Introduction

The Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.4 is a fast standard prime lens for Nikon’s range of full-frame mirrorless cameras.

It will also work with APS-C sensor cameras or if you use it in the DX crop mode, with an effective increase in focal length to 75mm due to the 1.5x crop factor.

The optical construction features 10 elements in 7 groups, including one aspherical element that helps to reduce aberrations and distortion.

A fast and quiet STM stepping motor internal focusing mechanism is included and it is weatherproof thanks to all moving parts of the lens barrel being carefully sealed.

It has a 9-blade diaphragm which creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image and offers a close focusing distance of 0.37m and a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.17x.

The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 lens is available now priced at £449 / $499 in the UK and USA, respectively. It is made in China.

Ease of Use

Weighing in at 420g (14.9oz) asnd measuring 86.5mm (3.5in.) in length, the Z 50mm f/1.4 weighs just 5g more than the slightly slower and comparably priced Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S (415g), which is really its main rival.

You could also consider the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S, but that’s much bigger and heavier (1090g) and at £2,299 / $2,099 much, much more expensive.

Build quality is excellent, with a sturdy and high-quality feel, plus a metal lens mount. Overall, the size and weight matches very nicely with the Nikon Z8 camera that we tested it with.

It’s possible to use the Z8 with this 50mm lens with just one hand, but you’ll probably find it more comfortable to use a second hand for a better handling balance.

The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 has a sealed dust and moisture resistant design that should withstand rain showers, but you’ll need to protect it in more inclement weather.

This lens does not feature built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation, instead relying on the in-body stabilisation system that the majority of Nikon camera bodies have.

The wide, ridged manual focus ring and the slim, knurled control ring are the two main external controls of note.

The manual-focusing ring around its middle takes up the main bulk of the lens. It’s ridged to help you get a good grip on it. There’s just enough to give to make precise focusing possible, while not feeling too stiff or too loose.

There are no hard stops at either end of the focusing range, making it a little more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 62mm filter thread doesn’t rotate on focus.

There are also no indicators on the lens itself to help you judge distances, but it stands a good chance that the vast majority of people using this lens will be doing so with autofocus.

With autofocusing switched on, focusing is extremely quick and quiet, making it a good lens to use when shooting both stills and video.

The focusing ring is click-free, which also means you can pull focus from one subject to another without any distracting noise.

We didn’t experience very much "hunting" at all, either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time.

Manual focus override is activated at any time by simply turning the dedicated focus ring. It provides very precise manual focus when turned slowly and proved very useful for focusing close objects which the AF system sometimes missed.

A thin, ridged ring sits towards the base of the lens. This is a control ring which can be set to a few different functions via the main menu.

It will have a default option, for example adjusting aperture in aperture priority, but you can also assign it to exposure compensation or ISO sensitivity if you prefer.

You can even set it to have no function whatsoever, which might be helpful if you were worried about accidentally knocking it and changing a setting.

The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 has a metal lens mount and it accepts 62mm filters via plastic threads.

It is commendably supplied with a good quality plastic petal-shaped lens hood (HB-115) that locks into place by twisting it, plus front and rear lens caps. There’s no bag or case included with this lens.

Focal Range

The fixed length of 50mm offers an angle of view of 47 degrees in FX (full-frame) format. In DX format or on an APS-C cropped-sensor camera, the angle of view is 31°30′ degrees.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as blue or purple fringes along contrasty edges, were not very apparent in our test shots, only appearing in very high contrast areas.

Vignetting

With the lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.4, there is some obvious light fall-off in the corners, requiring you to stop down by 3 f-stops to completely prevent it.

JPEG

RAW

Distortion

As we’d expect from a lens of this focal length, distortion is kept to an absolute minimum, aside from if you’re shooting very close up to your subject and are actively trying to create a distorted effect.

JPEG

RAW

Sunstars and Flare

This lens is capable of creating some nice sunstars when stopped-down to f/16, as shown below, and flare is also well controlled even when shooting directly into the sun.

Macro

The Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 offers a minimum focusing distance of 37cm / 1.22 ft and a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.17x. The fast aperture allows you to create shallow depth of field effects making it suitable for typical macro subjects such as flowers.

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc.

In the Z 50mm f/1.4 lens, Nikon employed an iris diaphragm with 9 rounded blades, which has resulted in appealing bokeh.

We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we’ve included several examples for your perusal.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp the Nikon Z 50mm f/1.4 lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following page.

1. Ease of Use
2. 50mm
3. Sample Images
4. Lens Specs
5. Rating & Conclusion
6. Main Rivals
7. Review Roundup