Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

The Perfect Normal

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Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE (52mm filters, 6.0 oz./170 g, 1'/0.29m close focus, 0.17× macro ratio, $307). bigger. I got mine at B&H. I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or get it used 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.

 

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Nikon Zf

Nikon Zf with Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Special Edition.

 

Sample Images       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

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

These are shot with the optically identical non-special edition Z 40mm f/2:

Nikon Z9 Sample Image File

Rockwell's Lunch, 12:18 PM, Friday, 18 February 2022. Nikon Z9 with in-camera VR ON, Nikon Z 40mm f/2 (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/11 hand-held at ⅛ second at Auto ISO 640, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 7¼), VIVID Picture Control at defaults except set to +9 sharpening and +3 Saturation, shown here exactly as shot. bigger or camera-original 45 MP BASIC ★ JPG file (9 MB).

 

Nikon Z9 Sample Image File

La Virgen de Guadalupe, 6:28 PM, Saturday, 19 February 2022. Nikon Z9 with in-camera VR ON, Z 40mm f/2 (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/2 hand-held at 1/10 of a second at Auto ISO 125 (LV 5.0), VIVID Picture Control at defaults except set to +9 sharpening and +3 Saturation, Luminar Aurora HDR. bigger.

 

Nikon Z9 Sample Image File

La Colonia, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal, México, 6:28 PM, Saturday, 19 February 2022. Nikon Z9 with in-camera VR ON, Z 40mm f/2 (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/2 hand-held at 1/10 of a second at Auto ISO 3,600 (LV ⅙), VIVID Picture Control at defaults except set to +9 sharpening and +3 Saturation, Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original 45 MP BASIC ★ JPG file (8 MB).

 

Nikon Z9 Sample Image File

Los Baños, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal, México, 6:52 PM, Saturday, 19 February 2022. Square crop from Nikon Z9 with in-camera VR ON, Z 40mm f/2 (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/5.6 hand-held at 1/10 of a second at Auto ISO 1,800 (LV 4⅛), VIVID Picture Control at defaults except set to +9 sharpening and +3 Saturation, Perfectly Clear. bigger or full-resolution 33 MP JPG file (11 MB).

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sample Image

Prison Lockdown, 2:54 PM, Sunday, 20 February 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 40mm (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/8 hand-held at 1/15 of a second at Auto ISO 560 (LV 7.4), Perfectly Clear, perspective correction in Photoshop CS6. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sample Image

Canary Palm, 8:41 AM, Sunday, 11 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 40mm (optically identical to this Special Edition) wide-open at f/2 at 1/640 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 12.0), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Super-sharp where it's in-focus in the center, and out-of-focus on the bottom and sides due to lack of depth of field.

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sample Image

Canary Palm, 8:41 AM, Sunday, 11 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 40mm (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/11 at 1/25 at Auto ISO 90 (LV 11.7), Perfectly Clear. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

 

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This is an ultralight plastic lens that works very well. This is a "Special Edition," optically identical to the regular Nikon Z 40mm f/2 but styled to mimic Nikon's manual-focus AI-s lenses.

40mm seems like a weird focal length, however it is the "Perfect Normal" focal length, defined as the diagonal dimension of the image sensor, which is 41mm on 24 × 36mm "Full Frame," or 80mm in the classic 6 × 6cm HASSELBLAD system.

40mm is the Perfect Normal because while full-frame 50mm lenses are often too long and 35mm lenses are often too wide, you'll discover that 40mm is always perfect. Bravo, Nikon!

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

I'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.

 

New       intro       top

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's first "special Edition" 40mm lens.

 

Good       intro       top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Optimum focal length; the Perfect Normal.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Fast f/2.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Sharp.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Simple 4-group optical design leads to no ghosts or flare.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Focus ring is programmable.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com No visible distortion.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Tiny.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Ultralight.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Claimed internal gaskets for drip resistance, however there's no gasket at the lens mount; just a hard plastic lip.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Always-responsive instant manual-focus override.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Inexpensive.

