The AF might work fine with the adapter but it's not a pretty solution.
At least it looks as the adapter has the gasket/weather sealing.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/images1/ftz/back-angled.jpg
Just wonder if there will be any pure Z-mount tele lenses.
It will depend on if the cameras will sell I guess.
Yes, this is a grindingly slow pace of development from Nikon ....
Using the adapter no doubt works a treat, but introduces another join to have to seal from moisture /dust ingress, and another source of potential 'play' - Nikon has a tripod foot on the adapter suggesting they don't want the additional leverage of adapter + camera hanging off the lens tripod mount and putting all that stress on the adapter joints.
Also, the adapter's additional length and weight kills off a lot of any compactness and weight advantages of the mirrorless system. I suppose it gets to a certain size and weight of telephoto where the ergonomics just become silly anyway. It would have been nice to have say the third party supertelephoto zooms (150-600) available as a native mount, and Nikon's own new PF's too.
The simple (and quick and cheap) way to do this is simply to make a second version of the lens body with a circa ~30mm extension at the mount (native Z) end - not the ultimate in elegance, but not hideous either. Even this solution doesn't appear on Nikon's future lens road map - so it will be at least a 2 year wait (2021+ ....)
Of course the ultimate is to redesign the lens for Z mount without an empty tube at the rear - fully realizing the size and weight advantages. It looks like Nikon thinks this will place too much competitive pressure on its DSLR range - though this first iteration of the mirrorless is hamstrung by no 2nd card slot, small buffer, small shot life from the battery, and ultimately less than DSLR ideal grip ergonomics for the serious big telephoto birder.
Added birding versatility would have been a nice addition though to add to the temptation (particularly with native PF lenses), as the kilo+ weight of the D850 body was ultimately what put me off going down that route ....
Maybe one of the third party lens makers will come up with a killer PF supertelephoto? ..... 600mm PF in f5.6, f4.5, or f4, natively designed for the Z mount ..... there's certainly money and a growth in market share to be made there.
The mirrorless Z mount is obviously a long term proposition having taken nearly half a century to be born .... the beauty for the third party lens makers is that it FFL distance is very close to Sony's FE mirror less mount, so that any lenses designed natively for the Z could easily be modified to natively fit the FE without too much loss of elegance.
Also, if they could get their hands on the Z mount /adapters operating protocols, then there is also the opportunity to design mount adapting teleconverters too - I would suggest a profitable one would be a 2x one for Canon's 300 f2.8 to both Nikon Z and Sony FE mount, etc. You could also add a 1.4x one for Nikon's new 500 f5.6 to both Nikon Z and Sony FE mount ..... + whatever mount solution Canon eventually comes up with for their FF mirrorless offering .....
Overall, I think Nikon has missed a trick for birders to stop the leakage to the smaller, lighter MFT systems ..... :cat:
Chosun :gh:
