Quality

Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration and focus shift

Lenses with focal ratios of f2.8 or larger are often prone to longitudinal color aberrations (loCA, a.k.a. “axial color” or “bokeh CA”). These show up as magenta coloration in the foreground and greenish hues in the background and are not easily corrected in post-processing. The Z 35mm f1.2 S shows a small amount of loCA but less than the Z 35mm f1.4, Z 35mm f1.8 S, or Z 50mm f1.2 S. The test also revealed that there is no focus shift to speak of although the background sharpens up faster than the foreground when the lens is stopped down.

The following images are 50% crops from 180MP images obtained from 16 image pixel shift shooting on a 45MP Nikon Z8. This has the advantage of eliminating color moiré which would otherwise distract from the coloration from loCA. You can click on the images to access the full resolution 100% crops.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S loCA; 50% crops from 180MP image

Above from top to bottom: f1.2, f1.8, f2.8; left = foreground, right = background

For comparison have a look at the Z 35mm f1.8 S (at f1.8/f2.8/f4.0), Z 35mm f1.4 (at f1.4/f2.0/f2.8), or Z 50mm f1.2 S (at f1.2/f1.4/f2.0).

The following real life shot shows that the Z 35mm f1.2 S produces a bit of purple fringing around high-contrast edges in the focal plane and a slight bit of greenish outlining around background subjects. You can also detect some spill-over of bright background light into darker subjects. But all these effects are much better controlled than on the Z 35mm f1.4.

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2, 100% crop; click image for 4k version, here for large original

The following torture-test of sunlight on foaming water confirms that color aberrations on specular highlights are well controlled (and reveals a bit of coma):

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2, 100% crop; left: foreground, right: background

Sharpness and contrast

Let’s have a look at the theoretical performance of the new Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S and compare it to the MTF-charts of the Nikon Z 35mm f1.4, Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S, and the Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar:

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2 (left), Z 35mm f1.4 at f1.4 (right)

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S at f1.8 (left), Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar at f2.0 (right)

These MTF charts show the computed lens-performance wide open without influence of diffraction at 10 line-pairs/mm (in red) and 30 lp/mm (in blue) for the Z-Nikkors. The Voigtländer is shown at 10 lp/mm (top), 30 lp/mm (middle), and 40 lp/mm (bottom). Higher values are better (more contrast) and the closer the dotted and solid lines are together the less astigmatism (= resolution depends on the orientation of the test-pattern) the lens has. The x-axis displays the “image height” which is the distance from the optical axis (=center of the sensor) in mm.

From the charts the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S should be clearly sharper and more contrasty across the full frame than the Z 35mm f1.4 – even wide(r) open. It’s also sharper than the Z 35mm f1.8 S especially up to 12mm image height – albeit with some astigmatism or field-curvature. The highest contrast at fine structures is produced by the Voigtländer. But don’t forget that the Z 35mm f1.2 S is shown here at f1.2 which is over one stop more challenging than the f1.8 or f2.0 of the smaller lenses.

Let’s see how this theoretical performance translates into real life results in the sharpness test based on Siemens-stars shot on a 45MP Nikon Z8 set to 16 image Pixel shift shooting. The 16 individual images for each shot were merged in NX Studio 1.8.0 into a 180MP RAW file and further processed in Lightroom 14.0.1/CRAW 17.0 to Adobe Color profile with the lens profile compensating CA, distortions and vignetting. Noise-reduction was set to 0, sharpening to 50/1/36/10, with no extra tone, color, or saturation adjustment. White-balance was adjusted to a neutral white and I did some exposure compensation to make the brightness of all crops match. So you will not see light fall-off in the corners. I also focused separately for the center, the DX-corner, and FX-corner which eliminates any effect field-curvature might have. If you want to know more about the advantages and perils of pixel shift shooting head over to page 2 of my Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 Nikon Z review.

The following 50% crops from 4 mm, 13 mm, and 20 mm image height show the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S from f1.2 down to f11 compared to the Z 35mm f1.4, Z 35mm f1.8 S, and the manual focus Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar shot under identical conditions.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S compared; 50% crops from 180MP image

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.4; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 at f1.4; click image for full resolution 100% crops, also available at f1.8, f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0, f11

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.8; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S at f1.8; click image for full resolution 100% crops, also available at f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0, f11

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.0; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO Lanthar at f2.0; click image for full resolution 100% crops, also available at f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0, f11

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.8; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f4.0; click image for full resolution 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f5.6; click image for full resolution 100% crops, also available at f8.0, f11

Wide open, the Z 35mm f1.2 is already pretty sharp within the DX image-circle. The FX-corner loses a bit of contrast but still shows quite some detail. Stopping down to f1.4 improves acuity a bit and makes the lens way sharper and more contrasty than the Z 35mm f1.4. At f1.8 there is another improvement in resolution with the center looking excellent and the DX-corner very good. Only the FX-corner is still a bit soft. But the Z 35mm f1.2 S clearly beats the Z 35mm f1.8 S. At f2.0 the Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar comes into play. It has a slightly softer center, comparable DX-corner and better FX-corner than the Z 35mm f1.2. You have to stop the Z 35mm f1.2 S down to f4.0 to get the FX-corner to Voigtländer’s level. At the testing distance of 1.6m field-curvature of the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S is negligible.

