Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8

Full Frame "Special Edition" (2021‑)

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Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition (52mm filters, 5.7 oz./160g, 0.63'/7.5"/0.19m close focus, $297). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

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March 2022   Better Pictures   Nikon   Mirrorless   Mirrorless Lenses   All Nikon Lenses   Nikon Flash   All Reviews

Nikon Z fc

Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition on a Nikon Z fc. bigger.

 

Sample Images       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Macro, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.

These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.

These are all shot hand-held as BASIC ★ JPGs; no tripods, NORMAL or FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

Canary Palm, 8:11 AM, Sunday, 11 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE wide-open at f/2.8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 11¼), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 9 MP JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

San Diego Fire Rescue, 9:16 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/125 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.6), as shot. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 7 MB JPG file.

You're not seeing falloff; you're seeing a mid-20th century fire truck's curved door.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

American Power, 9:16 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/20 at Auto ISO 64, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 11.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 8.5 MP JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

American Power, 9:17 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/15 at Auto ISO 110 (LV 11.8), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 8 MB JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

Portrait in Polished Brass, 9:32 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.3), Skylum Aurora HDR from my one JPG file. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 8 MB JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

Window Stickers, 9:34 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/200 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.3), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 10 MB JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

Palms & Plants, 10:34 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/8 at 1/250 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.6), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 9 MB JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sample Image File

Red & Green, 10:35 AM, Saturday, 19 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE at f/16 at 1/30 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.6) as shot. bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 9 MB JPG file.

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Introduction       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

Adorama Pays Top Dollar for Used Gear

Amazon

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

Crutchfield

I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

This is a tiny full-frame wide-angle lens. It's all plastic and very light, with sharp optics.

Just turn the programmable manual focus ring at any time for instant manual-focus override.

It has the same optics and the same price as the regular Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8; pick yours based on cosmetics.

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

New       intro       top

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's first tiny full-frame lens for full-frame mirrorless.

 

Good       intro       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Sharp.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Close focusing.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Tiny.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weightless.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Programmable focus ring.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Inexpensive.

 

Bad       intro       top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Disposable all-plastic construction (the optics are mostly glass).

 

Missing       intro       top

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Image Stabilization.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No switch for in-camera Stabilization.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only stops down to f/16.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No AF/MF switch.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No aperture ring.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No mounting index on silver-colored grip ring.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No case included (so?).

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No dedicated hood included or available (so?).

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

 

Format       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This is a full frame FX lens, and I'm reviewing it as such.

It works great on DX cameras, too, on which you may make the usual inferences.

 

Compatibility       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This lens works only on Nikon's Z-series mirrorless cameras.

It does not so much as even mount on any other camera.

 

Specifications       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

 

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Name       specifications       top

Nikon calls this the Nikon NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 (SE):

    NIKKOR: Nikon's brand name for all their lenses.

    Z: For Nikon's mirrorless cameras.

    SE: Special Edition; styled to look like one of Nikon's classic manual focus lenses.

    Ø52mm: 52mm filter thread.

 

It also has:

    AF-P: Stepper (Pulse) autofocus motor.

    Aspherical: Specially curved glass elements for sharper pictures.

    D: Couples distance information to the 3D Matrix Meter.

    G: Gelded; has no aperture ring.

    IF: Internal focusing; nothing moves externally as focused.

 

Optics       specifications       top

Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 Internal Optical Construction

Internal optical construction. Aspherical elements.

9 elements in 8 groups.

2 Aspherical elements.

Multi-group Internal focussing.

Nikon Super Integrated multicoating (SIC).

 

Diaphragm       specifications       top

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

7 rounded blades.

Electronically actuated.

Stops down to f/16.

 

Filters       specifications       top

Plastic 52mm filter thread.

 

Focal Length       specifications       top

28 mm.

When used on DX cameras, it sees the same angle of view as a 43 mm lens sees when used on an FX or 35mm camera.

See also Crop Factor.

 

Angle of View       specifications       top

75º diagonal on FX.

53º diagonal on DX.

 

Focus Scale       specifications       top

No.

Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.

 

Infinity Focus Stop       specifications       top

No.

You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.

 

Depth of Field Scale       specifications       top

No.

Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.

 

Infrared Focus Index       specifications       top

No.

