Nikon once again updated its Z lens roadmap, and we now know of a total of ten Z mount lenses that will be released in the coming years. The most exciting part is that we will soon be seeing top-of-the-line 400mm and 600mm super-telephoto primes in the line-up! Here’s a first look at the new lenses you can expect to see.
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The Updated Nikon Z Lens Roadmap
Here is the latest version of the Nikon Z lens roadmap, updated as of October 14, 2020:
And here is the roadmap it replaces:
As you can see, Nikon added another 85mm prime to the roadmap (most likely an 85mm f/1.2 S lens), as well as two super-telephoto primes – 400mm and 600mm! These are probably going to be exotic Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 S and Z 600mm f/4 S lenses that are specifically designed for sports and wildlife photographers. With the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters already out, Nikon will finally have a nice set of super-telephoto glass, which is very exciting!
In total, every Nikon Z lens we know about is as follows. Lenses that have not yet been formally announced are marked in bold:
- 14-24mm f/2.8 S
- 14-30mm f/4 S
- 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 DX
- 18-140mm DX
- 20mm f/1.8 S
- 24mm f/1.8 S
- 24-50mm f/4-6.3
- 24-70mm f/2.8 S
- 24-70mm f/4 S
- 24-105mm
- 24-200mm f/4-6.3
- 28mm pancake lens
- 35mm f/1.8 S
- 40mm pancake lens
- 50mm macro lens
- 50mm f/1.2 S
- 50mm f/1.8 S
- 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 DX
- 58mm f/0.95 S
- 70-200mm f/2.8 S
- 85mm f/1.2 S
- 85mm f/1.8 S
- 100-400mm
- 105mm macro lens
- 200-600mm (non-S lineup)
- 400mm f/2.8 S
- 600mm f/4 S
- 1.4x Teleconverter
- 2.0x Teleconverter
We don’t yet know the maximum aperture values of some of these lenses, including the 400mm and 600mm primes, but we can roughly tell what they are going to be based on their previous designs. Hopefully, Nikon will release more information soon.
When Are These Lenses Coming Out?
The new roadmap doesn’t list any date projections for when the unannounced Z lenses will go on sale. It is hard to predict what specific lenses will be announced in 2021 for a number of reasons. First, Nikon has released some surprises that were not previously on the roadmap (1.4x and 2x teleconverters, as well as the new Z 24-50mm zoom). And second, given the current economic conditions and COVID 19, it might push new releases further into the future.
Analyzing the Future Lenses
A lot of Nikon’s upcoming lens lineup looks very interesting. In particular, it’s great to see a company put specific effort into releasing pancake lenses, as well as exotic super-telephotos. The latter has been a major pain point for all mirrorless systems, and it is great to see that Nikon will be releasing high-end 400mm and 600mm S-line primes. I really hope Nikon can push the optical design of these lenses even further compared to their F-mount counterparts, so that we end up with much lighter and sharper lenses that would couple well with both 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, especially when it comes to autofocus. Imagine being able to take sharp, properly focused images at 1200mm f/8 – it could be a game-changer!
It’s also nice to see not one, but two dedicated macro lenses on their way for the Z system. I would have preferred a 150mm+ macro lens rather than a 50mm and a 105mm, but I’m not complaining. The Z cameras are great for close-up photography for a few reasons – focus stacking, in-viewfinder magnification, focus peaking – and they deserve more than an adapted lens.
The 100-400mm also seems interesting to me. The biggest gap in the entire Z lens lineup was – and still is – a small aperture telephoto lens. Heck, I’d be first in line to buy the Nikon Z 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3… if it weren’t DX only. Most likely, the 100-400mm will still be too heavy to be ideal but at least it’s something. Still, you’ve got to wonder why Nikon continues to hold out and not release a lightweight telephoto zoom for what is, ostensibly, a travel-friendly camera system.
We also get the first super-telephoto Z lens – the 200-600mm, though no word on its maximum aperture – which very well could win fans for wildlife and sports photography. Seeing as though it’s not an “S” series lens, chances are good that it will mimic something like the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 VR, a well-regarded budget super-telephoto lens.
