Zeiss ZF.2 for Nikon on Canon with green dot as focus assist

Niels123

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I am about to purchase a Zeiss Otus 55 f/1.4 ZF.2 for Nikon. Since I shoot only Canon, switching to Nikon is not an option.

Novoflex has an adapter, but it lacks the chip necessary for focus confirmation.

Fotodiox has a chipped adapter and I also found adapters from Leitax. What I need and like to know is:

-What is the best adapter in terms of mechanical fit and build quality and focus reliability
-How well does the "green dot" work with these Nikon lenses, how often is focus off and how reliable is it? How much does it depend on the (amount of) light?

Please share experiences!
 
Why not just buy the Canon EF-mount version (ZE)?
 
Because I can get the ZF.2 second hand for a good price. The ZE is not availabe 2nd hand for a price that is interesting for me and new is this lens too expensive at the moment.
 
Not sure if you know it, but the newer Canon d-slr's have a fairly finely-ground viewfinder screen, so the effective viewing aperture is around f/4.8 or so...which means the shallow depth of field will not be visiable to your eye...which makes a visual-only ascertainment of proper focus much harder with a stock viewfinder screen and a d-slr than it is on say, a 35mm MANUAL focus camera like an older Canon or Nikon.

I dunno...Novoflex is alleged to be a very good adapter. I bought a Nikon F-mount G-series "pro" adapter from Photodiox, for Canon EF bodies...it works pretty well and has aperture control for the G-series Nikkors, which is nicely made and VERY well-fitted. I payed $119 for that.

I also bought a carton of $14.95 Nikon F to Canon cheapies from e-Bay...they're better than I thought they might be. It has been a couple of years since I used these adapters on a frequent basis. I dunno...hitting focus exactly is a big deal. If you miss focus, your high-dollar Zeiss becomes less sharp than a $69 used 50/1.8 Plastic Fantastic. I think a cheaper adapter but one with focus confirm is the best option, rather than the "allegedly" awesome Novoflex, but without focus confirmation.
 
Thanx for your reply Derrel. Does the Photodiox adapter has a focus confirmation chip? If so, how reliable is it in your opinion?
 
Ming Thein says that the only way he can reliably focus his Otus lenses is with Lifeview and Magnification:

http://blog.mingthein.com/2014/09/19/thoughts-on-the-photokina-2014-announcements/
Sigma

I honestly though the cleverest product at the entire show came out of this company: it isn’t the DP1 Quattro, nor is it the 18-something super zooms or the warmed over super tele zooms: it’s the clip-on finder for the LCD. This instantly solves two problems for the vast majority of live view cameras: firstly, accurate focus; secondly, stability. You no longer have to hold the camera at arms’ length, and you have a much larger view than if you’d included an EVF. Plus it’s detachable. Unfortunately, it does nothing to improve the camera’s ergonomics. I’ve personally given up on Nikon’s viewfinders for adequate focusing with the Otuses, and am using a Zacuto 2.5x Pro cine-finder on the D810 with live view instead – using that, I can pull focus on moving objects at f1.4 anywhere in the frame with an 80% hit rate, with critical sharpness. By comparison, I manage perhaps 30% in the centre using the optical finder, which has a custom micro prism screen, and has also been shimmed/ aligned. Go figure.
 

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