NIKON Z 8 (14mm, f/5.6, 1/15 sec, ISO200)

What to write about this lens. It’s very expensive but for a good reason.

What it is: This is one of the best super wide angle zoom on the planet. Nikon didn’t want to compromise on its optical performance so they compromised on the range. This is your lens if you are really into wide. 14mm on full frame is insanely wide and rather hard to manage. There is a lot of perspective distortion and it covers such a vast area that I think it is not a beginner lens. 24mm on the long end of the lens is also a lot shorter than many would wish. Me too. At least 28mm would have been nice. But it is what it is and if you purchase this lens there is a good chance that you are aware of what you are doing.

Mechanical quality and design: The mechanical quality of the Z lenses in general is very good but this one is another step up. Everything feels excellent. The zoom is super smooth and the lens balances really well on my Z8. The lens got significantly lighter than the F-version of this lens and it comes with two lens shades. One enormous lens shade that allow you to use filters, 112mm filters! And a really neatly designed small lens shade that is just perfect. Thank you Nikon! In short: 10 out of 10. Almost forgot to mention the display. I think I almost forgot to mention it because I think it is a pointless gimmick. It looks neat but I never use it.

AF performance: I really don’t know what to write here. Fast and silent, perfect! I guess I could have skipped to write about AF performance for the S-lenses. They are all fast and silent and I can’t really tell for sure if the 20/1.8 and 14-24/2.8 are a tiny bit faster than the 50/1.8.

Optical quality: This is short too: Perfect! I always thought that super wide angle lenses come with soft corners to a certain extend. Well, that’s not the case here. This lens is sharp at all focal lengths and apertures. Corner sharpness improves a little if stopped down but this lens can be used wide open with excellent results. Of course there is massive perspective distortion but that is the nature of super wide angle. Such wide lenses have to be shot with great care to avoid really bad pictures but they can produce stunning results.

wish list: Nothing except if Nikon will ever update this lens make it a 14-28.

summary: If you love super wide this lens is super and you will love it.