Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 vs Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S
Not many Nikon lenses can be considered direct competitors to the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8, but there’s at least some overlap with the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S. Both lenses are wide-angle prime options with fairly large maximum apertures, even though the 24mm f/1.8 S is obviously the higher-end lens of the two.
How do they compare in sharpness? Below are our Imatest results from both lenses, with the 28mm shown first:
Make sure that you’re comparing the same apertures against one another! The chart for the 24mm f/1.8 S has two additional columns for the performance at f/1.8 and f/2. The same goes for most of the other lens comparisons on this page.
Once you compare the same apertures against one another, it’s clear that the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S is the sharper of the two lenses. It’s well ahead at every aperture from f/2.8 to f/8, especially in the corners. By f/11 and f/16, diffraction has mostly equalized their performances, as expected. It’s worth emphasizing that the 28mm f/2.8 is still a sharp lens – the 24mm f/1.8 S is just that good.
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 vs Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S
A similar comparison is between the Z 28mm f/2.8 and the higher-end Z 35mm f/1.8 S. As with the 24mm S-line lens, the 35mm f/1.8 S is several times heavier and more expensive than the Z 28mm f/2.8. But is it also several times sharper? Here are our tests, again starting with the 28mm lens:
Once again, the S-line prime smokes the 28mm f/2.8. This time, the story is the same no matter where you look. The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S is the sharper lens at every aperture and every part of the frame in our tests, with a particularly large advantage at f/2.8 in the center. As expected, the differences are not drastic at smaller apertures like f/11 and f/16, even though the 35mm f/1.8 S still comes out ahead.
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 vs Nikon F 28mm f/1.8G
The most similar F-mount lens to the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 is arguably the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, if only because they share the same focal length. Nikon never really made any pancake/muffin lenses for their full-frame DSLRs, unless you count the “nifty fifty” 50mm f/1.8G. Nevertheless, the 28mm f/1.8G isn’t a huge lens, and it could be interesting to see if Nikon has improved its prowess at 28mm in the intervening years. Here are both lenses in Imatest:
Finally a fair comparison! Here, at f/2.8, the DSLR lens comes out ahead in the center and corners, while the mirrorless lens is ahead in the midframe. At f/4, the corners of the two lenses look similar, while the 28mm f/1.8G has a modest advantage in the center and midframes. At f/5.6, the two lenses are extremely balanced no matter where you look in the frame. That holds true at f/8, f/11, and f/16, where the two have very comparable performance, albeit with a slight advantage to the 28mm f/1.8G in the corners.
Overall, the F-mount 28mm f/1.8G is the sharper lens of the two, but not by much. In practice, you will be hard-pressed to see any dramatic differences in sharpness between them, even if you shot the two lenses side-by-side.
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 vs Nikon Z 40mm f/2
To me, the most similar lens to the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 is one that has a totally different focal length and maximum aperture: the Nikon Z 40mm f/2. Both lenses are positioned for the same audience, with remarkably similar designs and prices. That’s not to say they’re meant for the same type of photography – I consider the 28mm f/2.8 a general-purpose travel lens, and the 40mm f/2 better for travel portraits and street photos – but they have considerable overlap.
Which one is sharper? It’s a close race:
Comparing the same apertures against each other, it strikes me that the 40mm f/2 has a slight advantage in the corners, while the center is pretty similar. Both lenses have fairly high levels of field curvature, so the central performance is inconsistent between the two lenses, but neither is really ahead in that region of the frame overall.
I’d give the nod to the 40mm f/2, but the performance here is similar enough that it’s unlikely to matter in real-world images.
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 vs Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S
All the comparisons so far have been between two prime lenses, but maybe you want to know how the 28mm f/2.8 compares to a typical zoom. Prime lenses almost always outperform zooms, but because the 28mm f/2.8 is on the cheaper side of things, perhaps that isn’t true in its case?
To answer that question, here are the charts for the 28mm f/2.8, followed by the charts for Nikon’s 24-70mm f/4 S at both 24mm and 35mm:
Are we really comparing two different lenses here? You could have fooled me!
The performance of the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 and the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S is surprisingly similar at a given aperture and portion of the frame. The only meaningful difference I see is a slight sharpness advantage to the 24-70mm f/4 S in the midframe, thanks to its lower level of field curvature. Even then, if you told me that the 28mm f/2.8’s graph above was just another focal length on the 24-70mm f/4 S, I would have believed you.
Next, I’ll sum everything up and give my final opinion on whether or not you should get the Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8. So, click below to go to the next page of this review, “Verdict”:
Table of Contents