What Nikon really needs to push to its Z lens roadmap, is a sharp and lightweight 70-200mm f/4 S. Nikon, please, make this a surprise announcement – it should be on the priority list way before any of the specialized or exotic primes.
Nikon Z Lenses Announced So Far
The list below keeps track of all the Nikon Z-mount lenses that have been announced so far, in order from least to most recent:
2018
- Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S (our review)
2019
- Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 S
- Nikon Z 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 DX (our review)
- Nikon Z 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 DX (our review)
2020
- Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S
- Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S
- Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S
- Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR
- Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3
- Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S
- Nikon Z 1.4x Teleconverter
- Nikon Z 2x Teleconverter
If you want to find out more about the Nikon Z lenses, see Nikon Z Mirrorless Lenses page at Nikon USA.
Nikon Z Lens Delivery Issues
At this point, the biggest issue Nikon is facing is delivery issues due to COVID 19 and other logistical issues. Although the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S was released a while ago, it is still nowhere to be found as of October 2020, with very limited availability across all major retailers.
The pancake 28mm and 40mm are essential. My decision to move into the Z system will depend on those lenses. Nikon should inform better and release them faster.
nikon underestimates the need for pancake lenses. I would sell my leica Q or fuji X100 at any time and get a Z6 in addition to the Z7 as soon as I had a pancake on the Z.
They have it on the roadmap, just cannot produce all lenses there immediately. More disturbing is the omission of the affordable tele zooms.
I’m a bit annoyed that the 135mm 1.8s got scrapped.
It didn’t get scrapped. It was never on there in the first place. The “roadmap” that contained it was fake.
Spencer,
I think the reason that Nikon isn’t prioritizing a small-aperture telephoto for Z-mount is that the 70-300 AF-P is very new. AF-P lenses were basically the prototype for the Z lens focusing system, and being such a recent optic, there hasn’t been much time for optical technology improvements. Any gain in optical performance would likely need to come from the Z mount dimensions, and those have much greater impact on wide angle lenses rather than telephotos.
I know that people who are moving to the Z system are reluctant to spend money on an F mount lens, but this is a relatively inexpensive lens and all reports (including reputable folks like Thom Hogan) are that it works excellently on the FTZ adapter; even better than it does on the DSLRs in some cases. If I wanted this type of lens, I’d just buy a refurbished model; I would definitely get my money’s worth over the next few years while awaiting a Z mount replacement, which by then, Nikon may have made some technological and optical advancements.
I’d much rather Nikon focus on Z lenses that have no recent F equivalent, or have no F equivalent at all. So, for things not on the roadmap, I prefer wide-to-mild-telephoto wide aperture primes (f/1.2 lenses from 35mm to 85mm – the 28mm f/1.4E and 105mm f/1.4E are both recent and excellent and shouldn’t be a priority to replace – I’m certainly not ready to replace mine as I’ve had them less than a year) to a replacement for the 70-300 AF-P.
That said, I want to make clear that I agree with Nikon’s priorities in terms of what’s already on the roadmap. Like several others have mentioned, I will likely move into the Z system when the 28mm and 40mm pancakes arrive, hopefully around the time the Z6s/Z7s (or whatever they call them) arrive. I have a D500 and D850 now, so image quality and autofocus performance are not issues with my current equipment; portability is. Were I to buy into the Z system today, I’d really want a Z6 or Z7 kit with the new 24-50 for travel, with a plan to get the superlative 24-70 f/2.8S for pure image quality. The 24-70 f/2.8E is the one high quality F optic I’m not buying unless I get an excellent deal.
But having a Z camera and very compact lens so I have something sized similarly to my Nikon FM2/T film camera with the 28mm f/2.8 AiS but full-frame digital and autofocus is the system-seller for mirrorless for me.
Agreed, that’s very likely Nikon’s reasoning behind it. And the 70-300mm AF-P does match extremely well with the Z cameras.
Still, I’m personally not a big fan of the FTZ adapter in general, including how the camera must be removed from its tripod in order to attach it, and how autofocus accuracy doesn’t match the exceptional Z lens performance when it’s used (though its autofocus speed is excellent). Plus, as light as the 70-300mm is, it still would be nice to save the weight and leave the FTZ at home.
