Nikon once again updated its Z lens roadmap, adding a few brand new lenses to its mirrorless Z System. Specifically, the most recent update adds new details about the upcoming 85mm f/1.2 S and 26mm f/2.8, while revealing eight lenses in total that will ship in 2023. Let’s take a look at these lenses – and everything else we expect to see for Nikon’s mirrorless system – today.
Table of Contents
The Updated Nikon Z Lens Roadmap
The following is the latest version of the Nikon Z lens roadmap, announced on November 9, 2022. It’s still current as of early February 2023, although the mystery 26mm and 85mm lenses are officially in development now. (They still have not been formally announced, but we know how they’ll look at least.)
As you can see below, the number of unannounced lenses is dwindling – not a bad thing, really! – but there are still some intriguing lenses that have yet to be released. Nikon says the roadmap covers “to 2023,” so presumably, all of the remaining lenses will be announced this year.
Nikon most recently added:
- A 35mm S-line lens
- A 135mm S-line lens
- A 70-180mm non-S zoom
- Details that the 12-28mm lens has a “PZ” designation (most likely standing for “power zoom” but an outside chance of “Piezo motor” or something else)
The other unannounced lenses – all of which have been on the roadmap for a while now – are:
- An 85mm S-line lens (whose development has been announced officially as an f/1.2 lens)
- A 200-600mm non-S lens
- A 26mm lens (whose development has been announced officially as an f/2.8 lens)
- A 24mm compact DX compact lens
In total, every Nikon Z lens we know about is as follows. Lenses that have not yet been formally announced are marked in bold:
- 12-28mm DX
- 14-24mm f/2.8 S
- 14-30mm f/4 S
- 17-28mm f/2.8 (Tamron optical design)
- 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
- 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
- 20mm f/1.8 S
- 24mm f/1.8 S
- 24mm compact DX
- 26mm compact (official development has been announced; will be f/2.8)
- 35mm S (likely f/1.2)
- 24-50mm f/4-6.3
- 24-70mm f/2.8 S
- 24-70mm f/4 S
- 24-120mm f/4 S
- 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR
- 28-75mm f/2.8 (Tamron optical design)
- 28mm f/2.8 SE
- 28mm f/2.8
- 35mm f/1.8 S
- 40mm f/2
- 50mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 50mm f/1.2 S
- 50mm f/1.8 S
- 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 DX VR
- 58mm f/0.95 S
- 70-180mm non-S (likely f/2.8)
- 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S
- 85mm S (official development has been announced; will be f/1.2)
- 85mm f/1.8 S
- 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S
- 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens
- 135mm S (likely f/1.8)
- 200-600mm (non-S lineup)
- 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S
- 400mm f/4.5 VR S
- 600mm f/4 TC VR S
- 800mm f/6.3 VR S PF
- 1.4x Teleconverter
- 2.0x Teleconverter
The official specifications of the unannounced lenses remain unknown, but we can predict some of the maximum apertures with reasonable certainty. It’s likely that the 35mm will be an f/1.2 lens to match the 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/1.2 lenses. I’d be surprised if the 135mm is anything other than f/1.8 or possibly f/2. And because the 70-180mm lens is probably a Tamron-designed lens (something I’ve written about before), it will likely be a 70-180mm f/2.8 to match their existing lens for Sony E-mount.
As for the other lenses – the 200-600mm, DX 12-28mm, and DX 24mm – your guess on the maximum aperture is as good as mine. And of course, no information is publicly known, so take my predictions above for what they’re worth. 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, although my assumption is that all of these lenses will be announced throughout 2023. It should be noted that the unannounced lenses which has been on the roadmap the longest is the 200-600mm. (Also, based on Nikon’s development announcement of the 26mm f/2.8 and 85mm f/1.2 lens, those will likely be the next two Z lenses to ship.)
At the same time, it isn’t clear if the roadmap represents everything that Nikon will announce in 2023. Nikon has already released some surprises that were not previously on the roadmap: 1.4x and 2x teleconverters, the Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3, Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8, and Nikon Z 28-75mm. It’s also possible that lingering supply chain issues might push one or two of the unannounced lenses to 2024, at least for the shipping date, despite Nikon’s use of the phrase “through 2023.”
Finally, these two graphics are also worth keeping in mind:
The images are slightly out of date by now, but they still do a good job showing the relative sizes of some unannounced lenses – specifically the DX 12-28mm PZ, the DX 24mm, and the 200-600mm. I don’t think Nikon has more updated versions of these graphics, but please let me know in the comments section if you’ve found them somewhere, and I’ll update this article.
