Shorty forty? Sporty forty? Nikkor Z 40mmf/2

desmobob

Senior Member
Mine was just delivered. Satisfyingly compact and light! I hope to get out later for some initial testing and first impressions. I'm surprised there's not much mention of it here...
 

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
Mine was just delivered. Satisfyingly compact and light! I hope to get out later for some initial testing and first impressions. I'm surprised there's not much mention of it here...

Wonder how many active posters have Z cameras let alone 40mm f/2 lens.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
Wonder how many active posters have Z cameras let alone 40mm f/2 lens.
I do, and looking forward to thoughts on this lens. Wonder how it stacks up against the 50 f1.8S thats twice as expensive. I've got the 50 1.8S and the only thing I dont like about it is I feel it should be more compact. Not that its heavy, its just larger than its predecessor. It's weird that the AF-S 50f1.8 with the FTZ is smaller and lighter than the 50 f1.8S, (but the 1.8S has marginally better results). It'd be neat to see a shootout with the af-s 1.8 50mm, the 1.8S and also the 40f2.
Congrats @desmobob looking forward to what you come up with!
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
I may have to look more into the 40mm as Nikon charges an arm, a leg, and 101 dalmation puppies for their quality 50mm Z lenses.
 

desmobob

Senior Member
Preliminary messing around with the little lens gives me good feelings.

When my FTZ II adapter shows up next week, I'll be able to test the 40mm f/2 against the AF-S 50mm 1.4G and 1.8G lenses (and maybe the AF-S 58mm f/1.4G, AF 50mm f/1.8D and 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S). The other Z mount lens I have is the impressive 24-70/4S and I'll compare its 40mm performance as well.

One thing I found after reading lots of reviews and tests and watching lots of on-line comparison videos: It seems that many Z-mount lenses like the 24-70/4S kit lens and the budget 40/2 non-S series lenses have optical performance a little bit behind their top-line Z mount relatives but seem to outperform even the better AF-S lenses of similar focal length in terms of sharpness; especially wide open and into the corners.

Watching Z vs. Z lens comparisons might make you not so enthusiastic about some of the lower-priced Z-mount offerings but seeing these lesser Z-mount lenses pitted against the good, better and best F-mount stuff can make you sit up and take notice. That's why I didn't hesitate to pick up the two Z-mount lenses I have.

This may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preferences. For example, I like the old 50mm f/1.2 Ai-S and the new 58mm f/1.4G because "they have character" rather than great MTF scores in lens tests. I don't care for the clinically sharp look a lot of modern lenses produce, although it is fun to have lenses that have incredible revolving power for some applications.

To each his own...
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
I have the FTZ and a 50mm f/1.8G, the performance is pretty much the same on my D750 and Z5. Not that surprising since they are almost the equivalent specs in different lens mount formats. Since the Z-mount 50mm primes lenses are so large to start with, I see few advantages to getting one. My idea of a nifty-fifty is compact carry, big enough aperture to use indoors without flash.

Word in advance: check your camera firmware level. The FTZ-II required new camera firmware to work on my Z5. And take a look at the firmware level of your Z lenses also. I bought my 24-70 f/4 lens used and it was behind on firmware.
 

desmobob

Senior Member
Word in advance: check your camera firmware level. The FTZ-II required new camera firmware to work on my Z5. And take a look at the firmware level of your Z lenses also. I bought my 24-70 f/4 lens used and it was behind on firmware.

My Z7 II (v. 1.40) and 24-70/4S (v.1.01) firmware are up-to-date. The FTZ II does not yet have a firmware update available... same for the Z 40/2.
 
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desmobob

Senior Member
For those who are interested in the MTF charts...
Nikon-Z-40mm-F2-vs-AF-S-50mm-MTF-Chart.jpg
 
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