Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Review & Sample Photos

Announced in September 2024, the Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 is a great addition to Nikon’s Z-mount lineup. Promising a classic focal length, a bright aperture, and a budget-friendly price tag.

After spending some time with it, I’m excited to share my thoughts on how it performs in the real world. This is a nice one, and I have much to discuss.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 – Amazon / B&H

Nikon Z Mount Lens List

The 50mm f1.4 is not part of Nikon’s premium “S” line, which prioritizes clinical sharpness and cutting-edge coatings and optics. Instead, this lens focuses on a balance of performance and character, and that’s where it shines—or occasionally stumbles, depending on your priorities.

It lacks a few aspherical elements, some ED glass, and some of the higher-end Nano Crystal Coatings that the S lenses often have. It feels more like a high-end lens from the early 2000s but with modern precision and enhanced design, which are allowed by the larger mount and closer flange distance.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Impressions and Thoughts

Straight out of the box, the Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 feels like a lens designed more for fun, especially portrait photography. I think many photographers are glad Nikon is making some “slightly less than optically perfect” lighter-weight f1.4 lenses instead of monsters as they gave it with their f1.2 lens. I know I am.

Weighing just 420g (14.8 oz), it’s lightweight enough to carry around all day without feeling like a burden. The lens measures 74.5mm x 86.5mm, making it compact for a full-frame f1.4 prime, and it balances well on my Nikon Z8. The build quality is solid, and the dust—and moisture-resistant design gives me the confidence to shoot in less-than-ideal weather.

With the Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S being one of my all-time favorite 50mm lenses, I wasn’t initially excited about the Nikon Z 50mm f1.4. I immediately noticed slightly less clarity and less of that contrast punch you get from the S lenses, especially if you’re just casually shooting around the house.

With this f1.4 version, I found the best way to use it is to always lean heavily into its strengths, which is shooting at f1.4. Otherwise, the Nikon Z 50mm f1.8 S lens is better.

Then I started shooting strictly portrait photography, and wow!

With portrait photography, at least how I like it, I don’t need images tack sharp all the time, I don’t need tons of clarity, I like images with a little more softness, with a classic charm, and this lens hits that concept perfectly.

I also find the 50mm f1.4 more fun and unique when shooting at night with nice city lighting or with long backgrounds.

Then, you notice the slightly more classic design and rendering of the 50mm f1.4. It renders more like our older DSLR lenses from back in the day before all the fancy ED glass with 4 aspherical lenses, all designed with computers and AI.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 or the Z 50mm f1.8 S?

I have a full article comparing the two coming, but to summarize, when the S lenses are on sale, which I think you can often get for $150 off, and these f1.4 lenses are not on sale, it pays to upgrade to the S lens, for general photography and especially if you’re a pro, shooting things like events.

If you want a ton of character and a “fun lens” or shoot portrait photography with a slightly more classic touch, grab this f1.4.

In terms of bokeh, the difference between f1.4 and f1.8 is only 2/3 a stop, so the depth is not super noticeable, but the character and style of rendering between the two lenses is.

When the 50mm f1.4 goes on sale, this lens will be a killer deal, probably falling into the ‘shut up and buy it’ category of lenses.

It’s a ton of fun, but as a general-purpose, do-it-all lens, the Z 50mm f1.8 S is noticeably better and worth the upgrade, especially when it’s on sale.

I’m really happy that Nikon has positioned its lenses this way: slightly more classic and fun f1.4, affordable lenses. Also, they have these more pro but still affordable f1.8 S lenses. Then, unicorn mantelpiece f1.2 lenses are available for all dentists and doctors to buy and never use.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Build Quality

The external build quality of the 50mm f1.4 is mostly the same as that of the S lenses. It’s just missing the Auto Focus/Manual Focus switch, and the focus ring is rubber instead of aluminum, although we do get a control ring.

Internally, we’re missing nanocoatings and the ED elements compared to the S version.

Unlike some other Non-S lenses, we still get a nice metal mount.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Technicals

As mentioned above, the Nikon 50mm f1.4 lacks some additional Aspherical elements, ED elements, and nano coatings typically found in an S lens. Instead, we see a simpler design similar to our lenses in the 1990s or early 2000s, and the rendering kind of has that vibe. However, sharpness is still impressively good at the center.

