Today I’m taking a quick look at the brand new Nikon Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4. This is a unique lens in the Nikon lineup, bringing extra speed to the 35mm focal length, but is not one of Nikon’s S-Line premium lenses. This lens has caused some confusion among Nikon shooters as it comes in 2/3 of a stop faster, but with a lower price and presumably lower image quality than Nikon’s existing Z 35mm f/1.8S. I spent a little over a week with the 35mm f/1.4, so let’s discuss this new optic.
Before we begin, I want to clarify why this article is called a ‘mini-review’ instead of a review. You’ll see that the actual length of this mini-review isn’t any different from my normal lens reviews, but I didn’t get to put the lens through enough real-world shooting to feel comfortable in calling it a full review. Still, I shot plenty of images with the 35mm f/1.4, and did perform several lens tests with it, so unlike my normal reviews, there will be more ‘test shot’ type shooting and less real world shooting than I usually do. I do feel that I had enough time with the lens to adequately evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in order to discuss.
Construction and Handling
The Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 is an interesting lens, as it sits along side Nikon’s existing S-line 35mm f/1.8 S. That lens is positioned higher in the system, is more expensive, with better quality optics and a higher price tag, yet is 2/3 of a stop slower in aperture.
The 35mm f/1.4 falls into this new ‘fast consumer’ bracket that Nikon is purported to be creating, along with rumored 50mm f/1.4 and potentially 85mm f/1.4 lenses. However, despite not being an S-line lens, the 35mm f/1.4 is constructed quite well. The lens is very compact for a 35mm f/1.4 autofocus lens, and is almost exactly the same size as the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8 S and 50mm f/1.8 S. The S-line lenses have grooved metal focus rings and a hybrid metal/plastic construction, while the 35mm f/1.4 replaces that metal with more plastic and a rubberized focus ring. Despite the plastic exterior, the 35mm f/1.4 is very tightly assembled and feels well built. The lens has a metal lens mount and gasketed weather seals in its construction as well.
The compact nature of this lens lends itself to daily carry, and the 35mm f/1.4 handles beautifully on both my Nikon Z8 and the retro-styled Zf. It is unobtrusive and easy to simply toss in your bag, or carry around all day as a general purpose lens.
There are two controls on the exterior of the lens. First, there is the broad rubberized focus ring which turns smoothly and with a small amount of damping. Nikon has also added a control ring behind the focus ring, to allow for programmed control use such as aperture or exposure compensation. Strangly, this ring isn’t found on Nikon’s earlier f/1.8 S-line lenses. The lens lacks any other controls, including an AF/MF switch, so changing to manual focus must be done in the camera’s menus.
The 35mm f/1.4 does come with a petal-shaped plastic lens hood which locks securely into place via a bayonet mount, and it easily reverses for storage.
Autofocus
The Nikon 35mm f/1.4 features the typical stepper motor found in most of Nikon’s Z series lenses. These focus motors are very quiet and relatively quick, and the same is true for the 35mm f/1.4. In my limited time with the lens, I found it to focus fairly quickly, and usually accurately. Unlike most of my other Nikon lenses, though, I did occasionally have the 35mm f/1.4 miss focus every once in a while. It wasn’t a consistent issue, nor did it show any consistent tendancies. It just missed here and there. Overall, the focus is good, but not quite up to the best in the Nikon lineup.
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