Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S Review

Focusing Characteristics

The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S focuses quickly, quietly, and accurately. The lens has a large focus throw to ensure pinpoint focus at f/1.2. Meanwhile, the dual stepping motors allow surprisingly fast focus for an f/1.2 lens.

Granted, it doesn’t focus quite as fast as a speed demon like the Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 S, but it’s plenty fast even for quickly-moving subjects like someone jogging or dancing. This holds true in low light, where the bright maximum aperture is a major asset. Side-by-side against other Nikon Z portrait lenses, I found that it focused just a hair slower than the Z 85mm f/1.8 S and a hair faster than the Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena.

One of the few downsides of this lens is that it doesn’t have very good close-focus capabilities. You won’t find it a good match for something like wedding ring photos, even in a pinch. The maximum magnification of 0.11× is only enough to fill the frame with a subject that is about 33 cm / 13 inches wide.

Distortion

The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S has minimal distortion – unsurprising for a lens of this design, but still welcome. I measure 0.96% pincushion distortion in the lab, which is difficult to see unless you deliberately go looking for it. In the rare circumstances that it shows up in your photo, it is easily corrected.

Here’s a simulation of 0.96% pincushion distortion for your reference:

Vignetting

In uncorrected images, the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S has surprisingly little vignetting – much less than I would have predicted. Here’s a full chart of vignetting as measured in the lab:

The maximum that we see here is 1.38 stops of vignetting, which occurs at infinity focus and f/1.2. This is already low; you usually won’t need to correct it, and it only improves as you stop down. Well done, Nikon! It’s very unusual to see this on an f/1.2 lens. Looks like the lens’s massive diameter isn’t just for show.

Lateral Chromatic Aberration

There is a modest amount of lateral chromatic aberration on the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S. Though a little more than I would have expected, it is not enough to be bothersome. Here’s the chart:

Like I always say, anything under about one pixel is almost impossible to notice in real-world images, even with chromatic aberration corrections turned off. The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S doesn’t quite clear that bar, but it hovers just above it. It’s safe to say that you will rarely see lateral chromatic aberration with the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S. When you do, it can be corrected without leaving behind any lingering artifacts.

Sharpness

The Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S is a sharp lens throughout the aperture range. Even wide open at f/1.2, most of the frame looks quite strong:

You’ll see a little more context on the next page of this review, but this is a very impressive performance. I wouldn’t hesitate to use the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S at any aperture, including its signature setting of f/1.2. I’m especially struck by the strong midframes. Even if your portrait subject is off-center at f/1.2, they won’t be a blurry mess – far from it. More often, you may find yourself lowering the texture, sharpness, and clarity values in post-processing when you’re working with this lens, or you may end up showing too many details on your subject’s face.

In terms of other sharpness issues, there is a little bit of field curvature on this lens, mainly at f/1.2. Unless you’re shooting deep-sky astrophotography, it is irrelevant (and even then, it’s not bad). I also noticed a small amount of focus shift when stopping down from f/1.2 to f/2.8, with no focus shift at the subsequent apertures. Considering the paper-thin depth of field on this lens, I recommend re-focusing each time that you change apertures within that range.

Bokeh

Bokeh is another word for the qualities of the background blur in a photo. “Good” bokeh is subjective, since different photographers have their own preferences for how the background blur looks. That said, photographers commonly want their background blur to be soft, not distracting. Out-of-focus highlights that are round, uniform, and soft-edged are usually favorable.

85mm f/1.2 lenses are dream lenses for bokeholics. You can throw almost any background into a soft, creamy blanket with such lenses, and the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S is no exception. You need only look at the sample photos throughout this review to see the isolation power of f/1.2.

Here’s a comparison of the same subject from f/1.2 to f/4 to show what you’re gaining with such a wide maximum aperture:

But bokeh isn’t just about how shallow you can make your depth of field – it’s also about how out-of-focus specular highlights look. When the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S was announced, some photographers were concerned that it has two aspherical elements, which sometimes impart textures to out-of-focus specular highlights. There was also the question of whether we would see a “cat’s eye” shape to bokeh. How does the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S fare in these respects?

The answer is a little bit mixed. If you look closely enough, you can find out-of-focus specular highlights with a little texture, like in the image below:

It’s good news here, with just a little bit of a “pebble” texture rather than distinct onion-ring shapes. Also, note that the image above was taken at f/1.8, demonstrating that out-of-focus specular highlights remain nice and round even as you stop down. The rounded 11-blade aperture diaphragm is working exactly as intended here. At worst, there is only a small defined edge. There is also a little longitudinal chromatic aberration, where out-of-focus highlights behind the subject take on a slight green halo, and those in front of the subject become slightly magenta.

What about cat’s-eye bokeh? There isn’t much, if any, visible in the image above, which I took at f/1.8. However, you can see it distinctly when shooting wide open, like in the f/1.2 version of the photo below.

Personally, I’m not bothered by the cat’s-eye shape, but bokeh is subjective. If you don’t like it, your best bet is to pick the Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena instead. Nikon designed the Plena with a much larger than full-frame image circle in an effort to get totally circular bokeh throughout the frame. Meanwhile, the Z 85mm f/1.2 S has a more traditional image circle.

At the end of the day, we can nitpick little details, but the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S does a very good job with blurry backgrounds. That’ll be even clearer on the next page of this review, where you’ll see how it compares to some alternatives.

Flare

As with most long, complex lenses, you’ll get plenty of flare with the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S when the sun is in the frame. The lens’s nano crystal coating does a good job retaining contrast in backlit situations. That said, I’m surprised that Nikon didn’t use their higher-end ARNEO coatings in this lens. At $2800, I would have expected such coatings (which are found in the Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena, for example) – but even so, the lens doesn’t do a bad job in backlit situations compared to other 85mm lenses, so maybe I’m complaining about nothing.

The next page of this review dives into the 85mm f/1.2’s bokeh and sharpness a bit more, with some comparisons against other lenses that Nikon users may be considering. So, click the menu below to go to “Lens Comparisons”: