Z lens styling

[Dibyendu Majumdar]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

 

[JimKasson]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

I don't care at all what a lens looks like, but if that's really important to you, you might try adapting some Leica M glass.

Jim

 

[Batdude]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

I don't care at all what a lens looks like, but if that's really important to you, you might try adapting some Leica M glass.

Jim

 

[sebulban]

I actually haven’t held any of the new Z lenses but only based on pictures they look cheap to me and I don’t see anything sexy or cool about them

nikon clearly doesn’t show too much interest in that

Come back when you have hold one in your hands. I think that these new lenses look & feel great.

 

[Tony Lau]

i do not feel the Z lenses cheap but find they are ugly.

I prefer the F mount lenses, i would not call them beautiful but at least they have character that creat typical Nikon style. the new lenses look tasteless.

of course the quality of the picture is the most important, but i was little disapointed about the Z lens styling. I wish nikon pay a little attention to aesthetic of the lenses, especially the S lenses are not cheap. I find all the Zeiss lenses are beautiful, not event say about the quality of the optics. Even sigma art is prettier than the z lenses. of course it is subjective but overall, Nikon did not care about the design of the lenses outfit.

Nikon make us crazy, while in one side, we much love their product, but at the same time, their careless , if not ignorance make us loyalist very disapointed.

--
Tony
Nikon D750+Nikon 16-35mm f4 VR+Nikon 70-200 F4 VR+Nikon SB700

 

[whimsicalmike]

i do not feel the Z lenses cheap but find they are ugly.

I prefer the F mount lenses, i would not call them beautiful but at least they have character that creat typical Nikon style. the new lenses look tasteless.

of course the quality of the picture is the most important, but i was little disapointed about the Z lens styling. I wish nikon pay a little attention to aesthetic of the lenses, especially the S lenses are not cheap. I find all the Zeiss lenses are beautiful, not event say about the quality of the optics. Even sigma art is prettier than the z lenses. of course it is subjective but overall, Nikon did not care about the design of the lenses outfit.

Nikon make us crazy, while in one side, we much love their product, but at the same time, their careless , if not ignorance make us loyalist very disapointed.

I tend to think the opposite to you. I like the clean look without dials on bodies and aperture rings. Just get rid of all the unneeded dials and rubbish and add a few buttons and the 2 command dials to get things done. Clean and simple.

But each to their own

 

[VBLondon]

i do not feel the Z lenses cheap but find they are ugly.

I prefer the F mount lenses, i would not call them beautiful but at least they have character that creat typical Nikon style. the new lenses look tasteless.

of course the quality of the picture is the most important, but i was little disapointed about the Z lens styling. I wish nikon pay a little attention to aesthetic of the lenses, especially the S lenses are not cheap. I find all the Zeiss lenses are beautiful, not event say about the quality of the optics. Even sigma art is prettier than the z lenses. of course it is subjective but overall, Nikon did not care about the design of the lenses outfit.

Nikon make us crazy, while in one side, we much love their product, but at the same time, their careless , if not ignorance make us loyalist very disapointed.

I tend to think the opposite to you. I like the clean look without dials on bodies and aperture rings. Just get rid of all the unneeded dials and rubbish and add a few buttons and the 2 command dials to get things done. Clean and simple.

But each to their own

I agree.

When I first started with Nikon, it was the early days of the AF-S, and I thought they were great. 20 years later, they look a bit dated to me - too much gold trimming and encrustations.

The AF-Ds have a classic look which is nice, but it's variable. Some feel a bit cheap (35 2D), some are just different (50 1.8D).

The plain black styling of the Zs I like. They feel a decent quality, given they are relatively light for their size and not super-premium priced. The primes are a bit bulky for their relatively small front elements, but they are excellent lenses.

 

[Volodja]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

Well, as already mentioned above the most important aspect is optical quality and this Z-series delivers. But this thread is about styling so here are some subjective observation and thoughts after more than 2 months of usage.

I own kit lens 24-70 f/4S as well as new 50mm f/1.8 S lens.

Optically deep black color with silver S logo creates elegant look. Yes, it's minimalistic but it has its own charm and style.

Zoom ring on 24-70 f/4S is ok, it is rubberized that I always appreciate! Focus ring is made out of metal and is too narrow for my personal taste. It also rotates with relatively low resistance. There is an option in camera's menu that allows programming of its function for aperture control etc however small turn of the ring is causing relatively large change of corresponding parameter. It is not usable. I hope Nikon can fix it with firmware update.

