Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.2 S Announced
A couple of days ago the Nikon NIKKOR Z 35mm f/1.2 S was announced.
The dedicated special contents page and technical specifications of the lens can be viewed here:
This is a highly anticipated lens by many photographers ever since its silhouette appeared in the Z lens roadmap a few years back, and I would expect that this lens would be in pretty high demand for some time, even though its price tag does lean towards the high side.
When the Z 35mm/1.4 was announced last year, it caused some commotion within the photography community as it lacked the “S” moniker and many were expecting a flagship f/1.2 lens. After the initial commotion had simmered down it became quite obvious the Z 35/1.4 was a new line of large aperture compact(ish) lenses which renders like the more classic F-mount equivalents, and this was further cemented in place by the Z 50/1.4 that was released later that year.
Back to the 35/1.2S itself, it deserves its “S” designation and flagship 35mm status in every sense. Sample images from reviewers around the globe all show that it has very good sharpness within the region in-focus, and the transitions to the out-of-focus regions are smooth and beautiful, with very pleasing rendering of specular highlights in the background.
Nikon gave it all the coatings that were available to them, which helps in delivery high clarity images and highly suppressing ghosting and flaring in backlit situations - again this was nicely documented and shown in many of the images in the sample gallery that were backlit by the sun.
The lens also suppresses focus breathing optically, and seems to work very well for cinematographers or videographers who shoot with the entire width of the sensor and not having to worry about software cropping to compensate for focus breathing issues.
While I personally am not in the market for this lens since I do not shoot with a 35mm focal length much, I am very much impressed with the performance of the lens and am truly excited for anyone who has been anticipating and waiting for this lens ever since it appeared on the roadmap.
It is definitely a no compromise lens (with an equivalent price tag and physical size to go with), and seeing how Nikon devotes itself to correct optical flaws physically rather than via software for a flagship lens is definitely something worthy of praises.
With this release, the 35/1.2S finally completes the Z lens roadmap, and for future products only Nikon themselves know exactly what is cooking in their secret labs. Fingers crossed for a modern version for the Ai-S 105/2.5 with similar physical dimensions!