Megadap adapter for Nikon Z cameras: retrofit autofocus for manual lenses

Nikon has dispensed with the autofocus support of older AF and AF-D lenses with pole autofocus on the mirrorless Z models. The Nikon FTZ adapter allows the connection to the camera, but the lenses have to be focused manually. Not all of them are well suited for this because manual focusing with them was intended as a last resort. Many lenses from third-party manufacturers, such as Zeiss or Leica, also do not have autofocus by default. Some of the optics offer outstanding imaging performance or a special image look, but for many photographers the limitation due to the lack of autofocus is too great.

One solution is the Megadap MTZ11 autofocus adapter, which changes the distance between the camera and lens for focusing. This allows these and other manual optics to be automatically focused. Since the adapter inherently connects Leica M lenses with the Nikon Z bayonet, you still need the right bayonet rings, because another piece of good news is: Lenses from other manufacturers can also be connected to the MTZ11 and can use the autofocus function (Megadap offers 18 Adapter for various bayonets). We did not find any significant differences between various M42, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus OM or Pentax-K lenses with focal lengths between 20 and 135 millimeters. Zoom lenses required manual intervention more often. Overall, however, the automatic focusing works surprisingly well.

Comfort gain

You don’t have to do without the usual handling with autofocus lenses. The focus indicator integrated into the active focus area (single point or focus area frame) changes its color from red to green on Nikon Z cameras when the focus is on. In playback mode, the previously selected focus point is also displayed. As usual, pressing the OK button zooms in on this point in the 100 percent view. This makes the sharpness check quick and efficient. The MTZ adapter offers this convenience for all adaptable lenses and also transmits Exif data. The original Nikon FTZ adapter offers this convenience only for AF-S and AF-D lenses. If you use simple mechanical adapters, you have to do without them almost completely. Only the focus control works as usual, but without a visibly marked focus point.