How does it compare to Nikon AF-S 24-70 f/2.8G lens?

Well, again it is very personal. I love Nikon 24-70 f/2.8G despite of its 10 years old design. Time goes on and 24-70 f/4S beats G lens especially on the edges at every aperture setting but for portraiture, as an example, middle sharpness of 24-70 f/2.8G still holds very well and it gives me better subject isolation at 70 mm @ f/2.8. There is a focus breathing on G lens. At closer distances objects at 70 mm from 24-70 f/4 are closer. G lens is heavy on Z6 incl FTZ but its size allows nice hand support. Bought 24-70 f/2.8G new last year after debating between it and new Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 G2. Very good thing, it is stabilized on Z6 without extra weight and size of new AF-S 24-70 f/2.8 VR lens. I particularly like zoom ring on G lens, tactile rubber feeling. Periodicity of groves on 24-70 f/4 Z lens is too small for my taste but lens is smaller as well, so it fits to design.

50mm f/1.8 S lens.

Lens gives solid build quality impression and metal focus ring is smooth and very “buttery” when compared to kit lens. As I mentioned above, I prefer rubberized surface for better tactile experience. Groves on focus ring are very tiny. I realized that those grooves tend to capture dust particles very efficiently in contrast to wider groves of classical rubber F-mount rings. Fingers have tendency to slide on this ring instead of gripping it. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely useful for manual focus usage in contrast to thin focus ring on 24-70 f4S kit lens. I just would prefer that it is covered by tactile rubber surface that has by far better adhesion properties and, as result, better grip (like new Sigma Art series lens have). It's all about feeling it in hands. Nikon went with this design across complete S-line starting with kit zoom and 35 mm f1.8S lens. It seems that coming soon Noct 58 mm f0.95S will adopt similar concept.

 

[olyflyer]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

...but I like the clean look of the Z lenses, and also the handling. I feel it is smoother than any F lenses I had or still have. I was a bit worried about the focus ring not being directly coupled to the focus (focus by wire) but it woks fine, much better than I expected. Zooming is great, far ahead of any F zoom I ever had my hands on, IMHO.

I also thought I'd miss the distance scale, which my F lenses have, but then I realized that I only used that with my macro lenses and only to set the magnification, and since I still have that on my 60/2.8 G, so that's safe for now.

Other than that, I only have the 24-70S and it's a great lens, very nice IQ and sharp. I thought that going from 9 blades aperture to 7 blades will have some negative effects, but so far I have not seen any, so I guess it doesn't matter.

 

[Volodja]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

...but I like the clean look of the Z lenses, and also the handling. I feel it is smoother than any F lenses I had or still have. I was a bit worried about the focus ring not being directly coupled to the focus (focus by wire) but it woks fine, much better than I expected. Zooming is great, far ahead of any F zoom I ever had my hands on, IMHO.

I also thought I'd miss the distance scale, which my F lenses have, but then I realized that I only used that with my macro lenses and only to set the magnification, and since I still have that on my 60/2.8 G, so that's safe for now.

Other than that, I only have the 24-70S and it's a great lens, very nice IQ and sharp. I thought that going from 9 blades aperture to 7 blades will have some negative effects, but so far I have not seen any, so I guess it doesn't matter.

I noticed that background blur with 24-70S at 50mm@f4 is very comparable to blur I am getting with 50 mm f/1.8S at f4. I was wondering seeing no advantage from 9 blades design of 50 mm lens. Normally even stopped down a little bit lenses with higher amount of blades usually show better blur characteristics compared to equivalent f-number of lens with lower amount of blades. Of course sharpness is different story and new 50 mm S lens is by far sharper at equivalent settings.

 

[olyflyer]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

...but I like the clean look of the Z lenses, and also the handling. I feel it is smoother than any F lenses I had or still have. I was a bit worried about the focus ring not being directly coupled to the focus (focus by wire) but it woks fine, much better than I expected. Zooming is great, far ahead of any F zoom I ever had my hands on, IMHO.

I also thought I'd miss the distance scale, which my F lenses have, but then I realized that I only used that with my macro lenses and only to set the magnification, and since I still have that on my 60/2.8 G, so that's safe for now.