 

Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane)       specifications       top

0.63 feet (7.5" or 0.19 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio       specifications       top

1:5 (0.20 ×).

 

Reproduction Ratio Scale       specifications       top

No.

 

Image Stabilizer       specifications       top

None.

 

Caps       specifications       top

Nikon 52mm front cap, included.

LF-N1 Z-mount rear cap, included.

 

Hood       specifications       top

None needed or available; this lens doesn't have a dedicated bayonet on which to mount a hood.

If you need a hood, use a generic rubber screw-in 52mm hood.

 

Size       specifications       top

2.9" ø maximum diameter × 1.7" extension from flange.

71.5 mm ø maximum diameter × 43 mm extension from flange.

 

Weight       specifications       top

5.7 oz. (160 g).

 

Quality       specifications       top

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

Made in Thailand.

 

Announced       specifications       top

12:03 AM, Tuesday, 29 June 2021, NYC time.

 

Promised for       specifications       top

Kitted with the Z fc: Late July 2021.

By itself: Fall 2021.

 

Included       specifications       top

Nikon 52mm front cap, included.

LF-N1 Z-mount rear cap.

 

Packaging       specifications       top

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

Corrugated cardboard box with corrugami internals.

 

Nikon's Model Number       specifications       top

20110.

 

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

March 2022

$297 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon (sort of) and at Crutchfield.

 

June 2021

$297 at Adorama and at B&H.

 

Performance       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus   Breathing   Bokeh

Coma   Distortion   Ergonomics   Falloff   Filters

Flare & Ghosts   Lateral Color Fringes

Lens Corrections   Macro   Mechanics   Sharpness

Spherochromatism   Stabilization   Sunstars 

 

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Overall       performance       top

This is a great little lens. It's super-sharp for everything. It's not quite as contrasty in the far corners of FX wide-open at f/2.8 due to sagittal coma flare so it's not perfect for astronomy, but you'll never notice that in real photography of things here on earth unless you like to count every pixel.

 

Autofocus       performance       top

Autofocus is as fast every other similar lens.

What's nifty is that it's essentially silent.

 

Manual Focus       performance       top

Manual focus is wonderful. Nikon is the world leader in electronic manual focus.

Just grab the electronic focus ring at any time for instant manual-focus override anytime the camera is awake. It moves with just fingertip.

Better than any other brand, even if you're in AF-C and move the manual-focus ring, it just swaps to manual focus instantly and stays where you set it. Other brands will try to fight you for focus if you're in continuous AF, while this lens just does what you tell it to do. Bravo!

There is no AF/MF switch; you have to set this in a menu or assign control to a function button.

 

Focus Breathing       performance       top

Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe because it looks funny if the image changes size as focus gets pulled back and forth between actors. If the lens does this, the image "breathes" by growing and contracting slightly as the dialog goes back and forth.

The image gets smaller as focused more closely. I doubt it would be that noticeable in actual use.

 

Bokeh       performance       top

Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is good. Blur circles are just circles and don't distract.

Here's a snap from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click for the © camera-original file:

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Bokeh Sample Image

Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 8:35 AM, 11 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 at f/2.8 at 1/2,500 at Auto ISO 64, +0.7 stops exposure compensation, (LV 14.9). bigger or camera-original 45 MP © 4 MB file.

As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at f/2.8 and get as close as possible.

 

Coma       performance       top

Coma, or sagittal coma flare, is often seen with fast normal to wide lenses as weird batwing shapes on bright points of light in the corners at night.

This lens has some coma at f/2.8 in the corners on full-frame, which greatly improves at f/4 and is completely gone by f/5.6.

 

Distortion       performance       top

The Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE has no visible distortion as automatically corrected on my Z9.

For more critical scientific use, use a factor of +0.5 in Photoshop's lens correction filter to camera-corrected images.

If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct the distortion as is done in-camera with JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.

 

Ergonomics       performance       top

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE. bigger.
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE. bigger.

No mysteries here: there's one programmable ring, which defaults to an always-active manual focus ring. You can reprogram it in your camera.

There's no AF/MF switch; you have to set this in the camera's menu system.

There's no VR switch for in-camera stabilization; you have to set this in your camera's menu system.

What old-timers think is an aperture ring isn't; it's just a grab ring for mounting and unmounting.

 

Falloff       performance       top

Falloff on full frame is negligible.