It’s not the end of the world that Nikon hasn’t released a lightweight telephoto for the Z6 or Z7, but I’m still hoping we get one sooner rather than later.
I am thinking that the 100-400mm lens will be relatively small. The current 80-400 isn’t that much larger than the 70-300 VR (not sure vs AF-P) but if they can make it a bit smaller, it might work as a stopgap until they produce these smaller zooms.
What I really want to know is when these lenses will actually be available. I am thinking the Z6s and Z7s will have upgraded AF and I will want to move from my DSLR’s, but it will be much less attractive for me without the 100-400 and 200-600 lenses.
I have the Z50 and the two kit lens. I have a whole fleet of Nikon Cameras and the Z50 and the two kit lens now gets the most use. Id also like to see the D500 upgraded. The D7500 is also an awesome camera. Considered a step backwards? Not by those who bought one!
I’m confident many wildlife photographers are quietly hoping the 2 telephotos are Phase-Fresnel. A 400 f4E PF SR FL and 600 f5.6E PF SR FL
They will complement the F-Nikkors very well.
Given the long delays in Z lenses coming to market Nikon should release a revamped FTZ adapter that can AF its older screw-drive lenses. It’s a lot easier to make a better adapter than design a Z 135mm/1.8 to replace the classic 135/2.0 DC.
That 135/1.8 lens is not even on the roadmap. The Sigma 135/1.8 works perfectly fine with the existing FTZ adapter. All old lesnes are working with old bodies and were designed for them. If I were R&D manager at Nikon, I would categorically refuse to work on adapters for antique lenses, as long as there are more urgent projects massively delayed. You think, Nikon has a bunch of engineers sitting around and wait until exotic ideas drop in?
If Nikon doesn’t speed up the development process and also the manufacturing problems, they will soon become a museum anyway.
Joachim, do you think Z cameras are flying off the shelves? They aren’t. Nikon’s biggest problem is that their DSLR users haven’t felt compelled to buy a Z camera that is less capable than their existing gear. The fact that the existing FTZ adapter can’t AF Nikon’s AF-D lenses nor index AI/AI-S lenses serves as an additional disincentive for owners of those lenses to ever switch to Z.
If Nikon R&D has time to design and build a Dodo bird like the 58mm/.95, they have time to design an adapter with screwdrive motor. Adapter design isn’t exactly rocket science.
Marco, I am Nikon user since 2010. I never bought any D-lenses because at the time I started with Nikon, the G-lenses were more silent and optically better. When did Nikon introduce the last D-lens?
So, anyone who wants to stick to old lenses and believes that they are better than the new ones should do so. Just don’t expect me to care about as I’m not that old and inflexible. I think, only Leica-owners are more conservative and attached to the past than Nikon owners are and maybe that’s a good thing, I don’t know. But it’s for sure nothing I want to find out.
And I tell you, even if Nikon would come out with such an adapter, the Z cameras would not take off more, they would not fly off the shelves. After that it’s still the lack of the “superior optical viewfinder” what the museum wardens like to criticize. And after that OVF would be included, they would start to moan about the need of batteries, as the old Nikon F didn’t need one. Did I mention that I don’t care about all that reasoning?
Nikon doesn’t need more adapters, they need to make up their minds where the future can be for them. Maybe they already tried to become more Leica-ish? The Noct – you have no idea how much I agree with you about that waste of resources! The grey “special edition” “holy trinity” just to remind Nikon owners, there once was one, but these days the lads in R&D can’t make them working again…
If Z doesn’t fly, then it’s not because of the lack of adapters. Each adapter is a confession “we can’t make the new ones quickly enough, so you need to take what you have”.
“Z cameras less capable than their existing gear” – this joke I also read numerous times and it looses it’s humour each time a bit more. Kind of this sentences usually only come from museum people who rather drank a gallon of old fixer than touch a modern system to find out for themselves what it s capable of to do.
But seriously, there is something Z cameras (and mirrorless in particular) are worse in. Nasim calls it “Red dots” and to me it’s “red/green colour blobs”. Looking at the Fuji GFX 100, the 10 k$ oversize FF beast, it’s also “RGB-beams”. Looks ugly and is hard or impossible to repair in post.