By the sizes of the unannounced lenses – especially in the first image – we can infer a few things about their purpose. For example, the unreleased 24mm DX lens seems to be a small pancake lens somewhere between the 26mm f/2.8 and 28mm f/2.8 in size.
Note that Nikon’s illustrations for the 35mm S, 70-180mm, and 135mm S lenses in the diagram above are the same as one another. This is just a placeholder drawing and probably does not represent the appearance of any of those three lenses specifically.
Analyzing the Future Lenses
At this point, there are eight lenses left on the roadmap, including some very interesting-looking lenses. One that’s sure to be popular is the 200-600mm lens (not S-line), which may be a relatively inexpensive option for photographers who need a long lens. At the same time, it’s nice to see that Nikon is continuing their line of compact prime lenses with the unannounced 24mm DX and 26mm FX lenses. Compact lenses pair very well with the lightweight Z cameras, and I’d love to see a comprehensive set of them some day.
Meanwhile, the 35mm prime (presumably f/1.2) will be a highly sought-after combination with the 85mm f/1.2 S for wedding photographers and others who work in low-light conditions. The mystery 135mm lens is likely to fall under the same umbrella, too.
Meanwhile, the 70-180mm will highly likely be an f/2.8 lens, completing Nikon’s “cheaper” f/2.8 trio of rebranded Tamron lenses. I had hoped instead for a lightweight telephoto zoom option, which is still somehow missing from Nikon’s native lineup after all these years (aside from the 24-200mm f/4-6.3, which is a surprisingly good lens for a superzoom, but is still a superzoom).
Third Party Lenses
At the moment, there are a ton of third-party lenses for the Nikon Z system, but almost all of them are manual-focus only. While there’s nothing wrong with manual focus lenses, they don’t have as wide of an appeal as autofocus lenses.
Some of the key third-party autofocus lenses available for the Nikon Z system are as follows:
- Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Viltrox 23mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Viltrox 33mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Viltrox 24mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 35mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 50mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 85mm f/1.8
- TTArtisan 32mm f/2.8
- Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8
- Yongnuo 85mm f/1.8
- Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
Of the bunch, probably the most exciting is the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3, which is Tamron’s first official lens for Nikon Z cameras. It’s a good lightweight telephoto option for Z users considering the lack of native options. It just recently started shipping, and hopefully it proves popular enough that Nikon releases one of their own to compete with it!
The Viltrox DX-only prime lenses also look interesting to me if you have a Nikon Z30, Z50, or Zfc – since there aren’t many native Nikon Z lenses for their DX cameras yet. Most of the other third-party lenses listed above have Nikon Z equivalents already, although they could still make sense if you’re trying to save money.
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 VR (our review)
- Nikon Z 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 DX VR (our review)
2020
- Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S (our review)
- Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR (our review)
- Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 (our review)
- Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S
- Nikon Z 1.4x Teleconverter
- Nikon Z 2x Teleconverter
2021
- Nikon Z MC 50mm f/2.8 Macro Lens
- Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Macro Lens (our review)
- Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 (our review)
- Nikon Z 40mm f/2 (our review)
- Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE (same optics as 28mm f/2.8; our review)
- Nikon Z 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
- Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
- Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 (our review)
2022
- Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S (our initial review)
- Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S (our review)
- Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S (our initial review)
- Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8
- Nikon Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S
- Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE (same optics as the 40mm f/2; our review)
2023
- 85mm f/1.2 S (development announcement only)
- 26mm f/2.8 (development announcement only)
If you want to find out more about the Nikon Z lenses, see Nikon Z Mirrorless Lenses page at Nikon USA.
Nikon Z Cameras
All the lenses above are Nikon Z mirrorless only, meaning they will not fit on any Nikon DSLR regardless of the adapter you use. At the moment, these are the only cameras which work with Nikon Z lenses:
- Nikon Z30
- Nikon Z50 (our review)
- Nikon Zfc
- Nikon Z5 (our review)
- Nikon Z6 (our review)
- Nikon Z6 II (our review)
- Nikon Z7 (our review)
- Nikon Z7 II (our review)
- Nikon Z9 (our review)
Of these cameras, the Nikon Z30, Z50, and Zfc have a DX sensor (AKA 1.5x crop sensor), while the others have a larger FX camera sensor. However, all of Nikon’s Z lenses fit on all of these cameras, DX or not. If you use one of Nikon’s DX lenses on an FX camera, your photos will be automatically cropped to fit the DX area. See more at Nikon DX vs FX.
