Nikon Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8 S Review

Nikon recently launched its first full-frame mirrorless camera, and with it a handful of native lenses.

The Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8 S ($849.95) is the first prime lens to ship—there's a 50mm f/1.8 coming next month.

If you're a fan of the 35mm angle of view, be happy to know it's a good one.

It captures crisp images, sports a bright aperture for a shallow depth of field and low-light photography, and is sealed to prevent dust and moisture from getting inside your camera.

It's an excellent lens, albeit one with an asking price on the high side, and a good fit for Z buyers who want a 35mm prime.

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Light and Bright

The Nikkor Z 35mm shares its outward look with the other Z lens available at launch, the Z 24-70mm f/4 S.

It's an almost plain black lens, with a mix of metal and polycarbonate construction.

Markings are in understated white text, a departure from the metallic gold Nikon uses for its modern SLR lenses.

The only bit of flash is a glossy Nikkor S logo on the side of the barrel.

The 35mm balances well on the Z 7 body.

It's fairly light, about 13.1 ounces, and compact at 3.4 by 2.9 inches (HD).

It ships with the standard front and rear lens caps, a reversible lens hood, and a soft carrying case.

The front element supports the 62mm filter size.

Internal seals protect the lens, and your camera, from dust and moisture.

The Z 7 is one of the best-sealed cameras according to a teardown by Lensrentals, so feel comfortable using the pair in rough weather.

Both the front and rear elements are coated with fluorine, which repels oil and water.

It means raindrops will slide off instead of beading, and you can quickly wipe off a fingerprint with a microfiber cloth.

There's a single control switch on the side, marked A/M.

It switches between automatic and manual focus.

The manual focus ring is big, occupying a good half of the barrel.

It has a bare plastic finish, with ridges so you can get a better grip.

I would have preferred Nikon use a rubberized finish, but it looks like we'll be seeing this style for manual focus rings from the Z system, with rubber reserved for zoom control.

In addition to manual focus, you can set the control ring to perform another function when autofocus is enabled.

Currently, the Z 7 only supports EV and f-stop control via the ring.

But there's a problem—while it's easy to make minor adjustments to focus, even a small turn of the ring can dial in extreme changes to the EV compensation or aperture setting.

When you factor in how easy it is for the ring to turn when the camera is hanging from a strap at your side, you have a feature that potentially does more harm than good.

Until Nikon fixes the sensitivity issue via firmware, you're better turning off the control ring function.

Close focus is available to 9.8 inches.

It's not a macro by any means—at best it magnifies objects at 1:5.3 life-size.

It still lets you get up close, but you won't be capturing the tiny details in a flower.

Nikon hasn't yet released a macro prime for the Z system, but it's compatible with Micro-Nikkor SLR lenses using the FTZ Adapter.

The lens doesn't have optical stabilization, but the cameras with which it works, the Z 7 and Z 6, do.

I've only used the lens with the Z 7 so far, but it does a fine job stabilizing handheld shots and video.

Crystal Clear Photos

I tested the Nikkor Z 35mm with the 45.7MP Z 7 and software from Imatest.

At f/1.8 it delivers very good resolution, about 3,379 lines averaged across the frame.

Most of the frame matches or exceeds the average, but edges do fall well behind, showing just 2,051 lines.

That's a notably soft result—we want to see at least 2,750 lines from the Z 7's sensor.

Results are nearly identical at f/2.

We see an uptick in resolution at f/2.8.

The average score climbs to 4,041 lines, putting the 35mm squarely in excellent territory, and while edges aren't that sharp, they're still quite good at 3,156 lines.

At f/4 the average score improves to 4,396 lines and the periphery of the frame shows just shy of 3,700 lines.

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To get superb results across the entire frame, set the aperture to f/5.6.

The lens is just about at its best here (4,652 lines), with edges that hover around 4,300 lines—outstanding results all around.

We see very similar results at f/8 (4,649 lines) and f/11 (4,597 lines).

You can shoot at f/16, but diffraction cuts the resolution a bit; we still saw 4,090 lines, though.

The Z system adds automatic lens corrections to its Raw files, similar to what cameras have been doing for years with JPGs.

Adobe Lightroom Classic applies them to images and does not allow you to turn them off.

The corrections compensate for distortion, vignetting, color fringing, and other effects that can detract from photos.

If you use a Raw converter that doesn't apply them, or shoot JPGs and disable in-camera correction, the 35mm shows about 1.9 percent barrel distortion.

But if you don't fiddle with settings, and if you use Adobe products to process Raw images, you won't see any barrel distortion at all in photos.

The 35mm does cast a pretty heavy vignette at the corners when shot at wider apertures.

With the Z 7's Vignette Control set to the default Normal setting we see a -3EV drop at the corners at f/1.8, -2.6EV at f/2, and -1.1EV at f/2.8.

At smaller f-stops the vignette isn't noticeable.

This gives photos a bit of a natural frame, a plus for portraits—you can always dial in a bit of additional manual Lightroom correction if you don't like the look.

For landscape shots you'll probably be working at a smaller aperture and enjoy consistent illumination from corner to center.

If you're working with Raw images in different software, be aware the vignette is heavier.

With correction turned off the lens shows -4.3EV at the corners at f/1.8.

It lessens as you stop down—there is -3.8EV at f/2, -2.3EV at f/2.8, and about -1.3EV at f/4 and smaller f-stops.

I think most photographers will be happy with Nikon's automatic corrections to Raw images, but I do wish Adobe would allow you to toggle them off if you aren't a fan.

A Potential Workhorse

There is nothing flashy or sexy about the Nikon Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8 S, but that's not a mark against it.

It's a lens that has the potential to be the go-to for Z system photographers who love the moderate wide-angle look delivered by a 35mm.

Other prime lens options are few and far between at this point.

Your only real alternative is using an F-mount SLR lens via the FTZ Adapter, which is something I'd recommend if you're interested in a different focal length or a 35mm with a brighter f/1.4 aperture, or to save money by using your existing lenses.

If you prefer a tighter angle of view, the Z 50mm f/1.8 is less expensive and will start shipping soon.

Wide-angle fans should know there is a 20mm f/1.8 slated for next year and a 24mm f/1.8 for 2020, but additional details aren't available.

But if you're shopping for a native lens, and a 35mm is what you're after, the Nikkor Z is an excellent performer—it's plenty sharp, usable in rough weather, and bright.

But it's not a budget option.

At $850, it's notably pricier than the Nikkor AF-S 35mm f/1.8G, which sells for around $600.

The Nikkor Z is a much better-built lens, however, and doesn't require an adapter for use with your Z 6 or Z 7.