Time for me to ditch the mirror, maybe leave Nikon?

[zulu42]

Since I've been improving my film SLR lenses lately, I've been wishing to adapt them to a digital body. It has me considering selling my trusty D800 and going mirrorless. I figured it would be natural to go to Z6 or Z7. Then I read Ken Rockwell's reviews recommending switch now to Canon. I'm still leaning Nikon but I like the way Rockwell reviews, so I hope for a little discussion. I have 4 Nikon lenses, nothing high dollar, so I'm a little invested in lenses but not prohibitively. I'd miss the 105 only. Anyway, what are your opinions. I miss Derrell.

 

[NS: Nikon Shooter]

Anyway, what are your opinions.

If I was facing the same situation, I would neither ditch the mirror nor Nikon
but upgrade to a non anti-aliasing filter body such as the D800E, D810 and
D850. With a 33% increase in resolution, the D850 is a superb solution.

One has to love the OVF, I do, and I will possibly never move to mirrorless.

 

[mrca]

Will any gear, much less changing brands, improve your work if at all? Exactly what do you expect? All the notable images of the last 100 years were made with camera no where near as capable what you have in your hand. I have a d850 but have mostly shot 35 mm and MF film recently. Manually set aperture and shutter speed, manually focus. One has no batteries. Do I need to upgrade? I wish I saw more posts with people wringing their hands on how to spend thousands of dollars to master the craft. I have never seen ONE. And THAT will improve your work off the chart. Is Derrell ok? He generously gave a huge amount of time to help folks on this site and is a wealth of knowledge. Please let me know, I must have missed that here.

 

[Space Face]

I miss Derrell.

Yeah. what happened to him?

 

[Strodav]

Even though it's a bit long of tooth, the D800 is still an excellent camera with great IQ for general purpose photography like landscapes and portraits, but the AF system is falling far behind newer models.. I looked into selling mine and KEH offered me $300 for it, so it's more valuable to me as a backup to my D850. If you are shooting wildlife / sports / action then it's time for an upgrade. As others have mentioned, great options are used D810s or a D850 if you can find one. Personally, I've decided to wait another year on mirrorless to let the market settle out. I want to see the independent reviews of the R3 and Z9 before making any final decisions. Until then, I don't think I'm at a disadvantage with a D850. / D800 combination.

 

[zulu42]

As far as I know Derrel is okay, I sure hope so. Can't tag his username any more
The main draw of mirrorless is to play with my film lenses on digital. That's the reason I want to switch. Honestly the D800 is fine, plenty good IQ for me. And stupid Nikon makes you spend thousands to get a shutter speed longer than 30s.

 

[mrca]

Film lenses work fine on dslr's. If focus is your issue, the 2 arrows in the lowerL of the viewfinder tell you which way to turn focus and the meatball appears to confirm focus. I have 4 that are only manual focus and 2 that will auto focus, on digital the 135 dc and 180 2.8. One of the things I really enjoy is the split screen focus on the digital cameras. Also zone focusing on those lenses. Been years since I shot longer than 30 sec, but I had no problem doing so with the remote trigger/timer doing 5 minute exposures.

 

[zulu42]

Film lenses work fine on dslr's

Sheeeit, I thought one needed the shorter flange distance or something on mirrorless for easy adaptability

 

[mrca]

Nikon includes an adapter on some mirrorless camera. None is needed for the F mount dslrs or film cameras. Lately have carried a film camera and digital on walkabouts. A 50 on one, 35 on the other and an 85 in the bag. Hopefully, this saved you some money. You will find the older lenses have low element counts resulting in incredible micro contrast. While I waited from the d700 til the d850 came out, I used the time to acquire some stellar glass. It is gorgeous on both film and the 850.

 

[zulu42]

Nikon includes an adapter on some mirrorless camera. None is needed for the F mount dslrs or film cameras

I understand the availability of the FTZ adapter with Nikon mirrorless. I use my F-mount film lenses on my D800 without an adapter.

I want to mount my Olympus OM system film era lenses on a full frame digital body. Are you saying it is possible to use OM lenses on my D800?

I appreciate the discussion very much, but you haven't saved me any money yet - and it isn't about saving or spending money anyway. I didn't even see the need for a D850. I want to mount the OM lenses, and iif I'm getting a new body to do it- I"ll be happy to take advantage of better AF and IBIS and any new fangled features that make shooting easier or more inspirational.

 

[mrca]

No idea on the Olympus lenses, but there is incredible nikon older glass so I would sell the Olympus glass and research and get a killer prime in your most used length and possibly a second. That depends on what you shoot. I shoot portraits so I don't need auto focus and with lights or 400/1600 film have plenty of shutter speed that I have no problem hand holding.

 

[TATTRAT]

I moved over to the Z7II recently and after all the hemming and hawing I did, I now wish I had made the switch sooner.

I do wish that the FTZ adapter supported more existing glass, but for now I don' mind shooting manual with the couple of long lenses I have. As an aside, the Z series glass that I got is simply incredible, though.

 

[zulu42]

If I was facing the same situation, I would neither ditch the mirror nor Nikon
but upgrade to a non anti-aliasing filter body such as the D800E, D810 and
D850. With a 33% increase in resolution, the D850 is a superb solution.

Thanks I appreciate the response. The D850 has been tugging at my wallet for a while, but really, what's horribly wrong with the anti ailiasing filter and resolution of my D800? Nothing. IMO

Reasons to change is only to geek out with my OM lenses. I also like that you can put a small lens on a mirrorless and walk around with a less obtrusive camera. I've had old ladies hold the door open for me with my D800 haha. Mirror slappin big boxes are a less elegant solution in my eyes right now- the images are all about the same.

 

[zulu42]

No idea on the Olympus lenses, but there is incredible nikon older glass so I would sell the Olympus glass and research and get a killer prime in your most used length and possibly a second. That depends on what you shoot. I shoot portraits so I don't need auto focus and with lights or 400/1600 film have plenty of shutter speed that I have no problem hand holding.

My apologies as nobody know my back story on Olympus. I use my grandfather's Olympus for sentimental reasons. Over the last several months I've gone film camera crazy and shot rolls through probably 50 film cameras of different brands. I decided to Stay Olympus Because I like the glass and the bodies are fine. I'm more invested in Oly glass than Nikon.

 

[cgw]

Consider a blind date with Fuji. The trailing edge Fuji X-T2+adapter might become an "item" with your OM glass trove for not a pile of $$$. I'd avoid the Z Nikons for now and shoot your D800 till it breaks.