I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will not look this bad in actual photos of real things:

 

Falloff on full-frame at infinity, vignette correction at its default of NORMAL.

f/2.8
f/4
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
f/5.6
f/8

© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

If I go out of my way to disable the default vignette correction it's stronger at f/2.8, but otherwise not distracting even at f/4. Again, I'm greatly exaggerated by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background:

 

Falloff on full-frame at infinity, vignette correction deliberately turned OFF.

f/2.8
f/4
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE falloff
f/5.6
f/8

© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Filters, use with       performance       top

There's no need for thin filters. I can stack several regular screw-in 52mm filters without vignetting on full-frame.

Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters.

 

Flare & Ghosts       performance       top

There are no ghosts or flare.

See examples at Sunstars.

 

Lateral Color Fringes       performance       top

Nikon cameras correct for any lateral fringes automatically; there's no way to turn this correction on or off.

I don't see any significant lateral color fringes

If you shoot raw and then use non-manufacturer software to process that data into images then there is the possibility that there might be some.

There is strong spherochromatism, which can cause color fringes on things that aren't in perfect focus at large apertures. Spherochromatism is a completely different aberration in a different dimension than lateral color fringes.

 

Lens Corrections       performance       top

Nikon's Z cameras correct for any or all of distortion, diffraction and falloff (vignette control).

Distortion correction is always active; it can't be turned off.

Diffraction and falloff (vignette control) may be turned ON or OFF and vignette control has four settings of HIGH, NORMAL, LOW and OFF.

Nikon's Z cameras always correct for lateral color fringes (lateral chromatic aberration). This is part of Nikon's secret sauce and never appears in any menu; it's always ON.

If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct these as is done in-camera with JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.

 

Macro Performance       performance       top

Macro gets about as close as most other lenses:

 

Wide Open at f/2.8

It's not that sharp wide-open at f/2.8 at very close distances due to spherochromatism:

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Macro Performance

Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 11 March 2022. bigger or original Z9 © file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Macro Performance

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or original Z9 © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

At f/8

Like all lenses, it's super-sharp at f/8:

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Macro Performance

Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 11 March 2022. bigger or original Z9 © file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Macro Performance

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or original Z9 © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

Mechanical Quality       performance       top

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

Except for the lens elements and electrical contacts, this is an all-plastic lens, and feels like it. It feels like a toy, however it is very precisely made.

Don't pick up or carry your camera by this lens because the plastic lens mount could break, resulting in your camera dropping to the ground.

The plastic focus ring is covered in rubber.

There's no dust gasket at the lens mount; it simply has a hard plastic lip to try to seal out crud.

 

Serial Number

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 Special Edition. bigger.

Laser engraved on bottom of barrel.

 

Date Code

None found.

 

Noises When Shaken

Mild clicking from what sounds like the diaphragm blades.

 

Made in

Made in Thailand.

 

Sharpness       performance       top

Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.

If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.

People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.

This lens is always ultrasharp in the center at every aperture, but has lower contrast in the far corners of full-frame due to sagittal coma flare at f/2.8, which gets better at f/4 and is gone completely by f/5.6. It's always sharp corner-to-corner, just with less contrast in the corners at f/2.8 if you're doing astronomy. Of course the physics of diffraction limit everything at the very smallest apertures, "corrected" or not.

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE MTF

Nikon's MTF chart.

 

Spherochromatism       performance       top

Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture.

It has strong traditional green and magenta spherochromatism if you go looking for it at f/2.8 (it goes away as stopped down):

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Spherochromatism

Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at f/2.8, 11 March 2022. bigger or camera-original Z9 © file.

 

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Spherochromatism

1,200 × 900 pixel (6.8× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original Z9 © file.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 3" (7.5cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a large 14 × 21″ (35 × 55 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 6" (15cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a huge 27½ × 41¼″ (70 × 105 cm) at this same high magnification.

If this 1,200 × 900 pixel crop is about 12" (30cm) wide on your screen, the complete image would print at a mammoth 55 × 82½″ (1.4 × 2.1 meters) at this same extremely high magnification!

 

Image Stabilization (VR)       performance       top

This native Z lens has no internal optical stabilization, however Internal sensor-shift Image Stabilization (IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)) does amazing things if your camera has it. While it's only about a two-stop real-world improvement, I sometimes get sharp hand-held shots even at two full seconds. The key for sharp long exposures in iffy conditions is to shoot a few or many frames and pick the sharp one.