Some field curvature will cause edges to fall out of focus. While there is no ED element, I haven’t noticed any significant aberration issues, as we see with the 35mm f1.4 lens.

Vignetting and distortion are well controlled, and of course, this lens will come with firmware updates for perfect compatibility with future camera bodies.

For the most part, technical performance is impressive for the price.

Sharpness Chart

Sharpness with the Nikon 50mm f1.4 is pretty good, especially in the center, but it’s not as good as the S f1.8 lens, in the center or throughout the frame.

With that f1.4 aperture, you’re buying this lens more for its artistic qualities than its technical ones, but the technicals still hold up well.

Center Sharpness

I review a lot of lenses, so it’s hard for me to say that this lens is not sharp at f1.4. It is, but when you compare it to the Nikon 50mm f1.8 S, it’s not as sharp.

However, stopping down to f2.8, it really gets good.

Some diffraction appears at f8, and by f11, you’re losing some resolution. This is standard. This was shot with the Nikon Z8, so a Z6 or Zf would likely show less of a drop at f11.

Mid-Frame Sharpness

For shooting mid-frame sharpness, I focus on the center of the frame and then look at the mid-frame. This is not exactly the same as focusing on the mid-frame; you would most likely get better results if you focused on the mid-frame or on the edges.

I do it this way to check for field curvature, and this is where the 50mm 1.4 also sits a little behind the 50mm f1.8. When focusing on the center, the mid-frame actually falls slightly out of focus since the focus field shifts slightly throughout the lens. This typically is found in lenses with fewer or no aspherical elements, as we see in this f1.4 lens.

Compared to the center, the mid-frame is slightly softer than the center, and it doesn’t get very sharp until about f4.

Corner Sharpness

The Nikon 50mm f1.4’s corner sharpness is not terrible. It cleans up well by f4. As we saw with mid-frame sharpness, this is more due to the corners falling out of focus rather than the lens underperforming.

You would be buying an f1.4 lens more likely for artistic and portrait work, so corner and midframe performance is not critical, and if they were, focusing in those zones would improve results. Still, if you’re shooting landscape or astrophotography wide open, you want to ensure your focus is set to capture the appropriate subject.

Distortion

I turned off the profile correction for this distortion sample, and there is pretty much no distortion. As someone who shoots a lot on small Leica M lenses, having these bigger f1.4 lenses pays off when cleaning up distortion and vignetting.

Vignetting

I removed all the built-in Lightroom Nikon 50mm f1.4 profile corrections for this vignetting chart. There is a moderate amount of vignetting at f1.4, but it feathers nicely and has a smooth, natural blend.

If you like vignetting, turn the profile correction off, and you’ll get the perfect amount right out of the camera. If you turn the profile correction on, the vignetting will be minimal.

Also, if you’re shooting video, you can adjust the vignetting correction to get the desired results since Nikon cameras have the option for Low, Normal, and High vignetting control.

Chromatic Aberrations

The Nikon 50mm f1.4 has no ED elements, which refers to extra-low dispersion glass. These elements help to reduce chromatic aberrations.

However, we do not see any chromatic aberrations. I see them mostly only in the background, bokeh. I have been impressed by the performance here. When I compared the Nikon 35mm f1.4 to the Nikon 35 mm f1.8, the f1.8 lens showed a significant improvement, and the Nikon 35mm f1.4 has what I would consider some very noticeable CA issues. With the 50mm f1.4, I rarely see it unless I am stress-testing the lens, as with the sample below.

This sample is 100% cropped, and Lightroom’s “Remove Chromatic Aberration” correction is turned on. However, checking and unchecking that option on this lens didn’t make a difference with the sample below; it has some effect but nothing game-changing. So, if you didn’t like the Chromatic Aberrations in a particularly bad shot, you would have to clean some of that up with the manual adjustments.

Flaring

Most modern lenses from big brands like Nikon, Fujifilm, Sony, and Canon have minimal flaring.

The Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 does see a little flaring, but this is very well controlled.

The Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 has the Nikon Super Integrated Coating but not the Nano Crystal Coatings.

The Nano Crystal coatings in the S lenses would have helped slightly with flaring, contrast, and sharpness. That, in my opinion, is the biggest downgrade to this lens compared to the S lens, as we are missing that little extra 5% of contrast and clarity that you get from the S lenses. It’s too bad that Nikon didn’t use that technology with this lens, it wouldn’t have changed the formula or any mechanics and would have made the lens a little bit better.

This is another good example of some Chromatic Aberration in extreme conditions.

Sun Stars

Sunstars are very nice with this lens. It’s so rare to see good sun stars with modern lenses.

Autofocus and Video

Nikon equipped this lens with STM (stepping motor) autofocus, and it’s a win for both stills and video. On my Z8, it locked focus quickly and accurately in most conditions. I did notice occasional hesitation in very low light or at close distances (minimum focus is 0.37m), but for general use—like candids at a wedding or chasing my birds around it’s fast enough.

The quiet AF and suppressed focus breathing are nice features for video shooters.

Art & Character

Bokeh

The 50mm f1.4’s selling point is its bokeh. It’s not perfect and clean like the 50mm f1.8 S lens; it’s stronger in the center, and there is more depth toward the edges as the field curvature pulls the edges towards a closer focus. A lot of the S lenses will have a more even depth in the background because of the more modern design with additional aspherical elements. The non-S Nikon lenses so far have a slightly more classic rendering with the bokeh, where the depth is shallower in the center, forming a cone of bokeh.

The bokeh gives you a wild, smeary quality with almost a painterly feel, and it’s still very vibrant. Here are some good samples.

There is no onion ring bokeh in the background bokeh balls like so many of my other lenses.

Color Rendering

From a technical perspective, the color rendering is clean and consistent, with no color shifts and a decent blend of contrast and clarity. It is better than most third-party lenses but not better than the Nikon S lenses.

Contrast / Micro Contrast / B&W Photography

Micro-contrast and contrast with the Nikon 50mm f1.4 are pretty good. Skin tones really hold onto their color and tones, although sometimes I do feel like the highlights get just a little muddy, but that’s a very minor detail.

Most of the Nikon prime lenses are pretty good, and so is this one.

Generally, shooting black-and-white photographs with a super fast lens like this can be difficult – for me anyway. But if you avoid super busy backgrounds, you can get an almost noir-type vibe at f1.4. The micro-contrast is also good enough to still hold onto all those skin tones for some nice pop, but here the f1.8 S lens would give you noticeably punchier results. You could also stop down with the lens to around f2, that helps a little with the clarity as well.

Here are some samples where I try to keep clean backgrounds when shooting at f1.4, except for the second photo. I always feel like if you try to shoot black-and-white photography with a super fast lens, the subject can get lost in a busy background, so these types of lenses aren’t really my go-to for black-and-white photography.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Review – Bottom Line

The Nikon 50mm f1.4 is, by all means, a character lens. However, it is stacked with elements and has a larger design, so you get slightly better technical performance over the smaller, lower-element classic lenses of the past. I think I accept the balance and all the compromises Nikon made to make this lens what it is, and for a hipster portrait lens, this thing is god-tier, even though it doesn’t have Fujifilm written on it.

It actually reminds me a little of the Fujifilm 35mm f1.4, but better because it doesn’t have all the CA and AF issues.

The Nikon 50mm f1.4 has become my fun lens and my portrait lens—the one I take out with the kids or when I’m just messing around. Its wild character often gives unique and unexpected results, so I’ve been reaching for this lens a little more than the 50mm f1.8 S version.

However, if I were to shoot in more serious situations where I needed consistent professional results, I would always use the 50mm f1.8 S lens. For example, I would still take the f1.8 S lens to any type of event over this f1.4 version.

I love Nikon’s decision to let their non-S lenses have more classic qualities while leaving the S series as the top-of-the-line modern perfection. This gives photographers some nice options and different styles of optics to choose from.

If this lens ever goes on sale, shut up and buy it. It’s a solid character lens, even at its base price. However, if you don’t need f1.4 all the time, it pays to upgrade to the f1.8 S.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 Sample Images

Samples are all shot with the Nikon Z8 and colored with the Core Presets.

Nikon Z 50mm f1.4 + Tiffen ProMist 1/4 Sample Images

I initially used this lens with the Tiffen ProMist 1/4 filter, but I don’t think it needs it after all these tests. It looks great without it, or I will just back off and use a 1/8-strength filter from now on. 1/4 is a little overkill on this lens.