The bokeh may not be the best around, but it’s a handy option and one that still out-performed adapting older 35mm f1.8 F-mount options from Nikon and Tamron see my Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S review for more details. If you prefer using a mild wide-angle prime lens for general-purpose use, consider the Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S, which offers a much brighter aperture than the zooms above. Alternatively if you fancy something longer still and don’t mind adapting an F-mount lens, then consider the Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR at a similar price, or the Tamron 28-300mm f3.5-6.3 Di VC for a little less. The super-zoom may lack the S indicator for the best quality, but it does offer a much broader 8.3x range, reaching much further without having to swap lenses.
If you prefer to have a broader range at your disposal, the only option in the native mount is the Nikon Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 VR which is roughly similar in price to the Z 24-70mm f4 S. If you really want a 24-70mm f2.8 but can’t afford the Nikon options, consider adapting the F-mount versions of the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 Art or Tamron 24-70mm f2.8, both available for around half the price of the native Nikon model. It’s understandably larger, heavier and more expensive than the f4 model, but recommended you can afford it, and it also represents a step-up in quality over adapting the earlier 24-70mm f2.8E VR for F-mount.
As such it’s a no-brainer as a first lens, but the subsequent Z 24-70mm f2.8 S delivers sharper results, more attractive bokeh plus the benefits of an extra stop of aperture along with a handy OLED display see my Z 24-70mm f2.8 S review for more details. The Z 24-70mm f4 S has become the standard kit zoom for most of the full-frame Z bodies and delivers very good performance in a compact and light body – plus the price is often heavily subsidised if you buy it at the same time as the camera see my Nikon Z 24-70mm f4 S review for more details. Starting with general-purpose zoom lenses for full-frame Z cameras, Nikon offers three options in the native Z-mount: the Z 24-70mm f4 S and Z 24-70mm f2.8 S which share the same range but differ in aperture, price and weight, and the Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 VR which offers a super-zoom range and optical stabilisation. If you’re using a DX-format camera, the field of view of all lenses, whether DX or FX, will be reduced by 1.5 times, so a 50mm would become equivalent to 75mm.Ībove: the Nikon Z7 with the Z 24-70mm f4 S lens You can fit any Z-lens to either type of camera, although lenses with DX in their title are only designed to be sharp over the smaller APSC area, so are not recommended for full-frame bodies unless you want to achieve a special effect. Z-series cameras are available with full-frame sensors, (known as FX in Nikon’s terminology), or smaller ‘cropped’ APSC sensors (known as DX by Nikon). Nikon launched its Z-series full-frame mirrorless system in mid-2018, but while it’s relatively young, Nikon has been steadily building a catalogue of lenses starting with the basics along with some more exotic options that showcase what the system is capable of. As always I’ll link to my reviews and sample image galleries where available, along with including links to check the latest pricing.īest Z-mount lenses for Nikon Z mirrorless cameras
Since the Z system is comparatively young, I’ll also include a handful of DSLR lenses in that guide as alternative options. This doesn’t work the other way round though, so it’s not possible to fit a Z lens onto a DSLR.
First I’ll start with my Best Z-mount lenses for Nikon Z-series mirrorless cameras, followed by my Best F-mount lenses for Nikon DSLRs.į-mount DSLR lenses can also work with Nikon’s mirrorless cameras using an optional adapter, so my DSLR lens guide equally applies to Z-series cameras and will provide lots of alternative models. I’m splitting this guide into two sections depending on whether you shoot with a Nikon mirrorless camera or a Nikon DSLR, and you can jump directly to each section as required. Today we give you the best resource of the camera lens.Welcome to my Buyer’s Guide to the Best Nikon Lenses! Whether you have a Nikon DSLR or mirrorless camera – or both! – you’ll find out which lenses I can personally recommend from Nikon, along with third-party manufacturers including Sigma, Tamron and Samyang. No need to search anymore for the best camera lens for different types of photography.