Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S review: this wide-angle lens completes a ‘trinity’ of Nikon f/1.2 primes

You pays your money and you takes your choice, as Mark Twain famously said. But pricing and choices can be difficult to navigate with some of Nikon’s prime lenses, especially those that have favorite focal lengths for many photographers. When the Z system was in its infancy, not that long ago, I was quite surprised that the first trilogy of up-market S-line primes had an f/1.8 rather than f/1.4 aperture rating, namely the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S, Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S and Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S. I was quickly won over by the image quality and all-round performance, and at least they were relatively compact and lightweight, in keeping with slimline mirrorless cameras. However, they clearly weren’t as fast as the f/1.4 lenses to which enthusiast and professional photographers are often more accustomed. Perhaps more surprisingly, Nikon recently launched a pair of Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 and Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 which are naturally faster but lack S-line credentials and are less exotic than their f/1.8 siblings. And if you’re in the market for a lens with a less ‘classic’ focal length but you want something seriously small and lightweight, there are the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 and Nikon Z 40mm f/2, both of which are available in ‘SE’ versions with retro styling to match the Nikon Z f and Nikon Z fc.

So where does the new Z 35mm f/1.2 S fit into the scheme of things? Well, it literally puts the other 28mm, 35mm and 40mm lenses in the shade. It’s comparatively big, heavy and hugely expensive to buy. As such, it follows the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S and Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S, completing a trinity of super-fast f/1.2 lenses that are designed to extract every last micron of performance from Nikon’s best Z system cameras, as well as being one of the best Nikon Z lenses in its own right.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Specifications

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Price

If you thought that Nikon’s Z-system ‘trinity’ 14-24mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lenses were expensive (and yes, they are) you might be surprised that the Z 35mm f/1.2 S prime is even pricier. It’s a hefty lens with a hefty price tag, selling for $2,797 / £2,899 / AU$4,899. Time-limited deals and special offers aside, that makes it a fair bit more costly than the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S which sells for around $2,097 / £2,299 / AU$3,698, and about the same price as the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S, at $2,797 / £2,999 / AU$4,699. Ultimately, there’s no such thing as a super-fast Nikon Z prime that’s budget-friendly. For further comparison, the Z 35mm f/1.2 S is a bit over three times the price of the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S ($847 / £899 / AU$1,451) and nearly five times as much as the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 ($597 / £649 / AU$1,099). We’re back to paying your money and taking your choice!

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Design & Handling

Super-fast lenses need wide-diameter glass up towards the front end to suck in all that extra light. It’s no surprise then that the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S feels a bit of a handful, measuring 90x150mm / 3.6x6" and weighing in at 1,060g / 2lb 5.4oz. Suffice it to say that it’s not a lens to be taken lightly. On the plus side, the dimensions and weight are very similar to those of the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S and Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S. All three lenses also share the same 82mm filter attachment thread, so at least you might be able to claw back a little cash by not having to buy multiple copies of your favored filters in different sizes.

Handling is very similar for the three lenses although the 50mm f/1.2 is the only one to feature an OLED info screen. It’s of no concern to me that the screen is lacking in the 35mm and 85mm lenses, as although it seemed like a good idea at the time, I rarely actually use it. What I do like is that the 35mm has two customizable function buttons rather than just one. The second is placed at the top of the lens barrel, so that the Fn buttons fall naturally under the thumb in portrait as well as landscape orientation shooting. The 50mm can’t achieve this because the OLED screen is up top, but a secondary Fn button is also missing on the 85mm, which doesn’t have the screen.

Another neat extra in terms of handling is that, like the 50mm and 85mm lenses, there’s a customizable control ring at the rear, in addition to the large customizable control ring that’s nominally for manual focusing. I tend to use the additional ring for aperture control, although you can assign it to other functions like ISO and exposure compensation. The fact that it’s stepless makes it useful for aperture control when shooting video as well as stills. I also think it’s good that all three of the 35mm, 50mm and 85mm are so similar in terms of handling. The consistent placing of the supplemental control ring helps with this, whereas Canon can’t seem to decide whether to put it at the front or the back of many of its best EOS R-system lenses.

As I’d fully expect in a pro-grade prime that sells for this sort of money, the lens is comprehensively weather-sealed. The construction combines a metal mounting plate with a high-quality plastic barrel. Some might prefer a metal barrel but I actually favor high-grade plastic as I find it less cold (and slippery) to the touch in chilly weather. Either way, the lens feels very solid and robust.

When it comes to glass, you can rest assured that the lens features Nikon’s finest. There are 17 elements arranged in 15 groups, as per the 50mm f/1.2 lens, this time including three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, one aspherical ED element, and three further aspherical elements. The design aims for optimum sharpness, color rendition and clarity with minimal aberrations. There’s no shortage of high-tech coatings on hand either. These include Nano Crystal Coat, ARNEO and meso-amorphous coatings, striving to banish ghosting and flare.

Autofocus is taken care of by dual linear stepping motors and I’m happy there’s a physical A/M autofocus/manual focus switch on the barrel. It saves the time involved in dipping into camera menus when you need to make the change in a hurry. The electronically coupled focus ring works with smooth precision with good tactile feedback.

Another similarity shared with the 85mm f/1.2 lens is the inclusion of an 11-blade aperture diaphragm. This keeps the aperture very well rounded when stopping down, more so than with the 50mm f/1.2 lens that only has a 9-blade diaphragm.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Performance

I’m no stranger to fast lenses and, historically, have often found them to lack sharpness towards the edges and corners of the frame, especially at or near the widest available aperture. How much that really matters in pictorial terms is a moot point, but I always think it’s nice to have corner-to-corner sharpness on tap if and when I need it. The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S does really well in this respect. Sharpness across almost the entire frame is excellent even at f/1.2, and still very respectable in the extreme corners. Even so, stopping to f/2.8 or preferably f/4 and narrower apertures works best if you want razor-sharpness right out to the edges and corners.

Getting back to really wide apertures, that’s kinda the whole point of this lens over the Z 35mm f/1.4 and f/1.8 primes. As always the two main benefits are faster shutter speeds under low lighting for freezing action (without bumping up your ISO setting very much) and, even more importantly, a tight depth of field. The latter is ideal for isolating the main subject within a composition by blurring the background, and maybe the foreground as well. Again, the lens works really well, not only by delivering a tight depth of field, but also in the quality of its bokeh. Defocused areas look wonderfully soft and dreamy, with a really natural looking roll-off between focused and defocused elements. There’s also virtually no axial chromatic aberration, often referred to as ‘bokeh fringing’, which can often be problematic with really fast lenses.

As promised, the 11-blade aperture diaphragm helps to retain a well-rounded appearance to bokeh disks when stopping down. These disks, often created by defocused lights and bright spots, are also impressively smooth in appearance, without the dreaded ‘onion ring’ effect, and remain fairly well rounded out to the edges and corners of the frame.

With really tight depths of field on offer for close-ups, I’m impressed that the autofocus system is both highly accurate and super-reliable. As I’ve come to expect with Nikon Z-system lenses, autofocus transitions are snappy for stills as well as being smooth and virtually silent when shooting video. For the latter, the absence of focus breathing when altering the aperture is a further bonus. All in all, image quality and overall performance are absolutely stellar.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Sample Images

The following gallery of sample shots were taken in bright sunny conditions (and in the shadows) at the Bristol Floating Harbour in the UK. I used a variety of subject matter and aperture settings to demonstrate the sharpness of the lens, as well as the quality of its bokeh.

Image 1 of 26

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Lab Results

We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.

We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration).

Sharpness:

Levels of sharpness closely follow those of the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S and Z 85mm f/1.2 S, with impressive consistency throughout the range. Sharpness across almost the whole frame is extraordinarily excellent for such ‘fast’ lenses when shooting wide-open at f/1.2, and extreme edge/corner-sharpness really gets into its stride at f/2.8 and narrower apertures.

Fringing:

Both lateral and axial chromatic aberrations are really negligible, the latter being a particular challenge for super-fast lenses at their widest apertures. Lateral chromatic aberration is measurable at f/4 through to f/16 at the edges of the image frame but still very hard to spot in real-world shots.

Distortion: -0.95

There’s a slight touch of barrel distortion but it’s almost entirely unnoticeable, even with automatic in-camera correction disabled.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S: Verdict

The Nikon 35mm f/1.2 S is in a different league to the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S and Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4. The f/1.2 aperture gives it an instant advantage in terms of speed, which in no way compromises image quality in terms of clarity and sharpness. Indeed, image quality and all-round performance are absolutely incredible in all respects. However, it’s a necessarily large and heavy lens compared to the other two Z 35mm primes, both of which are excellent, if rather more modest lenses. Sure, a great lens should last you a lifetime but the price difference between the Z 35mm f/1.2 S and its siblings will be enough to put off all but the most demanding photographers with the deepest pockets.

Alternatives

The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S was the first 35mm prime lens designed for Z-system cameras. It massively impressed us at launch and remains an excellent choice in today’s market, selling for around $847 / £899 / AU$1,451.

The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 is refreshingly compact and lightweight for an  f/1.4 prime. It lacks up-market S-line credentials but is a smart choice for street photography and videography. It’s also relatively affordable at around $597 / £649 / AU$1,099.