Verdict

The Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 looks like a well-featured, small and light macro lens which also doubles up as a standard lens for other photographic applications. It is fully weather sealed, has fluorine-coating, and a multi function ring. With autofocus it can use the focus bracketing feature of Nikon Z bodies and take a great deal of hassle out of focus stacking. And the lens has other good points in its favour: it is quite sharp across the full frame although it benefits from stopping down to f4.0 or f5.6. It shows only little colour aberrations and has practically no field-curvature which is important when reproducing flat objects.

What’s not to like? The biggest optical flaw of the lens is the strongest coma of all Z-Nikkors I’ve tested so far. This is definitely not the lens to shoot the starry sky with and is also the reason of some softer performance outside the center. And with its short focal length working distances can be extremely short which might spook small critters and makes lighting of your close-up subjects more of a challenge. And the Bokeh can be nervous and marred by double-contours at normal shooting distances.

Let’s put this into perspective and have a closer look at how the Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 compares to Nikon’s other new macro-capable lens, the Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S.

Above: Nikon Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S (left), Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 (right) with lens hood

Compared to Nikon Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S

Nikon’s Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S is a very good macro lens with a complete feature set. It produces very sharp images with almost no field-curvature or colour aberrations and can confidently be used wide open and in challenging contra-light situations. Compared to it’s smaller sibling the 105mm lens is much bigger, almost a pound heavier, and more expensive too. On the plus side the 105mm micro-Nikkor is optically superior, offers twice the working distances for any given magnification, has the better Bokeh, and the optical image stabilization should prove helpful with the extra challenges of close-up shooting.

So if you want the best optical performance for close-up shooting and at normal distances, get the Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S. Accompanied e. g. by the Z 50mm f1.8 S it makes for a nice combination covering “normal” to light telephoto and macro tasks in a very competent set. But if you’re looking for a light and small normal lens with macro capabilities or want to digitize your film stills with Nikon’s ES-2 adapter the Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 is certainly a compelling offer.

For more details see my Nikon Z MC 105mm f2.8 VR S review where it earned a Highly Recommended.

Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 final verdict

The Nikon Z MC 50mm f2.8 is a well -featured, small and light macro lens which also doubles up as a standard lens for other photographic applications. It produces sharp images with very little field-curvature – although for best results it should be stopped down two stops which also gets rid of the strong coma. Using focus shift shooting with Nikon Z bodies takes a great deal of hassle out of focus stacking – an essential technique for impressive macro shots. And although working distances can be extremely short the overall capabilities of the Z MC 50mm f2.8 certainly earn it a recommendation.

Good points:

• Can focus from infinity to 1x magnification.
• Good resolution across the full frame at all object distances.
• Only little longitudinal colour aberrations.
• Very little field-curvature.
• Weather sealing, multi function ring, focus limiter.
• Works with Nikon ES-2 film digitizing adapter.

Bad points:

• Strong coma.
• Needs stopping down two stops for optimal resolution.
• Very short working distances.
• Nervous Bokeh, occasionally produces double-contours.
• Cannot use teleconverters.
• Focus breathing could be lower.