There aren’t a lot of photographers who have used every Nikon Z lens. And actually, I’m not one of them – I still need to test two, the Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 Noct and the newest Z 35mm f/1.4. But I have tested 38 of the 40 (plus both TCs), and by now, I’ve settled on my favorites and least favorites of the bunch. I’ll share those with you today.
Before I begin, I should mention that there are many more important things in photography than camera and lens selection. Get a lens that meets your needs, and after that, try to think as little as possible about gear. It will only distract from your photography.
That said, I’m writing this article for a reason. The reality is that most of the questions I get these days are about lenses. Which makes sense – these are big purchases, and most people don’t have the ability to try a bunch of lenses themselves and only keep their favorites. So, I hope that you’ll find this article useful if you’re in that boat.
Keep in mind that I’m just one photographer with an opinion. But at least my opinion is based on experience with almost all of Nikon’s mirrorless lenses.
Most Favorite
There are only two Nikon Z lenses that I’ve given a perfect 5.0/5 star rating on Photography Life. I consider these to be my two favorite Nikon mirrorless lenses: the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S and the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 S Macro.
Starting with the 14-24mm f/2.8 S, this lens improves upon the famously good F-mount 14-24mm f/2.8G more than I would have thought possible. It somehow manages to be sharper than its predecessor, and it’s also very flare-resistant (which was the biggest flaw of the F-mount version). It even has excellent image quality at f/2.8 in the corners, making it an ideal choice for Milky Way photography. Optically, there is not a single meaningful flaw with this lens.
It’s also impressive mechanically. Very few 14mm zooms can take normal filters, but this one is the exception, utilizing a 112mm filter thread in combination with the HB-97 lens hood. It’s lighter than competing zooms, and it accomplishes all this as a semi-internal zoom (where the front element moves within a fixed barrel). Taking everything into account, it is one of the strongest and most capable lenses I’ve ever seen.
Then there’s the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 Macro. This lens has some of the best optical performance of any Nikon Z lens today, including excellent corners throughout the aperture range. I don’t see any substantial flaws with this lens except that it doesn’t take teleconverters. Apart from just sharpness, it has great bokeh and retains excellent contrast in backlit conditions, as well as impressive vignetting, distortion, and chromatic aberration characteristics.
I had very high expectations for this lens, since Nikon has always been known for good macro lenses. Even so, it still surpassed them.
Those were the only two Nikon Z lenses that earned a perfect score in my reviews, but several others came close. The following lenses stand out to me the most upon reflection:
- Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S: A nearly perfect ultra-wide prime with exceptional image quality. It loses one tenth of a star only because the usual price of $1050 is a little high. (Sony’s equally perfect 20mm f/1.8 G costs $900. Any time the Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S goes on sale for a similar price, it rises to 5.0/5 in my book.) All of the other Z f/1.8 primes are also great optically, but that’s a more difficult accomplishment to pull off at 20mm.
- Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S: Not optical perfection, but probably the best all-around midrange zoom that I’ve used. It balances price, weight, reach, and image quality better than anything else out there. What’s more, it remains just as strong at the longer focal lengths, which is very uncommon for this type of lens.
- Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 Plena: This one is optical perfection – or at least, as close as I’ve ever seen – although it’s big, heavy, and expensive. If you like this focal length, you really can’t beat the Plena.
- Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S: The sharpest zoom lens we’ve ever reviewed, with better corner performance than almost any other lens on the market (including high-end primes). It’s not just sharpness, either. Nikon has steadily refined the handling, focus speed, and general image quality of their 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses over the years. This one is the epitome of their efforts.
- Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S and Nikon Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S: Of course, the image quality is impeccable – no surprises there. But what really impresses me is the built-in teleconverter. This is a transformative technology. I hope it makes its way into less expensive lenses one day.
What about Nikon’s other Z lenses? Almost all of Nikon’s mirrorless lenses have impressed me so far, especially the telephotos and anything in the S line. And the non-S lenses still punch above their weight in many cases. There’s a reason why I called this article “my favorite” Z lenses and not “the best” Z lenses – I don’t think that there is such a thing as the best ones, just the best for your needs.
For anyone who might be wondering, my personal Nikon Z kit is simply the 14-30mm f/4 S and the 24-200mm f/4-6.3. I chose them because the Nikon Z system is my lightweight/hiking camera kit of choice, and those lenses are great for traveling light. They aren’t my “favorite” lenses in a subjective sense, and I have a few gripes with them, but they were ideal for my situation.
Least Favorite
This is going to be a shorter section, because so far there have only been two Nikon Z lenses that I don’t like. All of the others are logical choices in the niche that they occupy, even if I wouldn’t buy them for my own photography. But I think that Nikon could have left these two on the drawing board.
First, the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8. I know that this lens has its fans among photographers who want the lightest possible kit, but I think that its older brother – the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 – makes more sense. The 28mm version is less expensive and clearly better optically. Unfortunately, the corners on the 26mm version never really sharpen up. In many of my sample photos, I ended up having to crop them out even at narrow apertures.
I still enjoyed how light the 26mm f/2.8 was when I used it. But I could say the same thing about the 28mm version. The difference between the two in weight is a mere 35 grams (1.2 ounces), barely more than a lens cap – pretty irrelevant most of the time.
The one saving grace of the Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 is its size. Other than its oddly-designed lens hood, the 26mm is about half the length of the 28mm – itself already a slim lens. If you’re willing to pay for this portability both in price and image quality, be my guest. But I think $500 for the 26mm f/2.8 is too high when the better 28mm f/2.8 costs $300. These two lenses often go on sale for $400 and $230 respectively, but the story is the same.
Finally, we have my least favorite Nikon Z lens, the Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3. The zoom range is tiny, and the maximum aperture is dim. It’s also one of the weakest Nikon mirrorless lenses optically, performing even worse than Nikon’s superzooms (i.e. the 24-200mm and 28-400mm). I do like that it’s small and ultralight, but so are prime lenses. I think that either the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 or the Nikon Z 40mm f/2 makes a better choice for most photographers who are considering this lens. (Plus, you could almost buy both of those lenses for the price of the 24-50mm.)
If I squint, I can see the case for the 24-50mm f/4-6.3 as a travel photography or hiking lens. However, even then, I would prefer a Nikon DX camera with the 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 instead – which is 60 grams lighter, plus the DX camera is lighter on top of that. Not to mention that the DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 has a better zoom range and is sharper from corner to corner! In many cases, you would actually get better image quality from the DX kit.
Again, don’t let me rain on your parade if you love the 24-50mm f/4-6.3. But it’s not for me.
Conclusion
Nikon’s mirrorless lens lineup has expanded at a nice pace over the last few years, and now we’ve got a pretty comprehensive system. Some of the lenses are obviously better than others, but even taking the worst lenses into account, the average quality of the Z system is really impressive.
Now that I’ve used all but two of Nikon’s mirrorless lenses (and published a review on all but six), I can confidently say they’re all capable of good photos in the right hands. Yes, that includes the 26mm f/2.8 and 24-50mm f/4-6.3 – it’s not even a question. But if you wanted to know where I stand on my favorites and least favorites, I hope you found this article useful. You can also check out our lens reviews for more comprehensive discussions on these lenses and others that I didn’t have the space to include today.