Compact primes for the Nikon Z system

Compact primes for the Z system

End of June 2021 Nikon launched two compact – and low cost – primes, the Z 40mm f2.8 and the Z 28mm f2.8 SE. The second one was a SE (Special Edition) lens with a retro look matching the style of the Nikon Zfc body. Since I’m not in the retro thing – I wouldn’t use the dials of the Zfc much apart from the exposure compensation – I waited until the standard Z 28mm f2.8 became available in November 2021. I bought this lens a few months after its launch when it became readily available here in Bangkok.

The AF-S 28mm f1.8 G was one of my favorite lenses on my D3 for city walks late in the afternoon and into the night, combined with my old AF 85mm f1.8. I like the 28mm angle, it’s wider than 35mm and as such is a better fit for those environmental portraits. On the other hand, going all the way to 24mm is a bit too much for those images showing people and what they are going about. This is why the 28mm ended up in my bag, and not the AF-D 24mm f2.8 or the AF-D 35mm f2.0, which I used on the D3 as well.

As Nikon doesn’t make a Z 28mm f1.8 lens (yet?) the Z 28mm f2.8 was the logical stand-in, particularly when looking at its low price

Size, specifications and build

This new compact lenses are about the same size as the AF-D 24/28/35mm f2.8 lenses; check out the table comparing these lenses. I included the Ai-S manual lenses and the 45mm ‘pancake’ as well to complete the comparison. There’s a lot of complaining on the internet that “full frame lenses are too bulky and heavy” these days. We can clearly see that this is not the case. The new compact Z primes are lighter than their older counterparts and about the same size – the few millimeters more in diameter will not make any significant difference, neither in your bag nor mounted on the body. There’s only one lens that is really smaller and lighter – the old Ai-P 45mm – but you will have to wait for that 26mm on Nikon’s roadmap to complete the picture.

Lens	length	width	weight	filter	closeup	magnification
Nikkor Ai-P 45mm f2.8	17mm	63mm	120g	52mm	45cm	0.13x = 1:7.6
Nikkor Z 40mm f2.0	46mm	70mm	170g	52mm	29cm	0.17x = 1:5.9
Nikkor AF 35mm f2.0D	45mm	56mm	205g	52mm	25cm	0.24x = 1:4.2
Nikkor Ai-S 35mm f2.0	52mm	64mm	280g	52mm	30cm	0.18x = 1:5.7
Nikkor Ai-S 28mm f2.8	59mm	63mm	250g	52mm	20cm	0.26x = 1:3.9
Nikkor Ai-S 24mm f2.8	57mm	63mm	250g	52mm	30cm	0.11x = 1:8.8
Nikkor AF 24mm f2.8D	46mm	65mm	270g	52mm	30cm	0.11x = 1:8.9
Nikkor AF 28mm f2.8D	44.5mm	65mm	205g	52mm	25cm	0.18x = 1:5.6
Nikkor Z 28mm f2.8	43mm	71mm	155g	52mm	19cm	0.2x = 1:5

I don’t have any problems with the plastic mount of the new Z lenses and build quality is fine. A plastic mount isn’t an issue for such a light lens in my opinion. Of course many on the internet see this differently, but I don’t see how this could affect the use and performance of the lens really. If your drop your camera and the mount breaks of it’s perhaps better that way – if it doesn’t your body might suffer some serious damage! However, you would be very lucky not to have any serious damage in such kind of accidents, metal mount or not. I experience one such incident, my AF 80-200mm f2.8 D (push/pull) was a total loss, broken in two, damage to the lens mount, barrel heavily dented. The body (F5) suffered damge, too, in form of a visibliy bent lens mount. I was able to unscrew the part and hammer it back into a somewhat flat shape. With those makeshift repairs I could continue to take photographs afterwards. The full repair later on was quite expensive as there had been more damage to the body than just the metal ring of the lens mount.

Likewise the lack of a mount seal doesn’t bother me too much, a plastic mount should seal better than a metal one. Plus some rain should be fine with the other seals, and if it’s raining cats and dogs you won’t be out there shooting without some serious protection anyway. Overall nothing to complain about, not for lens at such a price point. Optics are more important here – and the little 28mm doesn’t disappoint here.

Yes, it’s not in the class of the ‘S’ lenses, but you will have to pixel peak to see the differences. Bit less sharpness towards the corners, some chromatic aberration, some vignetting. Distortion and flare aren’t much of a problem, and I do like the out of focus rendering. Overall a solid performer, nobody is gonna tell you that your image is bad because you used a subpar lens. You can view images on large high res screens and print them large with this lens, no doubt about it, even if technocrats will tell you otherwise.

Use case

While not as fast as the f1.8 S lens series f2.8 is quite capable for low light work – remember that’s what the pro’s use, f2.8 zoom lenses. Small and light those primes are a great addition to slower, smaller zooms. I like my 14-30 f4 combined with the AF-P 70-300E, but when it gets dark those zooms aren’t the best solution. Add some of those small and light primes and there you go. One or two won’t make much difference in weight nor do they take a lot of space. It would be great having something a little longer here as well, perhaps a 70mm f2.8 or even a 90mm, compact and affordable. This way you could add one wide and one short tele to your setup.

Of course two such primes – or even just one, pick your favorite – make for a minimalist walk-around setup as well. Head into town in the afternoon, when the sun goes down, bring just two small(ish) primes, shoot. I do this quite often and it’s a great setup for this kind of street shooting. Going out with friends or family? Grab your favorite lens and body and off you go. In my case this is the Z 28mm f2.8.

Then there’s Dx of course. As 42mm, 60mm (or even 75mm if you count the slightly bigger 50mm Macro in as well) you’ve got some interesting companions for the z30/z50/Zfc bodies. Great performers on these Dx bodies, reasonably fast and a great match in terms of size. As there’s no IBIS in those Dx cameras one needs to pay attention to the shutter speed, but as I usually shoot moving motives with those lenses it’s not much of an issue.

And the bottom line is?

Yes, I’m a big fan of such small, light and affordable primes and hope Nikon will extend this line. I can see myself throwing three or four such primes into my bag instead of two 1.8’s at times. A little less capable in low light but still very usable and more variation in focal length. Yes, why not, they are great fun to shoot, based on my experience with the Z 28mm f2.8 so far.