I’ve had these two lenses since their release, and photographed many weddings, events and portraits with them, plus I’ve used them for general photography and more. It’s time to have a look at them an discuss them in more detail in my long-term review.
First things first, if you want technical details or sharpness charts, you are in the wrong place. Lenses are more than sharp enough these days, and a slight adjustment in software can make even the least-sharp lens sharp enough. This is a real-world review, which is much more important than any test charts can give you.
“Lens look and feel”
Both the Z35mm and Z50mm lenses are almost identical to look at. They are good looking, modern lenses that feel sturdy to hold and are not too heavy. Both lenses have a 62mm thread, custom dial (which you can use for aperture control or a multitude of other things) and are weather sealed.
When sitting on any Nikon body they look great, and come with a nice plastic hood, that while on the larger side, is needed to stop sum flare if you’re shooting in the bright sunlight.
“Focus”
Both lenses are fast to focus, with accurate results. The Z50mm F/1.4 might be a tiny bit slower to focus than the Z35mm F/1.4, but in practise they feel identical.
I use the lenses side-by-side on two bodies (the Nikon ZF and the Nikon Z6ii) and the focus works the same on both cameras, even in low light situations such as weddings.
Talking of low light, this is where these two F/1.4 lenses shine! That extra light you get when moving from F/1.8-F/2.8 is very noticeable when keeping your shutter speed up and your ISO low.
“Bokeh”
Of course, the big thing we all want to talk about. The bokeh! Being F/1.4 lenses, at equivalent distances to lenses with other apertures, you get noticeably more out of focus backgrounds.
When you move in even closer, you can really make your subject stand out, which of course can be very important in certain scenarios.
The bokeh has been described as “nervous” by some people, and “retro” by others. It certainly has character when wide open, and the background is not clinically smooth.
“Sharpness”
All lenses are more than sharp in this day and age, and especially on Nikons superior Z-mount. The F/1.4 lenses are not Nikon “S” line, but in all honesty that doesn’t matter in everyday or work use as they are excellent.
At F/1.4 the lenses are pretty-sharp, by the time you stop down to F/4 it’s pin-sharp and after F/5.6 they are clinically sharp. For paid work, including magazine images, weddings, portraits, events, sport and even wildlife where you can get close enough, the lenses are excellent and you often see professional photographers using these lenses day-to-day (and for good reason!).
“Conclusion”
You see many people saying the Z50 F/1.8S lens is a clinically sharp beast, which of course it is, and there is no denying that. On your screen, in front of you when you are zoomed in to 200% it’s a beauty to behold. While, in the real world, where you are sharing to clients, doing prints, magazine articles, sharing on social media and so-forth, none of that matters as much, and these lenses produce amazing photographs.
The extra light you get at F/1.4 is genuinely useful for photographers in low light situations, and the look of the images that these lenses produce is very nice, with character that clinical lenses often don’t give (clinical as in a photocopy of the world around you).
The pair are a fantastic combination in many situations, although I would suggest buying ND4 or ND8 filters for photographing outside in the summer sun.
You will find many more examples of these lenses in my blog section.
My name is Mark G Adams and I run Photography By Mark G Adams. I am a professional photographer from South Wales, shooting weddings, events and portraits as well as running meets and workshops. For fun I like to shoot landscapes, wildlife and occasionally do street photography. Enjoy my website as I share my knowledge learned over decades of working and having fun in photography.
You can find all the latest articles and blogs on my homepage here.
My main photography social media page is my Photography By Mark G Adams page.
Nikon Recipes for the Z system can be found here.
You can find a complete list of my gear here.
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