subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 14 December 2019 49
LENS TEST T estbenchMichaelTophamputsthefirst85mmprimefo
Nikon’sZ-mountcamerasthroughitspaces
T
hearrivalof theZ 50intothe
expandingZ serieswasanidealtime
forNikonto revealitsplansforits
lensline-up.TheZ-mountroadmap
tellsustherewillbeanotherDX-formatlens
- an18-140mm(equivalentto 27-210mm)–
joiningthetwoDX-formatzoomsreleasedwith
theZ 50.Turningourattentionto full-frame
S-Linelenses,a 20mmf/1.8,50mmf/1.2and
105mmMicroprimearein thepipeline,asare
a 24-105mmand100-400mm.Twocompact
primes(a 28mmand40mm)arealsoonthe
way,asis a 24-200mmtravelzoomanda
200-600mmsupertelezoom.
Whilewe’recertainNikonwilloffermany
faster primes in the future, just like the
Z 50mmf/1.2S that’llsitabovetheZ 50mm
f/1.8S, there’scurrentlyonlyoneZ-mount
primeat thepopular85mmfocallength,and
thisis theNikkor Z 85mm f/1.8 S.Features
Beforewestudytheopticalconstruction,
it shouldbepointedoutthatasa full-frame
Z-mountlens,theNikkorZ 85mmf/1.8is
fullycompatiblewithNikon’sfull-frame
mirrorlesscamerasaswellasnewerDX-
formatmodels,suchastheZ 50,whichfeature
a smallerAPS-Csizesensor.Coupledtothe
latter,it becomesa telephotoprimelenswith
a focallengthequivalentto127.5mm.With
our review sample of the Nikon Z 50 yet toForthisportrait,thelens
wasusedin combination
withNikon’seffectiveEye
detectAFfunctionality
Nikon Z 7, 1/500sec at f/1.8, ISO 250Nikkor Z
groups.Th
LowDispersion)elementsto
chromaticaberrations,whichpromises
excellentsharpnessandcontrast,evenwhen
it’susedat itsmaximumaperture.Nikonhas
applieditsNanoCrystalCoatingstoeliminate
internalreflectionsandreduceghostingand
flare.However,unliketherecentlyreviewed
NikkorZ 24-70mmf/2.8S, it doesn’tfeature
Nikon’slatestARNEOcoatingtocompensate
forlightenteringthelensfromverticalangles.
Unlikesome85mmprimes,thisexample
doesn’tfeatureopticalimagestabilisation.
Thisisn’tanissueforNikonZ 7 orZ 6 users,
whocantakeadvantageof theeffective
in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) built