Lens Review: Nikon Z 40mm f2
The compact full frame Nikon Z 40mm f2 mirrorless camera lens has become a modern classic, and is one of my personal favorites. Let’s dive into a review of the humble 40mm f2 prime. Why is it loved by so many photographers, especially considering that it’s marginal in nearly every scientific way?
The humble Nikon Z mirrorless 40mm f2 prime lens is the least expensive modern lens that I own, yet it’s mounted to my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera more often than any other. It’s great for travel, street photography, general scenery, documentary photography. It has been a trusted companion on numerous continents. It’s simple, reliable, useful, small, and light. It never complains to me, and I never complain to it.
As a budget lens it does have its weak points, but that is to be expected at this price point, and you might not even consider them to be weak points. It doesn’t do any one thing exceptionally well, but rather everything adequately. Whether or not is suits you depends on your wants and needs, however, dollar for dollar you can’t do better. Especially in terms of travelling light and compact. It just might be the greatest full-frame travel photography lens ever made.
WHY THe 40mm focal length?
40mm has gained more popularity in recent years, and that makes sense. It’s offers a middle ground between the two most popular prime lenses, 50mm and 35mm. If you take a few steps forward it does the job of a 50mm. A step back and it manages to fit as a 35mm lens would.
Having been faithful to 50mm historically, the 40mm works well for me. It keeps me from needing to carry another lens to manage an indoor shot, or to achieve a more pronounced foreground/background dichotomy while shooting scenery and landscapes than a 50mm can provide. Being longer than 35mm it is more appropriate for a portrait than a 35mm lens.
test method
You certainly won’t see test targets or comparisons of “corner sharpness at every aperture“, or much hard science in this review. I’ll touch on a few technical aspects with some examples but this review is more about capturing a broad range of images out in the real world. That’s where this lens excels.
Also, I don’t shoot video. This is a still photographer’s review, though I’ve read that this lens performs admirably for video with quick & quiet autofocus, and without significant focus breathing.
workflow
Nikon Z6 > Lightroom is my simplest and most frequent process. (CC or Classic – ipad or macbook pro – sync’d)
For what I shoot with a lens like this (General photography) I most often apply a film simulation Adobe Lightroom profile + Basic Adjustments.
For black & white I use my own custom in-camera Nikon Picture Control presets modeled after TMAX and Tri-X films + basic adjustments in Lightroom.
The images are shown @2000 pixels on the long edge.
I record both RAW and JPEG files in-camera, and I’ve been relying on the Nikon Z system’s in-camera RAW processing more and more lately. It produces superior results over Lightroom for initial processing and saves me some time, when applicable. Rarely do I open images in photoshop for travel and street photography.
availability
It costs about $300. At the time this article was written it was on sale for a staggering $225. A complete, absolute and total bargain at full price (or lower!).
You can buy it from any of your favorite photography retailers including B&H Photo & Video, Adorama, or directly from Nikon.
build quality
Nothing special, but it isn’t bad either. It’s built from plastic, including the lens mount. I’d rather see metal for the lens mount but otherwise it’s feels solid and is relatively weather resistant for a budget offering.
technical specs
| Lens Mount | Nikon Z |
| Focal Length | 40mm (60mm DX) |
| Maximum Aperture | f 2 |
| Minimum Aperture | f 16 |
| Construction | 6 elements (2 asph), 4 groups |
| Mount Material | Plastic |
| Weather Sealing/Resistance | Yes |
| Vibration Reduction | No |
| Focus Motor | Step Motor |
| Controls | 1 ring, No function buttons |
| Close Focus Distance | 29cm (.095′) |
| Magnification | 0.17x (1: 5.9) |
| Filter Size | 52mm |
| Weight | 170g (0.37 lbs) |
| Dimensions | 46 x 70mm |
handling & ergonomics
Controls
This is a basic lens featuring a single focus/control ring and no buttons or switches. Less is more. The focus ring (control ring) can be programmed for a variety of uses. One minor complaint is that when the control ring is programmed for settings such as f-stop, ISO, or exposure compensation it moves through those settings far too quickly making it touchy and impractical for those purposes. For manual focus it works just fine but the autofocus is quick and accurate, and I rarely find myself needing to defer to manual focus.
Handling
It’s small yet just big enough for you to know that it’s there, and to keeps your fingers from ending up in front of the glass. It’s easy to find the focus ring, and it lacks the added complication of buttons and switches that the higher end Z lenses have.
On camera
There it is living it’s humble and beautiful life on any Nikon Z camera body. It fits seamlessly as if it might have been permanently attached. I’d say that it “balances well” on camera but it weighs so little that it doesn’t need to balance at all. It simply exists and never gets in the way.
Aesthetics
It looks boring, but that’s just fine. It’s humble and simple. It matches perfectly with the modern design of the Z6, Z6ii, Z7, Z7ii, Z9, Z50, and Z30 camera bodies. When mounted to the retro styled Zf or Fz bodies, however, it clashes. For those cameras you may want to seek out the Nikon Z 40mm f2 Special Edition which has been retro-styled to better fit those cameras.
image quality
Artisitic attributes & the subjective
In a word: Authentic
With the Z40mm I get images that retain some of the authenticity of my legacy lenses, but with many of the benefits that come with modern, higher end optics. It’s a nice trade-off.