So honestly you and me better keeping at least one DSLR. For the museum. And for frontlight pictures.
The noct lens serves only 3 functions: 1. Show the world what the Z mount is capable of. 2. An engineering exercise to gain experience with the new mount, and 3. To be used by a small group of people for photos otherwise impossible. As an engineer, I recognize that these types of projects are not inteded to sell well, but they are intended to learn more.
Uhh, sorry, they are less capable for my needs (action) than my current DSLR’s. The AF on the Z series, even with the latest firmware, can’t track like a D500 / D5, especially with a fast moving dog coming right at you. Plus, I love wildlife photography, and they don’t keep up for that either. I would love to move the the Z series, but I am not going backwards with AF. Sony doesn’t force you to go backwards. Now Canon also provides superior AF as well. I am waiting patiently for Nikon because I like their ergonomics and I can use the adapter for some of my existing lenses for awhile while I replace them with Z lenses. This is not a small decision, as I will need 3 bodies and at least the new Z 70-200 (a requirement for my work). Also note that Nikon isn’t even shipping the new Z 70-200, a staple of all different kinds of photographers from action to portriats. So a lot of people are not waiting around because they are addicted to antique DSLR’s, it’s because there is not a more capable mirror-less camera / eco-system available for their use.
If I were shooting weddings or family portraits, I would already have switched (despite not providing 2 card slots, XQD is extremely reliable and despite lack of a native 70-200 lens), as it is obvious the Z cameras / system is better for that work. Also, it is obviously better for video, if that is a big part of the equation.
sceptical, I agree on everything you mentioned except “going backwards with AF.” Tracking is worse, yes, but accuracy is better and more consistent, especially on fast lenses. And honestly, the tracking on a D800/810/850 also jumps off to “something more shiny” after a few shots when using “3D-tracking”.
But as I said, I agree with everything else.
As for the people waiting around: few really tried a Z for themselves, most of them are filling the forums with things they heard or saw on YouTube. At the beginning the system was worse, but it isn’t catching up fast enough, neither AF-wise nor lens-wise. And I would not recommend buying into Z to anybody. I was hoping for more from Nikon, but then, they already manage to crash system 1 against the wall, maybe they don’t like to succeed?
I think you are exaggerating.
I have both Z6 and Z7 as well as a D7200 and D850. Both the new cameras are fantastic. I do not care if there is complete compatibility with screw mount as the new lenses for Z are far and away superior, even if somewhat slower, than the F mount options. The FTZ adapter works well for me with my Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma lenses. I am a pro who shoots sports and wildlife as well as news photography.
“What Nikon really needs to push to its Z lens roadmap, is a sharp and lightweight 70-200mm f/4 S. Nikon, please, make this a surprise announcement – it should be on the priority list way before any of the specialized or exotic primes.”
Yes! What he said.
It would be nice if the lenses would have a common filter thread size. As it stands right now, it seems to be all over the place. I get that it’s going to be difficult to achieve at some point. All I’m asking for is more consistency across the lineup.
It used to be possible in the past (look at the AI/AI-S lenses). Why not now?
Another aspect I don’t quite get: For years, Everyone[TM] beat the drum that mirrorless cameras and their lenses would be smaller, lighter, better. Yet I wouldn’t call the current lenses “compact”… Who really needs a f1.2 lens?
Also, will Nikon eventually release a range of primes for their DX cameras? Or will they be the realm of slow zooms?
A bellows unit and some extension tubes would be nice to have, too.
Just for shit and giggles — will there be an adapter to adapt the S mount lenses?
The Z7 with 14-30 f4 S, 24-70 f4 S and 70-200 f4 F is the highest-quality and lightest full-frame landscape setup on the market. How’s that for light?
There is no camera made by anybody that can accept an adapted Z-mount lens. The camera would require a wider and shallower flange than the Z-mount.
We dont need another wide zoom, normal zoom, 50 mm or 85 mm! We have them! Nikon must cover a wider range of lenses like a macro and supertele lens. That should be first priority! Too much of some lenses and nothing of other kind. With this policy, Sony and maybe Canon will be in the lead for years…