"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness I get when I'm shooting hand-held while free-standing with no support or bracing. This is a very strict test; in actual shooting at typical print sizes I get acceptable sharpness at much slower speeds, but for the purposes of seeing how much improvement an IS system gives, this is the most precise method.

Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed. This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:

% Perfectly Sharp Shots on Stabilized Z9
2s
1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
Stabilization ON
17
17
0
33
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
7
29
67
92
100

I see about a two-stop real-world improvement.

 

Sunstars       performance       top

With a 7-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get almost nothing for sunstars on brilliant points of light at any aperture. The shots below are the best I could do; good luck!

Ignore the crazy rainbow dots at small apertures; these are sensor artifacts caused by taking a picture directly of the sun and exposing for the dark underside of a huge palm tree, and using that same palm tree to hide the sky to accentuate the stars.

Click any to enlarge:

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8 SE Sunstars Sample Image

Click any to enlarge.

 

Recommendations       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Format   Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This is a compact, ultralight, high performance and inexpensive lens. It has great glass optics in a cheap plastic mount. If you want to make great pictures rather than accumulate fancy camera heirlooms over which your heirs can fight, this is the lens.

This SE Special Edition lens is for people who want a plastic lens that looks like one of Nikon's greatest manual-focus lenses. Personally I prefer practical over cute (I've owned all the real Nikons made ever since 1946 so I'm more impressed by authenticity than tribute), so I'd rather shoot with the Z 24-200mm VR, but that's just me. It's great that we have all these choices.

I use a clear (UV) protective filter instead of a cap so I'm always ready to shoot instantly. I only use a cap when I throw this in a bag with other gear without padding — which is never. The UV filter never gets in the way, and never gets lost, either.

The very best protective filter is the Multicoated Hoya HD3 52mm UV which uses hardened glass and repels dirt and fingerprints. It's expensive, but it will last forever, long after this lens is forgotten.

For less money, the most classic filter to use on a Nikon lens is of course the Nikon 52mm NC. The B+W 52mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated B+W, the multicoated Hoya filters and even the most basic Hoya multicoated filter, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best.

Filters last a lifetime, so you may as well get the best. The Hoya HD3 stays cleaner than the others since it repels oil and dirt.

For this classic-styled lens the best authentic (rather than bullet- and smudge-proof) filter to use is a genuine classic Nikon 52mm L37c (multicoated 370 nanometer UV).

If I was working in nasty, dirty areas, I'd use an uncoated 52mm Tiffen UV filter instead. Uncoated filters are much easier to clean, but more prone to ghosting.

All these filters are just as sharp and take the same pictures, the difference is how much abuse they'll take and stay clean and stay in one piece. Since filters last a lifetime or more, there's no reason not to buy the best as it will last you for the next 40 years. Filters aren't throwaways like this lens, like it or not. I'm still using filters I bought back in the 1970s!

I got my 28/2.8 SE at B&H. I'd also get it at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield or eventually used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay.

This 100% all-content, junk-free website's biggest source of support is when you use those or any of these links to my personally approved sources I've used myself for way over 100 combined years when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live — but I receive nothing for my efforts if you get it elsewhere. Nikon does not seal its boxes in any way, so never buy at retail or any other source not on my personally approved list since you'll have no way of knowing if you're missing accessories, getting a defective, damaged, returned, dropped, incomplete, gray-market, store demo or used lens — and all of my personally approved sources allow for 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new lens. I've used many of these sources since the 1970s because I can try it in my own hands and return it if I don't love it, and because they ship from secure remote warehouses where no one gets to touch your new lens before you do. Buy only from the approved sources I've used myself for decades for the best prices, service, return policies and selection.

Thanks for helping me help you!

Ken.

 

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The biggest help is when you use any of these links when you get anything. It costs you nothing, and is this site's, and thus my family's, biggest source of support. These places always have the best prices and service, which is why I've used them since before this website existed. I recommend them all personally.

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If you've gotten your gear through one of my links or helped otherwise, you're family. It's great people like you who allow me to keep adding to this site full-time. Thanks!

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Thanks for reading!

 

 

Ken.

 

 

 

19-20 March 2022, 12 October 2021, 30 June 2021