Nikkor Z-mount roadmap updated

[chambeshi]

Includes 2 pancake primes, 2 Micro Nikkors...and 4 FX Zooms: 24-105; 24-200, 100-400mm and 200-600mm

All great news IMHO

I'm curious to learn more about the optics of the telephoto zooms, notably how their designs differ from the Z-Mount
The 24-200 is non-S, likely a consumer super-zoom like the 28-200 G

https://www.nikonusa.com/Images/CPCAssets/mirrorless-rethink/refresh/pdf/NIKKOR-Z-Lens-Lineup-Expansion.pdf

[longzoom]

Thanks for posting!  LZ

[Tristin]

A pancake 28?!?  Count me interested!  Please, for the love of God, do not be fly-by-wire...

I would be eagerly awaiting the new 50/1.2, but I assume it will have no character wide open as modern lenses are want to do.

[MILLIREHM]

Good news, now it is significantly less boring than it was. Would be interesting what specs and speed they are planning for the 200-600, it is no S-line though.

[chambeshi]

fyi http://www.sansmirror.com/newsviews/2019-mirrorless-camera/october-december-2019-newsv/my-view-on-the-nikon-announ-2.html

[Bill De Jager]

They could have just adapted F-mount telephoto lenses to the Z mount.  Instead, they're coming up with new optical designs (100-400 vs. 80-400, and 200-600 vs. 200-500).  This suggests they're trying to take advantage of the wider throat to get better optical performance.

[Tristin]

I very much agree with Thom regarding the 28 and 40.  Hopefully their almost certain success spurs Nikon to develop more compact primes.

[MILLIREHM]

I also agree with Thom that the Noct is a miss in showing what the Z-mount is capable to do. They should have gone to f/0,7 at least.
It is Ok that Nikon uses the opportunity to design better lenses as an outcome of the wider throat. But imho building the same kind of lenses with a slightlly better quality is not enough. They are too conservative in copying what we used in the F-mount system (the same primes with F/1,8 and now f/1,2 instead of f/1,4, oh yes finally macreo lenses on the list but again just a 60 and a 105mm no wideangle no macrozoom, the 200 mm we knowis stillscrewdriver AF, in general nearly no exotics, too little surprise too much "as usual".

[Ilkka Nissilä]

They could have just adapted F-mount telephoto lenses to the Z mount.  Instead, they're coming up with new optical designs (100-400 vs. 80-400, and 200-600 vs. 200-500).  This suggests they're trying to take advantage of the wider throat to get better optical performance.

I think it's more likely that to get high AF performance, they need to use focus motors that work better with mirrorless to avoid the stutter in low light and so new lenses are needed. 100-400 and 200-600 seem to indicate they are targeting Sony directly rather than traditional Nikon focal lengths. It is somewhat unlikely that there would be a large performance benefit from the mount at such long focal lengths. Maybe there is a small benefit, but more on the side of autofocus (faster communication in the Z mount than F and motors better at fine step adjustments). Sony's 100-400 is reviewed to be the best lens of its category and perhaps doing a wider zoom range 80-400 would mean that they cannot achieve a competitive lens while starting at 80mm. The 200-500 has been very popular and probably most users of such lenses care more about the long end of the focal range than the short.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I also agree with Thom that the Noct is a miss in showing what the Z-mount is capable to do. They should have gone to f/0,7 at least.
It is Ok that Nikon uses the opportunity to design better lenses as an outcome of the wider throat. But imho building the same kind of lenses with a slightlly better quality is not enough. They are too conservative in copying what we used in the F-mount system (the same primes with F/1,8 and now f/1,2 instead of f/1,4, oh yes finally macreo lenses on the list but again just a 60 and a 105mm no wideangle no macrozoom, the 200 mm we knowis stillscrewdriver AF, in general nearly no exotics, too little surprise too much "as usual".

If you have 1-2% market share it's just not feasible to go all out on exotics from the start. I believe they need to first get some income from the Z system products and sell it to a broader population to establish the viability of the system. People who buy expensive specialty lenses probably want some stability and to be ensured that they system will be continued in the long term. Lots of people are already expressing their frustration at Nikon producing a "crazy" lens like the 58/0.95 while more common lenses are missing from the system. More crazy (let's say a 4 kilogram 58mm f/0.7 at 20000€) just won't help.

[Bill De Jager]

I think it's more likely that...

Thanks for your thoughts, Ilkka.  They make sense.

[MILLIREHM]

If you have 1-2% market share it's just not feasible to go all out on exotics from the start. I believe they need to first get some income from the Z system products and sell it to a broader population to establish the viability of the system. People who buy expensive specialty lenses probably want some stability and to be ensured that they system will be continued in the long term. Lots of people are already expressing their frustration at Nikon producing a "crazy" lens like the 58/0.95 while more common lenses are missing from the system. More crazy (let's say a 4 kilogram 58mm f/0.7 at 20000€) just won't help.

They should have made the crazy f/0,7 instead of the crazy f/0,95 (which also will not bring big revenue but dragging attention - its more about who demonstrates to be the leader in designing outstanding lenses to dream of - that will remain a dream for the most). I hope they will get some income with the Z50 and the DX lenses.
For the revenues i consider it is also not optimal designing a roadmap (as it was original) with just S-Line lenses and just redo what can be found in the F-mount programm with maybe some more IQ. Giving some good close-up capability does not need to be more expensive than some F/1,2 or even f/1,8 primes.

[chambeshi]

The latest update V3.0 extends to 2022, and adds three more S Nikkors 85, 400mm and 600mm. The total to date is 18 Z Nikkors (including 2 TC14-Z and TC2-Z).

https://www.nikon-image.com/products/nikkor/common2/pdf/nikkor_z_lineup.pdf

[Erik Lund]

Nice Nikon has the resources to keep designing and producing new lenses at such a fast pace - Looking forward to see if they keep the optical and mechanical quality high!

 

[Birna Rørslett]

Getting native Z Micro-Nikkors would be a real boost to make Z the future preferred approach .... Certanly Nikon can do [much] better than the latest AFS 105 Micro? Third-party 'macro' offerings are usually without electronic communication to the camera and for exacting, reproducible work this is a liability. In particular when the current Z cameras lack the handy voice recording provided by high-end single-digit Dx models.