Nikon recently announced two new lenses to their Z mount lineup, the 35mm and 50mm f/1.4 lenses. These two bridge a big gap in the lineup which consists of a S-line f/1.2 lens and S-line f/1.8. The price point for both f/1.4 lenses however is considerably cheaper than the S-Line f/1.8 lenses. That peculiarity, along with my personal familiarity with using 50mm f/1.4 lenses with my film cameras, is what drives this review.
In this Nikkor Z Lens Review, let us take a closer look at the comparative differences between the f/1.8 S lenses and the f/1.4 lenses. What lens captures the best imaging quality and which lens is better for capturing portrait photos, pet photos, and street photos?
Background: familiarity with the f/1.4 speed lenses
I own two f1.4 lenses which I use extensively with film photography. In particular one of my favorite matchups is using my Nikon F4 or Nikon FE, with a 50mm f/1.4 prime lens. While the F4 has autofocus capabilities (on my F4, at least 1988-innovative AF), I often prefer to manually focus the lens. Having that added sharpness and low light control with the fixed ISO in film photography translates often to my photography on my Nikon Zf. While I do often change ISO controls I prefer using lower ISO settings on my Zf.
Getting ahold of the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.4 put immediate film photography familiarity into my Zf. Controlling this lens, even in autofocus, felt so vintage. Additionally, in contrast to the f/1.8 lenses, both of the f/1.4 lenses have an additional control reel, which I set to be aperture control. Another added familiarity to film photography with my Zf.
Immediate reaction to attaching all the lenses to my Zf
Both the 35mm and the 50mm lenses were lightweight. While not as lightweight as my owned 40mm f/2, there’s very little to no weight balance loss. That also is the case with the f/1.8 lenses though both of them were a bit longer.
The biggest difference between the two lens, besides their aperture, is the presence of a second control reel in the f/1.4 lenses. For me, that extra control reel is a huge boost. Sometimes I prefer to manually control various aspects of the lens. On my Zf, I programmed the large reel to be focus and the small one to be aperture controls. Later, I will talk more about control differences with these lenses.
In daylight, the f/1.8 lens did perform marginally better with autofocus. Honestly in my experiences though, autofocus performance is more or less about the camera processor rather than the lens, and the Z6III AF especially with videography is second to none, like I mentioned previously, being on par with the Z9.
Imaging quality: Joe the Dog
On two different nights, I met up with my friend Kaori and her dog Joe, who you should be familiar with from our previous reviews. Both nights I did a number of tests to capture how well the f/1.8 S and the f/1.4 lenses of both focal lengths performed with capturing the dynamic movements of a small dog.
50mm and 35mm f/1.8 S Lenses
First, let’s look at the Nikkor Z 50mm and 35mm f/1.8 S lenses. The dynamic range is pretty capable with these lenses.
50mm f/1.8 S
You can see how stable Joe looks, but also maintains nice coloring of Joe’s fur. I should note these were edited like I would normally edit photos, but particular to note is that I didn’t need to change the contrast so much in Lightroom with these lenses.
The Zf recognized Joe’s eye as the focus point, but still kept most of him in focus. This shot was at f/1.8, as well. Impressive that he was able to be focused this closely.
As stated above, the lens maintained color contrast very well. Very little, if any editing, is needed with these lenses to keep Joe’s varied fur colors intact even when shooting in low light. Kaori mentioned too during the shoot, the contrast and dynamic range of the S lenses is impressive.
35mm f/1.8 S
35mm lenses allowed for me to get a bit closer to Joe without compromising focus. As such, in retrospect as I was editing these photos, I used the 35mm focal length more than the 50mm lenses.
Autofocus settings to pet priority, the Zf working with the 35mm f/1.8 S still kept Kaori in focus, as well.
A little closer to Joe, you can see his face in focus but the rest of him in bokeh. The contrast of his hand-knitted sweater as well is well-maintained.
Overall, you can tell from the bokeh that the f/1.8 S lenses are constructed differently than the f/1.4. but let’s look closer at the f/1.4 lenses.
50mm and 35mm f/1.4 Lenses
Even with just a slight step up in iris from 1.8 to 1.4, the light control with the Nikkor Z 50mm and 35mm f/1.4 lenses is quite different. I could lower the ISO (thus avoiding grain) with these lenses, giving me more versatility. The sharpness of the lenses is also quite apparent; I had to be a bit more precise with focusing on Joe’s head. The Zf’s pet autofocus uses Joe’s eye as a focus point, so the 50mm f/1.4 was a bit too close to ensure Joe’s head was entirely in focus. Like I said, photographing Joe was much easier to do with the 35mm f/1.4 lenses.
50mm f/1.4
The lights of the streets of Kamakura bokeh beautifully with the 50mm f/1.4 lens. However, you can see how Joe’s nose is a bit blurry here. That’s the risk you run with a larger focal length at this aperture.
35mm f/1.4
This lens ended up being the winner for Joe photography. Nothing against my beloved 50mm focal length (for any lens that is), 35mm f/1.4 in low light proved to be extremely versatile. Let’s see why.
Coloring-wise, the lenses did spread the dynamic range a bit further out, but as I have said before, dynamic range is more or less a product of the camera sensor rather than the lens.