Other than that, I only have the 24-70S and it's a great lens, very nice IQ and sharp. I thought that going from 9 blades aperture to 7 blades will have some negative effects, but so far I have not seen any, so I guess it doesn't matter.

I noticed that background blur with 24-70S at 50mm@f4 is very comparable to blur I am getting with 50 mm f/1.8S at f4. I was wondering seeing no advantage from 9 blades design of 50 mm lens. Normally even stopped down a little bit lenses with higher amount of blades usually show better blur characteristics compared to equivalent f-number of lens with lower amount of blades.

I think it also depends on the shape of the blades. I am glad that Nikon seems to have spent time on this.

Of course sharpness is different story and new 50 mm S lens is by far sharper at equivalent settings.

Primes are normally sharper than zooms, so this is no surprise.

 

[Batdude]

I actually haven’t held any of the new Z lenses but only based on pictures they look cheap to me and I don’t see anything sexy or cool about them

nikon clearly doesn’t show too much interest in that

Come back when you have hold one in your hands. I think that these new lenses look & feel great.

I totally agree. The good thing is that there is no gold paint on them

 

[camerons]

As far as the actual style and design of the lens system, I generally like the way Canon lenses look over Nikon, but I do really like the styling of the Z S lenses and think they are muuch better than the more recent F Mounts with all that gold trim.

Also, to me, the Nikkor Z line looks like the camera system Batman would design, and I mean that as a compliment.

 

[NCB]

My father was an engineer and used to say good engineering looks good. That allows a lot of leeway. In general I like both the F and S lens styles. With the Z series I think Nikon has gone for a minimalist look and it works, for both cameras and lenses.

As for DSLRs, I think the smaller DX bodies look best, as there's more of a balance between mount size and body size. The Z6/Z7 retain this, because although the bodies are larger so is the mount.

 

[gabik]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

I got to play with Z6 and 24-70 today (shortly hands-on in the shop). Amazed by both, the build quality of the lens feels pretty darn good. Once it's glued to the camera I did not really care about the look, but all that mattered was the focus and the zoom ring operation. And the look's pretty alright by the way, even though it may not win any design award. But combined with the build quality and feel, once you feel it you'll need it .

 

[Dibyendu Majumdar]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

I got to play with Z6 and 24-70 today (shortly hands-on in the shop). Amazed by both, the build quality of the lens feels pretty darn good. Once it's glued to the camera I did not really care about the look, but all that mattered was the focus and the zoom ring operation. And the look's pretty alright by the way, even though it may not win any design award. But combined with the build quality and feel, once you feel it you'll need it .

Nice you like it!

I am at the moment happy to use my F mount lenses with the Z6 ... but I wouldn't mind the Noct. Thing is I don't need the new lenses as they don't meet any needs that I can't already satisfy with my existing lenses. I don't need the Noct either but want it.

 

[olyflyer]

My father was an engineer and used to say good engineering looks good. That allows a lot of leeway. In general I like both the F and S lens styles. With the Z series I think Nikon has gone for a minimalist look and it works, for both cameras and lenses.

As for DSLRs, I think the smaller DX bodies look best, as there's more of a balance between mount size and body size. The Z6/Z7 retain this, because although the bodies are larger so is the mount.

That depends on which DX you compare with... the Z camera bodies are smaller and lighter than quite a few DX models and about equally sized with others, even though the sensor is much larger.

 

[gabik]

I have to buy new system comming from Pentax, old K7. So will have to get lenses as well. Got to handle Z6, Fuji, Pentax current offering, Sony. Did not handle Canon EOS R, price of the current offering is prohibitive for me. Didn't and don't want to invest into Pentax anymore (no flame please, I like mine except dying SDM, but time to move on). Nikon Z system ticks many boxes for me and I am glad I liked it. SmallRig L bracket for Z6 and XQD reader already on the way . Will arrive about time I'll take the plunge..

 

[Dibyendu Majumdar]

I have not yet handled a Z lens. I do love the look and finish of the F-mount 24-70mm f2.8 AFS lens; the metallic black finish, and gold embossed lettering look great to me.

Do you prefer the look of the Z lenses?

I don't care at all what a lens looks like,

So you go for inner beauty ... that's fine, I do hope that the Z lenses are beautiful both inside and outside. But yes I would trade for former if it came to choosing between the two.

 

[faocisco]

Never cared too much about that gold ring and lettering.

I really like the new “generic” look.