Summary:

Of the four 35mm lenses compared here Nikon’s Z 35mm f1.2 S delivers the sharpest results overall. Its FX-corner may stay a bit soft up to f2.0 but this is certainly complaining at a high level.

Performance at long distances

The Siemens-star test-targets are shot at a distance of 45x focal length (i.e. at around 1.6m). But performance of lenses also depends on the shooting distance. Therefore, I shot another series of a city around 1 km away on a Nikon Z8 set to 16 image pixel shift shooting. The 16 individual images for each shot were merged in NX Studio 1.8.0 into a 180MP RAW file and further processed in Lightroom 14.0/CRAW 17.0 to Adobe Color profile with the lens profile compensating CA, distortions and vignetting. Noise-reduction was set to 0, sharpening to 50/1/36/10, with no extra tone, color, or saturation adjustment. I used manual focus at the largest aperture and did not change focus for other apertures. All shots were made from a heavy tripod with image stabilization switched off at ISO 64. As usual I have selected the diagonal that provided the better corner results as the lens was slightly decentered.

The following images show the complete scene wide open plus 50% crops from near center, DX-corner, and FX-corner. All crops in a row are from the same image so there is no compensation for field curvature. For comparison I use the Nikon Z 35mm f1.4, Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S, and Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar shot another day under slightly clearer atmospheric conditions. You can access the large 180MP originals plus 100% crops, but the files are for personal evaluation only and cannot be used in another publication or website without permission.

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 at f1.2 S; click image for 4k version, here for large 180MP original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.4; click image for 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 at f1.4; click image for 100% crops, here for large 180MP original; 100% crops also available at f1.8, f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.8; click image for 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S at f1.8; click image for 100% crops, here for large 180MP original; 100% crops also available at f2.0, f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.0; click image for 100% crops

Above: Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar at f2.0; click image for 100% crops, here for large 180MP original; 100% crops also available at f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, f8.0

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.8; click image for 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f4.0; click image for 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f5.6; click image for 100% crops, also available at f8.0

Summary:

At long distances the results from the previous test are confirmed: The Z 35mm f1.2 S delivers very good results even wide open with excellent center sharpness reached at f1.8 already. Only the Voigtländer 50mm f2 APO-Lanthar is sharper in the FX-corner.

Vignetting and distortions

To make it easier to see light fall-off in the corners of a full-frame sensor I’ve arranged a series of three shots each with the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S set to infinity. Processing was done in Lightroom 14.0/CRAW 17.0 from RAW to Adobe Color profile with the lens profile compensating CA, vignetting (as set in camera), and distortions and developed to the same brightness in the center. They are shown with vignette control Off (1st row) resp. Normal (2nd row).

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2, f2.0, f2.8

The sample images above show that with the lens profile applied vignetting is pretty mild once stopped down to f2.0. At f1.2 though light falloff in the FX-corner is around -2.6 EV uncorrected and -1.8 EV with vignette control set to Normal.

Handling of lens profiles by Adobe’s RAW converter continues to be confusing: The Z 35mm f1.2 S gets its lens profile applied as it was set in camera but you can change this in post-processing with sliders to control the strength of vignetting and distortion correction between 0 and 200%: Very good! But if you set the corrections in camera to Off the slider to control the strength of vignetting in Lightroom or CRAW is disabled while the slider for distortion correction is still enabled. So it’s better to leave the lens profile in camera On which enables all options when processing the image in Lightroom CRAW.

The following composite image shows the upper half of a large screen TV set displaying grid lines for the full frame and cropped frame. Distortions are visibly barrel which are very slightly over-corrected by the lens profile:

Distortions: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S, as is (top) / with lens-profile (bottom)

Rendering of point-light sources at night-shots

Night-shots pose a different challenge for lenses as the contrast is even higher than under bright sun and point-light sources can reveal some weaknesses such as coma, haloing and colour-aberrations that do not show up as prominently in other test-shots. The 100% crops below the main image show the effect of coma in the FX-corner of the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at various apertures:

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 4k version, here for large original

Above from left to right: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S; 100% crops from the FX-corner at f1.2, f1.4, f2.0

The Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S is not free of coma but it is certainly well controlled. By f2.0 it is practically gone.

