I hate to say goodbye to my trusty and dependable Nikon DSLRs and F mount lenses - they have served me well over the years shooting 100s of thousands of images since 2005. What makes this so difficult is knowing just how great the last few years have been shooting with my D850 and D500 and various F mount lenses and achieving both personal satisfaction and professional performance.
What helps make this DSLR to Nikon Mirrorless transition is my belief that Nikon will deliver superior results by building new lenses and Mirrorless cameras based on the Z platform, as I see it things will only get better over time. - Yes there will be road bumps, waiting and the known unknown.
Below is a breakdown of my transition, what I currently use, and what I have or will be transitioning to. The transition is really quite simple, sell my legacy f mount lens and DSLRs bodies and buy the replacements/equivalents. While all replacements are not currently available in the Z mount I will continue to depend on the FTZ adapter to hold me over until Nikon releases new S lenses.
The downside to Transition to Z mount lenses is the expense - for the convenience of using a Z mount over the FTZ adapted + Z image quality improvements, is it worth the cost? As an example, I sold my f mount 28mm f/1.4 for $1,000.00 (original cost $2,000) and purchased the Nikon 24mm f/1.8 S lens for $1,000.00. I lost $1,000.00 overall but was able to buy the new 24mm S lens without reaching into my pocket from the sale of my legacy lens.
Transitioning to the Pro level lenses are another story with more money spent to make the transition, such as moving from my 70-200 F mount to the 70-200 Z mount I had an additional outlay of over $1000.00 and took an $800.00 loss on the sale of the legacy 70-200 lens based on the original purchase price. As you move up to the most expensive Nikkor Z lenses the cost to transition becomes even greater. I recently pre-ordered the new Nikon 400mm f/2.8 Z lens ($14,000) with a plan to sell my Nikon Legacy 400mm ED FL lens - the current going price for used 400 ED FL lens is around $7,000.00 thus my outlay will be $7000.00 with a loss of $5,00.00 in value.
Another expense is storing and insurance for the equipment. Due to insurance costs, I do not keep gear at my residence but have it off-site in a convenient location for me to access with the off-site location insured at a lower cost - metal buildings don't burn down.
As you can see from the breakdown I have a few lenses to migrate and my biggest need is for the Z mount Super Telephotos (400mm (pre-ordered), 500mm (will not replace), 600mm (will pre-order))
Current DSLR / F Mount Lens |
Projected Replacement |
Z |
Transition Status |
Sold |
Nikon D850 |
Nikon Z7 II |
Yes |
Completed |
D850 |
Nikon D500 |
Nikon Z6 II |
Yes |
Completed |
D500 |
Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 |
Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
24-70mm f/2.8 f mount |
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 |
Nikon 35mm f/1.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon & Sigma Art 35mm |
Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 |
Nikon 14-30mm f/2.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 f mount |
Nikon 16-35mm f/4 |
Nikon 14-30mm f/4 S |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon 16-35mm f/4 |
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 |
Nikon 50mm f/2.8 Macro |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 |
Nikon 85mm f/1.4 |
Nikon 85mm f/1.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon 85mm f/1.4 |
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR |
Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
70-200 f/2.8 f mount |
Nikon 8-15mm f/3.5 Fisheye |
Unknown |
|
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 24mm f/1.4 |
Nikon 24 f/1.8 S |
Yes |
Completed |
Nikon 28 f/1.4 |
Nikon 19mm f/3.5 PCE |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 24mm f/3.5 PCE |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 45mm f/2.8 PCE |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 58mm f/1.4 |
Possible Nikon 58 Noct |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
Not Sure about this lens |
Nikon 60mm f/2.8 Macro |
Nikon 50mm f/2.8 Macro |
Yes |
Completed S Release |
Nikon 60mm f/2.8 Macro |
Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Macro |
Nikon 105MC Macro S |
Yes |
Completed S Release |
Nikon 105mm f/2.8 Macro |
Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro |
Not Compatible |
- |
- |
Sold |
Sigma 180mm f/2.8 Macro |
Not Compatible |
- |
- |
Sold |
Nikon 200mm f/4 Macro |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
Sold |
Nikon 300mm f/4 PF |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 400mm f/2.8 |
Pre-Ordered Z 400mm |
Yes |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
Nikon 600mm f/4 |
Unknown |
No |
Awaiting S Release |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Although I hate selling off my legacy f mount lenses I know in the long run the replacement gear is and will be superior, and that has already been the case for all my completed S lens trade-ups to the Z mount. This also provides me an opportunity to consolidate my gear to lenses I actually use - over the course of years I learned that buying smart will pay dividends in the long run. I had some lenses I never used, others that no longer work with the FTZ adapter so I will forgo replacements and they were sold to compensate for the transition.
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