Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Home โ†’ Reviews โ†’ Cameras and Lenses โ†’ Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 Review

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 Review

By Spencer Cox 57 Comments
Last Updated On February 10, 2025

«»

My Recommendation

The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 surprised me more than once. At first, it surprised me by simply existing – I didn’t expect that Nikon would announce a 35mm f/1.4 given their popular Z 35mm f/1.8 S, not to mention the rumored 35mm f/1.2 S on the roadmap. Then, I was surprised to see that it was a non-S lens costing less than the Z 35mm f/1.8 S. Finally, I was surprised that it performed this well! It’s not a perfect lens by any means, but it’s plenty sharp and doesn’t have any fatal flaws. Especially for the $600 price, this is a really good lens.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 Sample Photo-00035
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 64, 1/200, f/1.4

Here’s how I’d sum up the pros and cons of the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4.

Pros:

  • Very small and light given the f/1.4 maximum aperture
  • Weather sealed and no external moving parts
  • Good sharpness, vignetting, and lateral chromatic aberration performance
  • Excellent value at $600

Cons:

  • Relatively slim design with no A-M switch
  • Unusually high distortion for a 35mm prime
  • Corner sharpness and coma performance is pretty weak at f/1.4 and f/2
  • Lack of high-end coatings harms the flare performance and contrast in backlight
  • Focus speed is slower than most Nikon Z lenses
Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 Sample Photo-00007
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 64, 10/1, f/16.0

I didn’t expect to be a fan of the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4, but I came away thinking that it’s an impressive lens. No, it’s not impressive in quite the same way as lenses like the Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 Plena or other expensive, high-end glass. But in its balance of price, portability, and performance, it really shines. Recall that the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 is about one-third of the price of the Nikon AF-S 35mm f/1.4G, yet it’s smaller, lighter, and sharper. That’s a very rare thing to see.

Of course, photographers who need the utmost image quality should still go with one of Nikon’s S-line primes, and the Z 35mm f/1.8 S is the obvious candidate. But frankly, for real-world images, the ability to shoot at f/1.4 often matters a lot more than the image quality differences between these lenses. For Nikon mirrorless photographers who want a strong, versatile 35mm prime lens, the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 will be my main recommendation going forward. What about the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S? It still gets my recommendation, but only for photographers with more specialized image quality needs.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 Sample Photo Car
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 64, 1/400, f/1.4

Conclusion

The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 is available for $599 through any of our affiliates:

  • Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4 at B&H – See Current Price and Sales
  • Check at Adorama
  • Check on Amazon
  • Used prices on KEH

Thank you for buying your equipment through the links above, whether it’s this lens or anything else! When you do, Photography Life gets a small percentage of the sale without costing you anything extra. It goes a long way to help us test more equipment.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 Sample Photo-00024
NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.4 @ 35mm, ISO 400, 1/60, f/9.0

The next page of this review has some more sample photos from the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4, followed by reader comments on the final page. Use the Table of Contents below the star rating to jump to the section you want.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.4
  • Build Quality and Handling
  • Size and Weight
  • Sharpness Performance
  • Other Image Quality
  • Value

Photography Life Overall Rating

Photograhy Life Silver Award
4.6

Table of Contents

  • Introduction & Build Quality
  • Optical Performance
  • Lens Comparisons
  • Verdict
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
«»
Looking for even more exclusive content?

On Photography Life, you already get world-class articles with no advertising every day for free. As a Member, you'll get even more:

Silver ($5/mo)
  • Exclusive articles
  • Monthly Q&A chat
  • Early lens test results
  • "Creative Landscape Photography" eBook
Gold ($12/mo)
  • All that, PLUS:
  • Online workshops
  • Monthly photo critiques
  • Vote on our next lens reviews
 
Click Here to Join Today
 
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 ยท Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment