Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens Summary

With an ultra-bright f/1.2 aperture and a rounded 11-blade diaphragm, the Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens offers exceptional control over light, with exquisite bokeh at this hugely popular focal length. Nikon’s S-Line lenses represent the pinnacle of optical engineering, with the Z 35mm f/1.2 S joining the existing Z 85mm F/1.2 S and Z 50mm F/1.2 S to complete a signature S-Line trinity.

The slightly wide 35mm prime features carefully designed optics for stunning sharpness and detail, resolving even the highest-resolution sensors found in the Z mirrorless camera range. Advanced lens coatings including Meso Amorphous Coat, Nano Crystal Coat, and Arneo Coat, ensure superior anti-reflection performance while minimising ghosting and flare.

Photographers can expect exceptional clarity across the entire frame, with smooth transitions between in-focus and out-of-focus areas. The full-frame (FX) mirrorless Z mount lens also renders extremely accurate colours, ensuring natural skin tones, fine details, and precise textures in hair, fabric, and other small elements.

These attributes ensure that the Z 35mm f/1.2 S is ideal for professional and advanced enthusiasts who shoot weddings, events, fashion, editorial, fine art, and documentary work. Videographers also benefit from exceptional control over depth of field and light, as well as smooth focus pulls thanks to minimal focus breathing, and a fast, near-silent internal autofocus mechanism.

When telling stories in the outdoors, capturing street portraits, or documenting an outdoor event, the robust build quality and comprehensive weather sealing provide reliable performance enabling you to continue shooting in any conditions.

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens Key Features

• Classic 35mm focal width for storytelling
• Bright f/1.2 aperture for fine control over light and depth of field
• Renders sublime bokeh from an 11-blade round aperture
• Exceptional detail and resolving power
• Minimised focus breathing for videography
• Advanced lens coatings control incidental light
• Fast and silent AF system
• Minimum focus distance 0.3m with maximum magnification 0.2x
• Comprehensive weather sealing
• 82mm filter thread
• Weighs 1,060g

Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens in More Detail

Premium S-Line Optics

Nikon’s S-Line represents the highest standard of optical engineering, reserved for premium NIKKOR Z lenses that deliver exceptional sharpness, clarity, and control over aberrations. The Z 35mm f/1.2 S is built to this standard, incorporating an advanced optical design with 17 elements in 15 groups, including three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, one Aspherical ED element, and three Aspherical elements. This carefully considered optical design minimises chromatic aberrations, distortion, and spherical aberrations, ensuring outstanding sharpness and contrast across the entire frame, even at wide-open f/1.2.

The ED elements reduce colour fringing and maintain contrast in high-contrast scenes, while the aspherical elements counteract spherical distortions and maintain edge-to-edge clarity with minimal aberrations.

These elements work together and produce exceptional resolving power, making this lens an ideal choice for demanding professional applications, from editorial and commercial work to fine art and documentary photography.

Sample Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens with Nikon Z8. Camera settings 1/1000 sec. f/1.2. ISO 100

Advanced Nikon Lens Coatings

To further enhance image clarity and minimise unwanted reflections, the Z 35mm f/1.2 S benefits from three cutting-edge Nikon coatings:

• Meso Amorphous Coat – The most advanced anti-reflective coating Nikon has developed, it drastically reduces ghosting and flare caused by light entering from multiple directions, making it particularly effective in backlit conditions.
• Nano Crystal Coat – This eliminates internal reflections within the lens, minimising ghosting and flare from diagonal light sources, particularly useful when working with strong point light sources like streetlights or the sun.
• ARNEO Coat – Designed to work alongside Nano Crystal Coat, this additional anti-reflective coating reduces vertical light reflections, ensuring clear, high-contrast images with minimal ghosting even when shooting directly into strong light sources.

With this multi-layered coating system, the Z 35mm f/1.2 S maintains superior contrast, colour accuracy, and clarity, ensuring professionals can shoot confidently in any lighting condition.

Sample Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens No EXIF data

Confident Focusing

The Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S features an advanced multi-focusing system, ensuring fast, precise, and reliable autofocus for both stills and video. This system employs two focus groups positioned behind the diaphragm blades, contributing to a lighter design while maintaining exceptional optical performance. By using dual AF motors, the multi-focusing system minimises aberrations such as chromatic fringing, delivering tack-sharp results across the entire frame, even when shooting at f/1.2 at very close range.

For photographers and filmmakers, the lens works seamlessly with Nikon’s latest AI-driven autofocus systems, such as those found in the Nikon Z8 and Z6 III. These cameras feature intelligent subject recognition and high-speed AF tracking, significantly helping to keep up with fast-moving subjects in low light or shallow depth-of-field when shooting wide open.

This AF system is also optimised for professional video recording, suppressing focus breathing to maintain a consistent angle of view during focus pulls. This makes it an excellent choice for cinematographers and hybrid creators looking for a lens that delivers smooth, natural focus transitions with minimal distractions.

Sample Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens No EXIF data

Weather Sealing and Pro-Level Control

The Z 35mm f/1.2 S lens is designed to provide reliability in demanding environments, and features comprehensive weather sealing to protect against dust, dirt, and moisture. Seals are placed throughout the lens barrel, mount, and control points, ensuring users can shoot confidently in unpredictable conditions.

The lens includes two customisable L-Fn buttons, positioned for comfortable accessduring both vertical and horizontal shooting. These buttons allow photographers to assign essential functions such as AF lock, subject tracking, or various exposure settings, streamlining workflow efficiency without needing to stop shooting by adjusting settings via the camera body.

A smooth, silent control ring further enhances handling, offering intuitive adjustment of aperture, ISO, or exposure compensation. This level of customisation and ergonomics ensures that the Z 35mm f/1.2 S is a powerful option for professionals, allowing for quick, instinctive adjustments without taking their eyes off the scene.

82mm Filter Thread for Creative Control

The Z 35mm f/1.2 S features an 82mm filter thread, allowing photographers and videographers to attach a broad range of lens filters for creative and practical control. Whether attaching a polariser to reduce glare and enhance contrast, an ND filter for exposure control in bright conditions, or a protector filter to protect your investment, the wide compatibility ensures endless flexibility.

Trio of fast aperture primes

Nikon has long emphasised that the wide Z mount enables the development of faster, high-performance lenses, and the Z 35mm f/1.2 S completes a trio of ultra-fast primes that deliver on this promise. For photographers who demand the absolute fastest glass with exceptional image quality across slightly wide to short telephoto focal lengths, these three f/1.2 S-Line lenses are the ultimate choice.

The latest f/1.2 S-Line prime enhances low-light performance with even greater light-gathering capabilities than the recently released Nikon Z 35mm F/1.4 Lens, a superb lens in its own right. This faster alternative provides shallower depth of field, even smoother defocus areas, and greater flexibility in low lighting conditions.

What’s in the box

• Nikon Z 35mm f/1.2 S Lens
• Lens Hood HB-110
• Lens Cap LC-82B
• Rear Cap LF-N1
• Lens Case CL-C2