Bokeh quality

This test is for the rendering of point-light sources in an out-of-focus background. The circle of confusion that is produced by this test is pretty indicative of Bokeh performance in the background. Ideally the out-of-focus image of the point-light is evenly lit and perfectly circular, with no “onion-rings”, and without coloration. Large aperture lenses normally produce an effect known as “cat’s eye” the further away from the optical axis the point-light is projected. This is due to optical vignetting in the lens barrel when light enters the lens from an angle.

The following crops at different apertures are from near the center, DX-corner, and FX-corner resized to make them comparable across all my reviews.

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 4k version

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 100% crop

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.4; click image for 100% crop

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.8; click image for 100% crop

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.8; click image for 100% crop

The diameter of the Bokeh balls in the center is determined by the entrance pupil of the lens. So, at their respective largest aperture the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S produces 17% bigger Bokeh balls than the Z 35mm f1.4 and 50% bigger ones than the Z 35mm f1.8 S. Onion rings or texture within the Bokeh balls of the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S are practically a non-issue. Outlining is also very mild with almost no green coloration to it. Cat’s eyes towards the corners are relatively mild so I wouldn’t expect the lens to produce a “swirly” Bokeh. The edges of the aperture blades are well rounded even when stopped down to f8.0 which should limit the effect of diffraction spikes (a.k.a. sunstars).

Let’s see how this analysis of out-of-focus point-light sources translates into Bokeh-performance shooting a book-shelf. Crops are from the foreground, middle-ground, and background resized to make them comparable across all my reviews. Crops are from wide open and at f2.0 compared to the Z 35mm f1.4, Z 35mm f1.8 S, and Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO-Lanthar.

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 4k version, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 at f1.4; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S at f1.8; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.0; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO Lanthar at f2.0; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

The Z 35mm f1.2 S certainly produces the softest transition zone behind the point of focus and background blur while the Z 35mm f1.4 shows a better blur in the foreground. When stopped down to f2.0 the Z 35mm f1.2 still has a slight advantage over the Z 35mm f1.8 S and the Voigtländer.

Looking for double-contours at the ruler (below, now at 100%) shows that the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S has the smoothest transition zone but still shows a bit of double contours.

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 at f1.4; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.8 S at f1.8; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.0; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

Above: Voigtländer 35mm f2 APO Lanthar at f2.0; click image for 100% crops, here for large original

From my shooting experience double contours don’t occur often but when they do they look ugly like in the following image:

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2, 100% crops; click image for 4k version, here for large original

Find more examples to judge Bokeh of the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S on the next page.

Close-up performance

The Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 achieves a maximum magnification of 1:4.6 in close-up shooting. The following crops are at 1:4.7 from 0mm, 11mm, and 19mm off the center of the sensor respectively. The area of sharp focus is 113 x 170mm.

Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S, 1:4.7 magnification; 100% crops

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f1.2

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f2.8

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f5.6

Above: Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f11

Sharpness looks usable already wide open across the sensor. Stopping down to f2.8 or f5.6 improves acuity to a very good level – at least in the DX image-circle. And at f11 even the FX-corner sharpens up nicely. Field curvature is practically negligible. This makes the Z 35mm f1.2 S a good lens for closeup shooting with an “in-the-face”/immersive perspective.

Flare, ghosting, and sunstars

Catching a strong light-source shining directly into the lens is always a risky business: it could produce strange colorful ghost-images or reduce contrast considerably through flare and glare. The appearance of flare and ghosting depends on factors like the aperture and the angle of the light hitting the lens. To judge the proclivity of Nikon’s Z 35mm f1.2 S for these artifacts I went through a series of well calculated shots against a strong light source to provoke glare and ghosting. The lens hood was mounted in all shots. Following is one of the more extreme example results. The little bright square inset in the upper left shows the respective area with an exposure compensation of +3 EV to make it easier to see which levels of black the lens renders at that point:

Above: Flare and ghosting. Strong light hitting the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f11; click image for 4k version or here for +3 EV exposure compensation

The lens clearly profits from Nikon’s triple anti-reflective coatings: There is little flare, ghosting, or veiling glare. Very good!

Sunstars at f11 look pretty good with 22 spikes. But at larger apertures diffraction spikes are less spectacular due to the well rounded aperture blades:

Above from left to right: Sunstars from the Nikon Z 35mm f1.2 S at f4.0, f5.6, f8.0, 100% crops

Next check out my sample images!