Mini-Review: Nikon Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4

Conclusion

Pros

Compact and well constructed
Reasonable sharpness wide open at most focus distances
Sharp across the frame at smaller apertures
Classic rendering may be appealing to many
Good control of lateral chromatic aberration and vignetting
Reasonable Price

Cons

Softer at wide apertures than most modern glass
Very soft off axis when focused near MFD
Bokeh can be quite busy, especially at medium distances
Inconsistent flare performance
High native distortion
Some autofocus inconsistencies

The Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 is a hard lens to quantify. It’s a very fast lens for a 35mm, and while the $600 price tag isn’t exactly cheap, it is also far more affordable than the vast majority of 35mm f/1.4 optics. The lens does not carry Nikon’s top-tier S-Line designation, and for good reason. The lens performs much like a classic 35mm lens from, say 20-30 years ago, with decent, but not great resolution wide open, some funky bokeh, and several other aberrations.

Still, despite the downsides, it’s not a bad lens. It gives usable speed with decent image quality, and some may very much like the unique out of focus rendering. The bokeh is technically quite poor, but it is poor in a way that can also be aesthetically pleasing depending on your tastes. However, in my opinion the biggest knock against the 35mm f/1.4 is the fact that the 40mm f/2 exists. That lens is a full stop slower, and not quite as wide, but it’s also half the size, half the price, and delivers almost identical image quality in the overlapping range, except the 40mm is a little sharper off axis at very close focus distances. As such, if you like the rendering of the 35mm f/1.4, you will also like the rendering of the 40mm, and can have that plus $300 in your pocket.

If you absolutely need the faster aperture, the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 can be a good lens to grab, and will certainly be capable of netting you some good shots, but for me it sort of sits in this awkward middle ground between the very affordable 40mm f/2 and the more expensive, 2/3 stop slower but optically superior 35mm f/1.8 S. However, I personally am not a huge fan of that lens either for its price point, but that’s another story. As it stands the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.4 is a good option to have in the Nikon lineup, but it doesn’t quite tick enough boxes to earn a universal recommendation.

Image Samples

Click on an image to enlarge. As mentioned earlier, I did not have enough time with the lens to do as much real world shooting as I would like, so the sample images are much fewer than typical in my reviews.