You didn’t mention the many and excellent Laowa Z lenses.
Some of them are very good lenses, especially the Laowa macro lenses. However, none of them are capable of autofocus. This article is already long enough without listing the literally hundreds of third-party manual focus lenses for the Z system.
The wide angle dx sold me on picking up a z50 as a 2nd camera for hiking and backpacking.
It should be here before too long, and I suspect it will be a great backpacking combo.
So am I understanding this correctly that the 200-600 will not be released in 2023?
It should be released in 2023! Nikon’s roadmap apparently covers through the end of this year, and since the 200-600mm is on it, I would be very surprised if it’s delayed until 2024. That said, I’m only talking about the announcement date, not the shipping date.
We can’t wait for that 200-600, yet I don’t know what to expect from a non S Line zoom. I just wish there was a Z 500/600 PF S Line…
Hello,
Santa sent me a Viltrox Z DX 56mm f/1.4, for which I had high hopes. It looked great, and I fired it up.
Alas, the CA was even worse than online reviewers had said. I had to stop it down to f/2.8 to match the IQ of my Z DX 40mm at f/2!
Even worse, said reviewers didn’t explore the Z system’s many AF modes. The Viltrox doesn’t support my favorite Z focusing mode at all!
So for me, the pretty Viltrox was a Fail within 30 minutes of testing. I tried to contact Viltrox Support, hoping they had a firmware fix for the AF problems. They didn’t respond at all, and I’m returning it.
I can provide more details, if someone’s interested.
Happy shooting,
Old Ed
On the subject of 3rd party lenses I bought the TTArtisan 32mm Z mount which is autofocus. There are very few reviews on it but given its very low price I thought I would take a chance. I was expecting it to be probably a bit slow and less than sharp but I found it completely the opposite, with the only thing to notice is some vignetting when wide open. It reminds me in some way of the 30mm Meyer Lydith (?) I had back in the 70s It is more than acceptable for the few times a year I use it and super lightweight and compact. I would love to see a professional review though
A 70-180mm non-S zoom <—afaik this will be a tamron rebranded
I’m looking to upgrade to full frame from a beloved Z50 that I use for travel and street photography (I’ll keep it for this!). Despite the currently discounted prices for Nikon cameras, the lack of compelling 3rd party lens options and the slow progress on smaller primes and the lack of primes with aperture control rings (I’ve never bonded with using a dial for this) has me looking at Sony…there are so, so many more options.
nikon still need some pro caliber prime like 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 200mm and 300mm.
In terms of performance, the 20mm f/1.8 S and 24mm f/1.8 S are certainly pro-caliber. They’re two of the sharpest wide-angle lenses I’ve ever tested. If you mean that Nikon needs a wider aperture version like a 20mm f/1.4 or even f/1.2, I don’t see that being one of Nikon’s priorities any time soon.
I agree with the rest of your list. I think we’ll see either a 200mm or 300mm prime with an f/2 or f/2.8 maximum aperture at some point.
I think there is a reason, Nikon is not spending resources in development of 200 f/2 or 300/2.8 etc. Those are little expensive and very specific use case lenses. Nikon’s whole strategy to bring shooters to Z mount was to give them usable, affordable, practical, very good every day lenses. People shift systems for lenses. If someone already has a F mount 56mm f/1.4 or 300 f/2.8 , it is already good enough for him/her with an FTZ and z7. Look how expensive 400 f/2.8 is. But Nikon already scored with 400 f/4.5 and 800 f/6.3 imho. They are sorely missing 200-600mm really. Must be some patent issues or cost/profit sharing negotiations with tamron for its delay.
Defiantly need a 300mm f/2.8 option for us sports photographers.
I’m waiting for a compact 20mm FX. The 20 available now far too big to be of any use to me and totally negates the weight advantage of a mirrorless body.
The profile of the future 600mm is slightly different from the one that was announced recently. Look towards the mount. I suspect there’ll be another version like it was with 400, maybe less expensive f5.6 without built-in TC…
I think so too.
It’s possible, but I’d deem it unlikely. The silhouettes haven’t always perfectly matched the lenses.
I really hope you are right!! I am dying for an 600 PF F5.6!!!!