As with any Nikon Z lens it is designed to work perfectly with Z system cameras and it does that withut comprimise. It doesn’t offer the incredibly high fidelity of Nikon’s S series lenses but resolving power is still excellent from the 40mm f2, even beyond the “for-the-price” caveat.
When it comes to character it delivers with just a bit of bloom to highlights in night street scenes, just a bit softness in the corners wide open, and a gentle vignette (which can be fine tuned with the Z system camera’s vignette control settings).
For me, this best of both worlds is just right for an everyday lens.
Sharpness
Don’t mistake this budget Z series lens for one that lacks sharpness. A landscape shot, exposed at an appropriate (smaller) aperture, will be plenty detailed enough for a large print. Wide open the fidelity breaks down a little bit but only if you push the lens’ limits then hunt around in the corners with your magnifier… and who cares anyway? For anything a normal photographer shoots imperfect corners at large apertures are no problem.
Blooming highlights
… are delightfully subtle and add to the character of this lens. I used to reach for my classic lenses to get this effect but the Z series 40mm has just enough bloom to add authenticity to street photography, night scenes, and those seeking a more cinematic look.
Chromatic Abberation
… occurs, but not nearly on the level of a legacy prime and I dont find it to be a significant issue. You have to work for it and both the Z series firmware and Adobe Lightroom will adjust for it without much trouble.
Distortion
…is automatically corrected in Z system cameras, but unlike vignette control Nikon does not offer the ability to fine tune, or turn off distortion correction. Surely they don’t want consumers to know how much distortion occurs naturally. Curiosity is the only reason to know and the in-camera correction is flawless.
Close Focus
…is more than ample at 29cm making this lens easily adaptable to nearly-macro shooting, and capturing the little details to help complete a story.
Autofocus
Fast, quiet, and doesn’t let me down.
Bokeh
…is imperfect, but pretty darn good for a $300 lens. The character of there out-of-focus areas won’t meet the desires of most dedicated portrait photographers, or that of technical lens nerds, but there is nothing about the bokeh that is either distracting or unacceptable. For a lens this small and affordable that’s an achievement.
Vignetting
…is present, but only sort of. Nikon has it controlled in-camera. It can be dialed to your liking by setting the level of “vignette control” in your Z series menu. I add vignette to almost every photo I process anyway, so most of the time I’m pleased when a lens vignettes naturally. Granted I do not find the shape of this lens’ vignette particularly appealing when it goes unchecked by the vignette control setting in-camera.
Coma
…is a true weak point of the Z 40mm f2 despite containing two aspherical elements. At this size and price point that is not surprising. Therefore this lens is not suitable for astro photography and suffers a bit when shooting urban nightscapes, but photographers looking for an astro capable lens probably know that they need faster and more costly glass. Even with this flaw the 40mm can get you by if you are able to shoot at f2.8 or slower.
As shown below coma is very apparent wide open at f2, diminishes significantly at f2.8, and is gone by f4.
Flare
…. is moderate. You can easily induce flare aiming straight into the light, but that’s what makes life a little more interesting. It’s not enough flare to be a bother unless you’re asking for it, or don’t know what you’re doing.
Speed
f2 is just enough!
conclusion
Quite possibly the greatest everyday lens ever made, especially at $300.
The Nikon Z 40mm f2 has just enough imperfection to add character, but it rarely feels inadequate. It’s perfectly imperfect. Images are plenty sharp and contrasted, yet they still have just a touch of swing, swagger and photographic attitude to feel artisitic and real. The Z system 40mm f2 reminds of a Nikon D series lens from the 90’s. Super sharp but born before the soul got engineered out of camera lenses.
Higher end Nikon Z prime lenses are also 4x the cost and, if you hadn’t noticed, they are HUGE. While outstanding in technical prowess and detail they create images that look too clinical for my tastes anyway. That depends on your taste, and the use-case, but when travelling or carrying your camera daily, those big lenses feel too big very quickly. The size and weight aren’t worth the trade-offs.
Equally a factor, the Nikon Z 40mm f2 simply works well and it never gets in the way. That affects how I feel about it. How I feel about the gear I’m using affects the images I create. It effects the overall vibe of carrying my camera and shooting. Whether or not you like using something, in the simplest of ways, matters. Less is more here, and I believe in that design philosophy. Less bulk, lighter weight, fewer buttons and no unne essary gizmos. Perfect.
Give the Z40mm a try as your default daily lens, as a lightweight travel lens, or for street photography. I think you’ll be happy that you did, and be more impressed with it’s capabilty than you might expect.
I own a cabinet full of lenses and you couldn’t talk me out of my z40.
Jim Hill
Travel, landscape & urban photographer with a BFA in Photographic Illustration & Process from RIT.
Formerly a product & advertising studio photographer, and a fine-art darkroom printer, I have recently reconnected with the spirit that attracted me to photography to begin with: The moments and scenes I find outside of studios and photo labs while travelling or exploring the Boston and New England area.
I value the art of printing and finishing photos for the wall, just as I do sharing my images and adventures on the screen.
@bnw_by_jim
Leave a Reply