Intro

The Z 50mm f1.4 is Nikon’s second prime lens with a bright f1.4 focal ratio in the mirrorless Z series after the Z 35mm f1.4. Like its shorter sibling the new lens weighs only a bit over 400g, is relatively compact, and at 559 EUR / 497 USD / 499 GBP very affordable. And in a welcome deviation from their f1.8 line of prime lenses, Nikon also added a separate control-ring to the focus ring. The Z 50mm f1.4 is corrected for full-frame sensors and its focal length is popular for street photography and general-purpose use. On a cropped body like the Z fc the new lens is equivalent in angle-of-view and depth-of-field to a 75mm f2.1 lens. This makes it quite attractive for portrait photography on the smaller format sensor with good background isolation and blur.

The low price and the fact that the Z 50mm f1.4 is not an S-line lens hints at a good, but possibly not stellar optical performance. We’ll have a look at this in detail. Read on to see what I found out with my usual barrage of tests. And if you want so see how the shorter sibling fared head over to my Nikon Z 35mm f1.4 review.

Facts and features

Let’s compare Nikon’s Z 50mm f1.4 to their Z 50mm f1.8 S (for more details on that lens see my Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S review). As usual I’ve rated the features with a [+] (or [++]), when it’s better than average or even state of the art, a [0] if it’s standard or just average, and [-] if there’s a disadvantage.

Size (diameter x length): 75 x 87mm (3.0 x 3.4in.), the lens hood adds 48mm (89mm diameter) and is the same as on Nikon’s Z 35mm f1.4. The Z 50mm f1.8 S is 76 x 87mm + 40mm lens hood. [+]

Weight: 420g (14.8 oz.) plus 30g for the plastic lens hood. The Z 50mm f1.8 S is 412g + 27g lens hood. [+]

Optics: 10 elements in 7 groups including 1 aspherical element while the Z 50mm f1.8 S has a more complex optical formula with 12 elements (including 2 special dispersion and 2 aspherical elements) in 9 groups. [+]

Minimum object distance is 0.37m (1.21ft.) which results in a working distance of 27cm. The Z 50mm f1.4 has a maximum magnification of 1:5.6 which is not much. A magnification of 1:10 is achieved at around 0.6m object distance. This is very similar to the Z 50mm f1.8 S. [0]

Image stabilization: Both lenses have no optical stabilization (VR). But Nikon’s full-frame Z bodies provide built-in sensor-shift stabilization over 5 axis – plus an optional electronic stabilization in video mode. [0]

Filter-thread: Both lenses use 62mm filters. [+]

Autofocus: Both lenses offer autofocus with built-in focus drive. Manual-focus override is by simply turning the dedicated focus ring. The focus ring has the usual variable gearing which allows for very precise manual focus when turned slowly. You can reverse the focus ring direction and switch to linear response with different settings for focus throw in camera. [+]

Aperture ring: The Z 50mm f1.4 has a slim multi-function control ring which can be assigned to operate the aperture (which is the default), exposure compensation, or ISO sensitivity – or simply switched off. It is located behind the focus ring. On the Z 50mm f1.8 S the focus ring can be configured to act as multi-function ring – but then you lose the manual focus override functionality. [+]

Lens profile: All Z-Nikkors come with a lens profile which can be controlled from the camera. Vignette control offers the usual options of High, Normal, Low and Off. Diffraction compensation and Auto distortion control can be activated or deactivated. [+]

Both lenses cover full frame/FX or smaller sensors. [+]

Price: 559 EUR (incl. 19% VAT) / 497 USD / 499 GBP. The Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S currently sells for 530 EUR / 527 USD / 475 GBP. The manual focus Voigtländer 50mm f2 APO-Lanthar which I’ll use for comparing optical performance costs 1099 EUR / 899 USD / 849 GBP and the Nikon Z 50mm f1.2 S sells for 2000 EUR / 1900 USD / 2300 GBP [+]

The Z 50mm f1.4 comes without a pouch but the lens hood is included and reversible for transport. [0]

Sealing: yes. Both lenses have a rubber grommet at the lens-mount plus further special weather-sealing throughout the construction. [+]

Like the Z 35mm f1.4 Nikon’s new Z 50mm f1.4 turns out to be well featured with a score of 0[-]/3[0]/10[+]: The lens is pretty compact and lightweight, it has a large f1.4 focal ratio and comes at a price similar to the Z 50mm f1.8 S. Plus it has a multifunction ring in addition to the focus ring which makes handling of different functions much more comfortable than on the one-ringed Z 50mm f1.8 S. This makes the Z 50mm f1.4 an interesting alternative to the Z 50mm f1.8 S.

Three 50mm lenses with Z-mount

Above: Voigtländer 50mm f2 APO-Lanthar, Nikon Z 50mm f1.4, Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S

Focus

Focus accuracy and repeatability is critical to consistently produce sharp shots. Repeatability (the accuracy of focus on the same subject after repeated focus-acquisition) of the Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 seems to be good and I experienced no outlier over my series of test-shots. Unfortunately Reikan FoCal was not available to me for more quantitative measurements. On a Nikon Z8 the lens focuses in 0.5 sec from infinity to 0.58m (1:10 magnification) which is as fast as the Z 50mm f1.8 S. Hunting was seldom an issue.

The focus ring is 35mm wide, has a rubberized surface, and moves smoothly. The control ring is 8mm wide with a textured surface.

AF-operation of the lens emits an audible buzz in photo-mode or if you record video with the built-in microphone. This is certainly one of the louder lenses in the line-up of Z-Nikkors.

As you pull focus, you’ll notice a little bit of focus breathing: the image became 1% less magnified when I adjusted focus from infinity to 0.58m. This is similar to the Z 50mm f1.8 S and unobtrusive when shooting video.

Next check out my quality results!