 

Bad       intro       top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Production dumped to Thailand, not made domestically in Japan.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Plastic filter threads.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Plastic exterior.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Plastic mount.

 

Missing       intro       top

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Image Stabilization.

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

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Stabilizer switch or in-lens stabilization, however stabilized cameras like the Z9 give a real-world improvement of 3¾ stops.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No focus or depth-of-field scales.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No infra-red focus index.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No focus lock buttons.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com Only stops down to f/16, not f/22.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No case included.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No hood included.

 

Compatibility       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

I'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Nikon Zf

Nikon Zf and Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Special Edition. bigger.

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

Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

 

I'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

Name       specifications       top

Nikon calls this the NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 (SE):

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

    Z: For Nikon's mirrorless cameras.

    (SE): Special edition of the regular Z 40/2 made to look like a Nikon manual-focus lens.

 

It also has:

    Aspherical: Specially curved glass elements for sharper pictures.

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

    E: Electronic diaphragm.

    G: Gelded; has no aperture ring.

    ∅52: 52mm filter thread.

 

Optics       specifications       top

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE internal optical construction. Aspherical elements.

6 elements in 4 groups.

2 Aspherical elements.

Internal focussing so no air or dust is sucked in.

Nikon Super Integrated multiCoating (SIC).

 

Diaphragm       specifications       top

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.
Nikon Z 40mm f/2. bigger.

9 rounded blades.

Electronically actuated.

Stops down to f/16.

 

Filters       specifications       top

Plastic 52mm filter thread.

 

Coverage       specifications       top

Full-Frame (24 × 36mm) and DX APS-C (16 × 24mm).

 

Focal Length       specifications       top

40mm.

When used on DX cameras, it sees the same angle of view as a 60 mm lens sees when used on an FX or 35mm camera.

When used in the 1:1 square crop mode on full-frame it sees the same angle of view as a 65 mm lens sees when used on 6×6 cm Hasselblad.

See also Crop Factor.

 

Angle of View       specifications       top

57º diagonal on FX.

38⅚º diagonal on DX.

 

Autofocus       specifications       top

Internal focussing.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

 

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

1 foot (0.29 meters).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio       specifications       top

1:5.9 (0.17 ×).

 

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.

 

Case       specifications       top

None included. What is this, the 1940s?

 

Size       specifications       top

2.8" ø maximum diameter × 1.8" extension from flange.

71.5 mm ø maximum diameter × 45.5 mm extension from flange.

 

Weight       specifications       top

6.0 oz. (170 g).

 

Quality       specifications       top

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.

Made in Thailand.

 

Announced       specifications       top

09 November 2022.

 

Promised for       specifications       top

Early 2023.

 

Included       specifications       top

Nikon 52mm front cap.

LF-N1 Z-mount rear cap.

 

Packaging       specifications       top

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.
Box, Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.

 

Corrugated cardboard box with corrugami internals.

 

Nikon's Model Number       specifications       top

20121.

 

Price, U. S. A.       specifications       top

July 2023

$307 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

About $260 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

 

December 2022

$307 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

 

November 2022

$307 at B&H.

 

Performance       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

 

Overall   Autofocus   Manual Focus   Breathing

Bokeh   Distortion   Ergonomics   Falloff   Filters

Flare & Ghosts   Lateral Color Fringes

Lens Corrections   Macro   Mechanics

Sharpness   Spherochromatism

Stabilization   Sunstars

 

I'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used 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 for astronomy, but you'll never notice that in real photography of things here on earth.

 

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 40mm f/2 Bokeh

Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6250 weather station, 11 March 2022. Nikon Z9, Nikon Z 40mm (optically identical to this Special Edition) at f/2 at 1/5,000 at Auto ISO 64, +0.7 stops exposure compensation, (LV 14.9). bigger or camera-original © file.

As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at f/2 and get as close as possible.

 

Distortion       performance       top

The Nikon Z 40mm f/2 has no visible distortion, with or without correction, on my Z9.

