Chinese company TECHART has just announced that it has released an adapter that converts Canon EF lenses to Nikon Z mount, maintaining aperture control and autofocus performance.
The new TZC-01 adapter costs $249 and is the first of its kind, giving users the option to attach Canon, Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina lenses designed for Canon EOS cameras to the Nikon Z 6, Z 7, and Z 50.
Users will be able to use AF-S, AF-C, and AF-F on the Nikon mirrorless camera for both stills and video, as well as face and eye detection. TECHART also claims that it uses phase-detection autofocus in order to ensure accuracy and that autofocus speed is as good as — if not better — than native Z-mount glass, though it will depend on the specific EF lens.
A complete list of compatible lenses can be found on the TECHART website. To see the adapter in action, check out this review from photographer Richard Wong:
Nikon’s new mirrorless cameras suffer from a lack of available lenses, with the Japanese manufacturer choosing to introduce a selection of mid-range glass, in contrast to Canon’s decision to release expensive, high-end lenses from the outset. If the adapter works as well as TECHART claims, Nikon shooters now have more options available, and it might make the Nikon Z cameras more appealing to Canon shooters who are considering a change.
In a rather smart move, the rear lens cap acts as a USB dock, which will connect to a computer for installing firmware upgrades.
The TZC-01 is available to buy for $249.
The main gripe I've had being a Nikon shooter is lens mount. Not only is it hard to mount vintage glass like the M42 mount lenses and other manufacturers due to the flange distance, but also because it's hard to adapt Nikon glass to other systems because of the electronics (no AF, no IS).
Seeing Nikon pay particular mind to this (I've seen Sony glass adapted too, looking very promising) is making me want to finally go Z
The best camera in the world to adapt vintage glass is the Nikon Z6. Right amount of resolution for high quality vintage glass, great ergonomics, single button zoom (I have zoom in for focus on the C1 button). I liked my Z6 well enough to buy a second and sell off all my Sony gear. I'm slowly selling off my Canon lenses (bodies all gone).
Curious if there's people who would, if switching to mirrorless with a bunch of Canon glass, choose Nikon Z over either Canon R or Sony.
Please let me know if someone do.
I moved from Canon stills/sports and Sony video/carry camera to Nikon Z. In the end I've sold off most of my Canon lenses. I have a Techart TZ-01 (Sony to Nikon Z) to be able to continue to shoot the tiny and wonderful Sony Zeiss Sonnar FE 35mm f2.8. It works and it's worth it as it's the only really small lens for Nikon Z (via adapter of course). I wouldn't want to rely on it for sports shooting or serious video. Performance is inconsistent with focus pumping.
That would sort of be my point. If someone from Canon moved to Nikon for mirrorless, they most of the time sell the Canon gear, not adapt it.
If there had been some decent adapters a bit earlier, I would have tried them and kept a good portion of my excellent Canon glass. Based on my experience of adapting Canon to Sony (Sigma MC-11) and Canon to Fuji (Fringer), when I moved to Nikon I'd sort of made up my mind to consolidate on one system.
There is no Nikon equivalent for the Sony Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f2.8 which persuaded me to try an adapter a third time. The TechArt TZ-01 had not persuaded me that I would want to try another TechArt adapter. The question is still actual as I still have my Canon 300mm f2.8 L IS which is excellent glass and somewhat sharper and lighter than the Nikon equivalent.
Followup: tested 300mm lenses: Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS vs Nikon F 300mm AF-S II. The Canon is not really sharper but has higher contrast. Adding contrast in post-production makes the Nikon essentially is equivalent.
Fringer EF-NZ is considerably more reliable in eye-detect and video and generally than the very flaky TechArt TZ-01. If you have EF glass and want to try Nikon Z bodies, it's a great bridge.
For sports, the Fringer adapter is a tiny but significant bit slower than FTZ with Nikon's own 300mm. The three 300mm photos on the Z6 at the end of this set were shot with the Canon 300mm f2.8 on the Fringer: https://uncoy.com/2020/09/unanswered-red-cards-monchhof.html
PS. I'll be selling off my perfect, almost mint EF 300mm f2.8 L IS as I'm happy shooting the Nikon 300mm AF-S II. If you're based in Central Europe, feel free to DM me.