Nikon hasn’t added any new lenses to their Z lens roadmap for a while, and it looks like the roadmap is winding down. Still, there have been some big lens announcements both from Nikon and from third parties recently. As of March 2024, here’s what we can expect to see for the Nikon Z System over the coming months and years.
Table of Contents
The Updated Nikon Z Lens Roadmap
The following is the latest version of the Nikon Z lens roadmap. It was officially released in September of 2023, and it’s still current as of March 2024. However, it’s a roadmap in name only. As you can see, just one lens remains to be announced:
The only remaining unannounced lens is:
- A 35mm S-line lens
Sadly, it seems like we are coming to the end of Nikon’s roadmap, unless they decide to release a new version. Nikon previously said that this roadmap would cover “to 2023.” However, since it’s already March 2024 with no formal announcement of the mystery lens, I’m… shall we say… slightly skeptical about that timeline! (Still, it indicates that the 35mm S-line lens will probably arrive very soon.)
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 f/3.5-5.6 DX PZ VR
- 14-24mm f/2.8 S
- 14-30mm f/4 S
- 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
- 17-28mm f/2.8 (Tamron optical design)
- 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
- 20mm f/1.8 S
- 24mm f/1.7 DX
- 24mm f/1.8 S
- 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
- 26mm f/2.8
- 28mm f/2.8
- 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition
- 28-75mm f/2.8 (Tamron optical design)
- 35mm S (likely f/1.2)
- 35mm f/1.8 S
- 40mm f/2
- 40mm f/2 Special Edition
- 50mm f/1.2 S
- 50mm f/1.8 S
- 50mm f/2.8 macro lens
- 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 DX VR
- 58mm f/0.95 S Noct
- 70-180mm f/2.8 (Tamron optical design)
- 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S
- 85mm f/1.2 S
- 85mm f/1.8 S
- 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
- 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens
- 135mm f/1.8 S Plena
- 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR
- 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S
- 400mm f/4.5 VR S
- 600mm f/4 TC VR S
- 600mm f/6.3 VR S PF
- 800mm f/6.3 VR S PF
- 1.4x Teleconverter
- 2.0x Teleconverter
The official specifications of the unannounced 35mm lens remain unknown, but it’s pretty easy to predict that it will be a 35mm f/1.2 lens to match the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 and 85mm f/1.2 lenses. There has even been an accidental mention of a “35mm f/1.2 S” on some of Nikon’s social media, so I would practically call it confirmed at this point.
When Will Any Upcoming Lenses Be Announced?
The new roadmap doesn’t list any date projections for when the unannounced 35mm Z lens will go on sale, and anyone who tells you more than that is just making things up or repeating unsubstantiated rumors.
By the way, it wouldn’t be out of character for Nikon to release a lens that isn’t on the roadmap. That’s what happened with the following lenses, which were total surprises when they were announced:
- 1.4x and 2x teleconverters
- Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3
- Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8
- Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8
- Nikon 600mm f/6.3 VR S
I expect that there will be many more such lenses from Nikon in the future – in fact, probably all of Nikon’s upcoming lenses apart from the 35mm f/1.2 will be this way, unless Nikon re-launches their roadmap with new lenses.
Analyzing the Future Lenses
At this point, there’s not much to analyze! The unannounced 35mm prime 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, assuming that it really is an f/1.2 lens.
Apart from that, I’ll update this section as soon as Nikon releases more lenses for their roadmap, if they ever decide to do so. Same if there are any credible rumors of something that isn’t on the roadmap. I’ve been a big fan of the Nikon Z roadmap and hope that this isn’t the end of it!
Third-Party Lenses
Already, there are well over 100 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, to keep this article shorter, I’ll stick to listing third-party autofocus lenses below:
- Meike AF 85mm f/1.4
- Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3
- Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8
- Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7
- TTArtisan 27mm f/2.8 (DX only)
- TTArtisan 32mm f/2.8
- Sigma 16mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- Sigma 56mm f/1.4 (DX only)
- 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 75mm f/1.2 (DX only)
- Viltrox 24mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 35mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 50mm f/1.8
- Viltrox 85mm f/1.8
- Yongnuo 50mm f/1.8
- Yongnuo 85mm f/1.8
Of the bunch, probably the most exciting are the Tamron lenses. The Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 pairs well with the Z system considering Nikon’s lack of lightweight telephoto alternatives (see my Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD review). I’ve shot with this lens extensively and really liked it as a portable telephoto option for landscape photography. Hopefully it proves popular enough that Nikon releases a lightweight telephoto zoom of their own to compete with it!
The Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 is a totally different type of lens that really flies in the face of typical lens design. For event photographers who want a single do-it-all lens, it’s an extremely appealing set of focal lengths that could replace a multi-lens set (see my Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 review). As for the Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7, it’s a budget alternative to Nikon’s own 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, costing $1200 rather than $1700.
I’m also excited about the three Sigma DX lenses. Sigma is one of the best third-party lens companies, and these three lenses are a good start considering that there aren’t very many Nikon-brand Z DX lenses yet. All three Sigma lenses fill useful spots in the lineup, for anything from astrophotography to portraiture and street photography. The same can be said of the Viltrox Z DX lenses, although Viltrox is more budget-oriented than Sigma.
