NIKON Z 35MM F1.8 S
A look at the first prime in Nikon’s newest NIKKOR Z lens range
The Nikon Z mount is the first new 35mm full-frame mount from Nikon in 59 years, and is only the third in this company’s history. It’s somewhat ironic then that the first was designed for mirrorless models, and now they’re doing it all over again. Manufacturers usually say the lenses will be smaller for these cameras, but this is enormous – around three times the length of the tiny AF 35mm f2D made for SLRs.
Still, it’s not as if it’s heavy and on the Z7 it handles well with the long barrel affording a large ribbed focus collar. It’s programmable too, allowing you to change aperture, exposure compensation or ISO settings, but there’s no quick way to switch between them yet.
As it’s electronic there are no hard stops at either end. The action is smooth and not too highly geared, allowing you to focus with some precision. That may be just as well, as although the lens is sharp edge to edge at all apertures, in AF mode there’s some slight inaccuracy. This occurs mostly between f1.82.5 at close distances, with it being more of an issue at greater distances, but it’s no longer noticeable by f2.8. Some RAW converters like Lightroom use the built-in lens profile to reduce distortion and axial chromatic aberration, but others don’t, so results will vary slightly. In Capture One for example, some moderate axial fringing is noticeable, but then the lens has minimal distortion and vignetting anyway.