs.
Hi and thanks for the info. I believe you are right about 3d party manufacturers being in Japan. i wouldn't mind a Sigma Art, or the new Tamron 35mm f/1.4 or even a Tokina Firin MF.
From what I understood from the Zeiss rep, the issue is also about the lens communication with the body, not only the AF protocols. To be honest, I just want a Loxia 21mm version for the Z (and a Voigtänder Helliar 15mm). I much prefer a manual lens for landscape photography...
I do hope they start cooperating soon (although Nikon isn't known for that). The official lens database is still very small.
This is why nikon Z is the best mount. Shortest flange distance means you can use everyone else's lenses via an adapter. They really just have to improve their af system
sure.. you can mount any dslr lense practically on any mirrorless, since flange distance is shorter on all of them more or less. so, this is not any problem, much bigger problem is signal logic between body and lense. and here looks like it, nikon did use something similiar like sony is using, since adapters are possible.
@mr.izo - i was referring in my comment at OP's point about the Z having the shortest flange between the ML FF mounts. And he has a very good point, as he probably was implying that RF and FE mount lenses could be used on Z (as is already the case with the FE to Z adapter released already by techart.
my comment was rather tongue-in-cheek, that any DSLR mount has plenty of room to be addapted to any ML mount, as this adapter was about that.
Best mount for Users, worst mount for Nikon because people will stop buying their lenses. Canon will profit most as their EF lenses are the best of all and the pricing is also relatively very competitive.
A misleading title. It doesn't really offer "full autofocus". Richard Wong makes it pretty clear in his video that AF only works efficiently when using the single spot and restricting it to the central area of the frame. And it's very erratic when using continuous AF.
Until such time as a Z-mount native macro is released, the best solution would be to use a micro-Nikkor via the FTZ adaptor, because at least that way you are using the same brand for everything and will get maximum compatibility.
Using a new and unproven adaptor with alien glass is asking for trouble, especially with macro, which is a pretty testing application for any AF system.
@entoman: On the other hand you could say, for macro – while I wouldn't want to give it up there anymore, either – AF isn't as important as with other applications. And with an electronic adapter, you at least get the automatic diaphragm.
Hubertus - It all depends on what sort of macro you are talking about. The macro lenses under discussion here only achieve a maximum magnification of 1:1, and I doubt if most people go closer than 1:2.
Manual focus is a necessity at high magnifications, but AF is usually better at scales down to 1:1, especially if you are photographing live subjects such as insects, small amphibians etc. Of course, if you are photographing stamps, jewellery or other still-life work, manual focus is better.
For live subjects, much depends on the viewfinder. With a good viewfinder that allows for quick and precise focus control, I tend to prefer MF even for magnifications less than 1x. And I prefer it even to a good AF, because AF often just cannot know which exact detail I want in perfect focus.
Hubertus - I agree, it's largely down to personal preference and personal experience with specific subject matter.
For active subjects such as feeding butterflies, flowers fluttering in the breeze, or reptiles that are likely to move suddenly, I get a higher percentage of sharp images using AF on my Canons.
For more sedentary subjects like grasshoppers, roosting butterflies, damselflies, spiders, amphibians etc, or for static subjects like fungi and lichens, I prefer to switch to MF.
For lower reproduction ratios, e.g. when photographing snakes, small birds and mammals, I invariably use AF.
As you say, the viewfinder makes a big difference, and so does the lens - switching between AF and MF is very easy with some cameras and lenses, but more fiddly and time-consuming with others.
This is the best thing for both Canon and Nikon users. One can take the best of both worlds and combine them to work to their advantages....better DR performance on the body and exceptional sharp lenses.
i don't have to be, this is well known. people wants canon body with their ef/rf lense lineup and sony back light sensor capabilities to lift shadows etc.
It's so silly, no one has proper pancake lens for full frame mirrorless yet, something like 40mm STM, tiny, cheap, sharp, with autofocus, short flange distance shouldn't be a problem though, as e.g. 22mm STM for aps-c exist.
@Kreitmann Voigtlander had a manual focus 20mm F3.5 COLOR-SKOPAR pancake lens a few years ago. It wasn’t terribly remarkable optically (I had one for a while).
The Samyang 35mm E-mount is almost as small as a pancake. I had it on a Z7 with Techart adapter and did a lot of great landscape (hobby) work, but then my camera store did a really good price on A7R IV, so it now lives on that natively, and the results are incredible at 61mpx for my usage. The Z7 is now free to support my Canon lenses via this new Techart adapter, especially as I don't need speccy AF. Auto-aperture closedown is my vote for the best invention in photography, and the Techart does this.
So we have smart adapters from EF to R, m43, Sony, L-mount and now Z. Isn't it better to get a nice set of EF glass and then you can pick up any mirrorless and have some sort of AF?
Add EF-M4/3, EF-EF-M (and focal reduction for both if required) . This makes the EF mount the universal exchangeable mount system of choice - only PK misses out.
Not so long ago the EF mount meant buying Canon dslr bodies even when Sony had released the A7 series mirrorless. I resented being locked in to churning over dslr bodies at Canon’s pleasure.
One might wonder what would have happened 10 years ago if Canon had then released a FF ML body? I suggest that EF to whatever AF adapters may never have happened.
I like this. I don't have any EF glass or a Z (yet), but the 24mm TS-E has always caught my attention. Will stay tuned, esp when it comes to AF reliability.
I use the 17mm, 24mm and 50mm Canon TS-E lenses on a Nikon Z7. My current setup is a Sigma MC-11 adapter (Canon EF to Sony) + a Techart Sony E to Nikon Z. Surprisingly, the two stacked adapters work well together. Been running this setup for 6 months and it's worked out well.
@Markr041 thanks. Also in the forum, there are reports that Fringer works a bit better and actually offers the same performance than the native Canon adapter on an R. The Fringer is $300.
We need an article from DPReview comparing the four announced adapters once they all have been released. I'm hoping there will be one that (1) has reasonable autofocus compatibility, (2) works on the Z50 (as well as the Z6/7) and (3) works with EF-S lenses as well as EF lenses.
Or you could enjoy the excellent to very good existing Nikon Z lenses as of Jan. 2020.
Almost no one purchasing a ILC body of X mount for the first time runs out and purchases 5-10 additional lenses immediately after acquiring the body and say 1 or 2 lenses.
I hope you're kidding. In 17 months since the Z announcement Nikon has released 11 lenses for the new mount. Yes, they're expensive, but they also provide much better IQ than previous lenses.
Having both RF and Z systems, I actually think Nikon has done a better job at releasing a steady stream of reasonably-priced, high quality lenses for their FF mirrorless system than Canon has with their RF system over the last 18 months. Yes, we all want more lenses and we want them to be released faster but having workable EF and E-mount adapters means that we have some further options while we wait for new lenses on the lens map to be released. Plus, it gives us more affordable as well as some more esoteric options like access to the TS-E lenses. However, let us not forget that the Z and RF systems are still really new systems. And it is interesting to note that, in terms of speed of release, both Nikon and Canon have been actually much faster in releasing new lenses than Sony was in their first 18 months of putting a FF mirrorless camera on the market.
Neat. One way to get less expensive 3rd party glass on my Z6! But my FTZ makes more sense since I have F-mount. Still, that Canon 16-35 III is very appealing.
There's also the Sony E to Z adapter, from Techart as well, for some of the designed-for-E-mount lenses like the newish Sigma 14-24, the 24-70, Tamron 17-28, Tamron 28-75.
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