Comparison – the 50mm f/1.4 and the 35mm f/1.4
Let’s take a closer look at Joe. Same type of shot, same iris and ISO, but the two focal lengths are different:
Favorite shots from the f/1.4 line of lenses
Kaori, Joe’s owner, chose these 2 photos of Joe as her favorites. Both were shot with the 35mm f/1.4, iris all the way open. Photo on the left had an ISO setting of 400, and the one on the right, at an ISO of 4,000. Both show how impressive the controllability of the 35mm can be with different ISO settings. The shot of Joe running toward me also shows the performance of the 35mm f/1.4 in motion shots, with an exposure time of 1/1000.
Meanwhile, my personal favorite of Joe was also shot on the 35mm f/1.4 is this photo. The ability of Nikon Z cameras performing in low light is already well documented. The fast lens and the beautiful bokeh for the 35mm even in a close up shot like this is unbelievable.
Photo Setting – Cosplay Event Outdoors
At the invitation of my friend Suki, who is a cosplayer in Tokyo, I took all 4 lenses to the Ikebukuro Halloween Cosplay Event in Tokyo. This one day event afforded me the opportunity to test these lenses out in portraiture settings where capturing color dynamics and bokeh is of utmost priority. Let’s run a comparison between the different focal lengths.
First, let’s look at the 35mm lenses, then move to the 50mm lenses.
35mm f/1.8 S
The 35/1.8 S, for a while, was the best available 35mm Z-mount offering for the price, until the 35mm f/1.4 was announced. This lens, however, slots into the S line of Nikon lenses, which is renown for its construction quality and bokeh. Additionally, many users say the S lenses maintain color and contrast better than non-S line Nikkor Z lenses.
The 35/1.8 S indeed proved to be capable on its own right.
I took two of the same shots here. Above is at its largest iris. Note how sharp Suki’s face is compared to the rest of her. Also note behind Suki, the bokeh is very pretty.
To get more of Suki in focus, I set the aperture to f/7.1.
Note here the slight lens aberration behind Suki. Normally this can be fixed in post, but it was odd this came up in the shot.
Suki told me during our shoot she liked how the 35mm f/1.8 lens kept her skin tone well. Out of all of the photos we took together, this one was her favorite:
35mm f/1.4
The biggest benefit for having a 35mm lens at this event is the ability to get more of my subject in frame. The cosplay kaijo was very crowded, and carrying around a massive backpack didn’t do me any favors in terms of keeping the walkways clear. With the 35mm focal length I could get more of Suki’s cosplay outfit in the shot.
This photo’s iris is set to f/2.5. This allows me to get more of Suki in focus here while still having a nice dynamic background.
The goal for this shot was to get the motion blur with her prop sword. The faster iris of the 35mm f/1.4, the larger focal length, and decent dynamic range allowed for this shot. One of my favorites of the day.
Here’s a portrait shot. Note the bokeh in the leaves behind her. For the ‘cheaper’ model, the bokeh is circular and well pronounced, albeit a little bit smaller in diameter. It also slightly swirls a bit. That’s impressive to me, especially coming from my experience using vintage lenses.
50mm f/1.8 S
Remember, 50mm is my personal preference for shooting due to my familiarity with the focal length through film photography. To get more of Suki in frame for these shots, I had to scoot back a bit. However, even scooted back, this lens produced some impressive bokeh in contrast to the majority of Suki being in focus.
There’s a lot to note here in this photo. Note the trees in the background maintaining color vibrantly, and the building in the far background. Yes, of course its all bokeh’d out but the color of those elements maintained very well.
50mm f/1.4
Recall f/1.4 is the aperture settings of the film camera lenses that I use most. The first photo I will show is from a Halloween event Suki went to with me. In very low light with only a streetlight to illuminate her, this is the result.
The contrast is incredible, as well as the circular bokeh. Having that extra stop of iris that I could use helped make sure I did not need much in the way of ISO gain. 1/125 and ISO of 6,400, this photo was very easy to edit.
Now for the cosplay event photos with this lens. In contrast to the 50mm f/1.8 S lenses, there was some contrast editing I needed to do in Lightroom with these. However, I am very impressed with the results.
You can see in the below photo the contrast differences over the S lenses. The S lens would show more individual wig hair lines. Again, that could be fixed in post.
Some differences in techniques between the two lenses
The S-line lenses, as stated before, only have the singular control point – the focus reel. While it is possible to change the controls in-camera to suit one’s particular need, having that singular control point when paired with a highly manual camera such as my Zf provided a bit of an automated feel to my shooting. While for some that does add a layer of comfort and ease of operation, for me, I much prefer more precise controls to shooting photography. The f/1.4 lenses, with the secondary control reel, provided that precision. I programmed the second reel to be my iris control, and that allowed me to photograph the f/1.4 lenses the exact same way I would photograph with my film lenses.
What do you think of these lenses? Let us know! We will be sharing some of these comparative photos on our social media in the coming weeks, so be sure to follow our social media accounts!
Special thanks to Suki and Kaori for their assistance with this review! Also extra thanks to Joe the dog!
More Sample Images
50mm f/1.4
35mm f/1.4
50mm f/1.8 S
35mm f/1.8 S