Most of the other third-party lenses listed above have Nikon Z equivalents already, so they don’t interest me as much, 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 oldest 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 Noct
- Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR (our review)
- Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-5.6 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 (our review)
- Nikon Z 2x Teleconverter (our review)
2021
- Nikon Z MC 50mm f/2.8 Macro
- Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Macro (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 DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR
- Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S (our review)
- 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 review)
- Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 (our review)
- Nikon Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S
- Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE (same optics as the 40mm f/2; our review)
2023
- Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S (our review)
- Nikon Z 26mm f/2.8 (our review)
- Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR
- Nikon Z DX 24mm f/1.7
- Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 (our review)
- Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR (our review)
- Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena (our review)
- Nikon Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S (our review)
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 Z8
- Nikon Z9 (our review)
- Nikon Zf (our initial 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.
Ever think we may see a 24mm f1.2? It may be outside the realm of practical, not sure. But I like to dream. I’d definitely buy it as long as it wasn’t over $3k.
I’d also like to see a 16 or 18mm prime or a revamped 20mm f1.8 that has a different design that minimizes the length of the lens. Still waiting for a small 70-200mm f4, although my interest for the latter has died down. Nikon has definitely done an excellent job fleshing out the telephoto lenses, but they have quite a few gaps on the wide end. It’d be nice if they redeveloped the roadmap, but it seems unlikely at this point.
It’s not impossible. There is no real limit to a lens’s aperture and focal length, it’s just a matter of the compromises you’re willing to accept. A 24mm f/1.2 would be large, heavy, and very expensive – $3K would not surprise me at all.
I’m wishing for a 300mm f/2.8 TC
It’s surprising how many 300mm f/2.8 lenses Nikon made for DSLRs, and how few for mirrorless :)
24mm PC-E please 🙏
I sure hope so!
No fisheyes? I love my old F: 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5 fisheye zoom, but having to add the FTZ on it to use it make it pretty unwieldy. I was surprised Nikon included absolutely no fisheyes in their line of lenses. It would seem that although it is a small market specialty lens, it is no more small market/specialty than some of the esoteric or almost identical lenses (e.g a HUGE 50mm f/1.2 or both a 20mm f/1.8 AND a 24mm f/1.8). I am pretty sure there are a lot of us who enjoy the unique creativity a fisheye, and especially a zoom fisheye, affords us.
THere are fishey lenses from TTArtisan and 7Artisans. I own one
I was actually wondering if anyone has heard if Nikon is developing and Power Zooms ?
I myself would love to see a video trio of ultra wide to telephoto done in S glass .
My preferred lenses are the 14-24 S f/2.8 , 24-120Sf/4 and the 100-400 S f/4.5 to 5.6 .
A small video company of individual could do a lot with those lenses.
I personally just got the 24-120 S f/4 . Mainly for my go to video lens that kind of will live as a carry around . The type of photography I do also benefits from this lens ( according to Photography Life and a few other reviews) . I shoot live music, events and festivals, close up nature and flower photography mostly . Then I’ll shoot some landscape but not a ton at both phots and video.
I’d love to have these lenses in a power zoom and a power zoom grip that Nikon should have made the Control grip one anyway.
I’m setting up a shoulder rig with a manual Zoom gear and using autofocus with the 24-120 S f/4 for now .
I do this with my Sony 200-600 and it works great for concert stage work .
Their only power zoom so far is the DX 12-28mm PZ, but at least it shows they’re working on the technology. It will probably be a while before we see it in a full lens lineup, though, if ever.
Why there is no 16-35 f/2.8 S lens ?
Unlike a lot of companies, Nikon has never made a 16-35mm f/2.8 even for their DSLRs. They did make an old 17-35mm f/2.8 many years ago.
I wouldn’t expect to see another ultra-wide f/2.8 zoom for the Z system, at least not any time soon, since the Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S and Z 17-28mm f/2.8 already exist.
I hope Nikon adopts Tamron 35-150 f2-2.8 but makes it wider 28-140mm (5x) with less flaring and under 1000g (even if it means having constant f2.8 to save weight).
It would be a perfect indoor, event/wedding, portrait zoom lens. And if it’s under US$2000 I’ll preorder it based on pre-production reviews!
Nikon won’t, but Tamron just did it for them! We’re just a few days away from the Tamron 35-150mm for Z mount starting to ship.
how many times I have to visit this page to read, that 70-200 F4 will come … :(
Yeah, I hope Nikon makes that lens soon. Now that the roadmap is nearing the end, we could be in for any kind of surprises.
I’m still using the terrific AF-S 70-200 f/4 with the FTZ adapter on Z-5 or Z-7. Internal zoom and internal focus, just as sharp as the AF-S f/2.8, and not that far off from the Z 70-200 f/2..8. With the adapter, it’s a little long, but not nearly as big as either f/2.8 Nikkor.
No plans for Z85 f 1.4?
None publicly, and it would actually surprise me if we see such a lens. Nikon has been going the route of an f/1.2 and f/1.8 version, skipping f/1.4. This is true of their 50mm, 85mm, and (presumably) 35mm Z lenses.
I need a z mount 120-300 f/2.8 – will there ever be one?
My guess is yes, there will probably be a lens like that. Nikon makes a lot of money from their supertelephoto primes, and the current lineup of exotics (400mm f/2.8, 600mm f/4, and arguably 800mm f/6.3)skips over the much-loved 300mm focal length.