What little it may have corrects with a factor of less than ±0.5 in Photoshop's lens correction filter.

 

Ergonomics       performance       top

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.

No mysteries here: there's one programmable ring, which defaults to an always-active manual focus ring.

The silver-painted plastic ring and the nubbinesque rear black ring don't move; they serve no purpose other than being places to grab the lens while mounting and unmounting. On Nikon's manual-focus AI-s lenses like the 50mm f/1.4 AI-s shown below the silver rings were how we grabbed lenses to mount and unmeant, and the big black rear ring was the aperture ring:

Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI-s

Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI-s. bigger.

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.

 

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
f/2.8
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
f/4
f/5.6

© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

If I go out of my way to disable the default vignette correction, it's still not that bad, even at f/2, again greatly exaggerated by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background:

 

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

f/2
f/2.8
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
Nikon Z 40mm f/2 falloff
f/4
f/5.6

© 2022 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Filters, use with       performance       top

There's no need for thin filters. I can stack about a half-dozen without any vignetting on full-frame.

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

 

Flare & Ghosts       performance       top

There are very few air-to-glass surfaces in its simple 4-group optical design, which leads to 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 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, but I doubt it.

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). Any of these 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.

 

Macro Performance       performance       top

Macro doesn't get particularly close:

 

Wide Open at f/2

It's not that sharp wide-open at f/2 at very close distances due to spherochromatism and spherical aberration:

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Macro Performance

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

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 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 40mm f/2 Macro Performance

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

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 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 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. 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.

What looks like chromed metal of a classic manual-focus AI-s lens is just silver-colored plastic, like the interior of a cheap car.

It makes just the slightest clicking when shaken, presumably from the diaphragm blades.

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

 

Serial Number

Laser engraved on bottom of barrel.

 

Date Code

None found.

 

Noises When Shaken

Mild clicking from what sounds like the diaphragm blades..

 

Made in

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 SE. bigger.

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 slightly lower contrast in the far corners of full-frame due to sagittal coma flare at f/2, which gets better at f/2.8 and is gone completely at f/4. It's always sharp corner-to-corner. Of course the physics of diffraction limit everything at the very smallest apertures, "corrected" or not.

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 MTF

Nikon's MTF chart at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm. bigger.

 

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 (it goes away as stopped down):

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Spherochromatism

Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at f/2, 11 March 2022. bigger or camera-original Z9 © file.

 

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 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.

"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
1
1/2
1/4
1/8
1/15
1/30
1/60
1/125
1/250
Stabilization ON
17
0
83
100
100
100
100
100
100
Stabilization OFF
0
0
0
0
17
50
83
100
100

I see a 3¾ stop real-world improvement.

 

Sunstars       performance       top

With a 9-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get nothing for sunstars on brilliant points of light at any aperture.

I suspect this comes from what looks like clever design of the edges of the diaphragm blades, making them somewhat of a knife-edge with little to no flat edge off of which for light to reflect and refract into star points. See the modified edges:

Nikon Z 40mm f/2

Nikon Z 40mm f/2. bigger.

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 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Nikon Z 40mm f/2 Sunstars

Click any to enlarge.

 

Recommendations       top

Sample Images   Intro   New   Good   Bad   Missing

Compatibility   Specifications

Performance   Recommendations

I'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used if you know How to Win at eBay.

This is a compact, ultralight, high performance, fast 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.

Also consider the optically and functionally identical non-special edition Z 40mm f/2. They are priced about the same and you may prefer the look or feel of either one.

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. I still use my classic Nikon 52mm L37c (multicoated 370 nanometer UV) filters because I bought them back in the 1980s when they were the best, and they never wear out. Putting a 1980s 52mm L37c on this new lens gives a tip of the hat to when Nikon ruled the photography world.

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'd get my 40mm f/2 Special Edition at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield. I'd also look for it used 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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Ken.

 

 

 

27 Dec 2023 add Zf pix, 25 July 2023 SE pix, 09 December 2022, 09 November 2022