The Nikon Z50 and Nikon Z50 II are among the best Nikon cameras for beginners and enthusiasts, but when choosing the best lenses for these cameras, you have to take a few things into account. One is that the Z50 line uses an APS-C sensor, so while you can fit full-frame Nikon lenses to them, there is a 1.5x ‘crop factor’ that gives a narrower angle of view.
For some lens types, like telephoto or macro lenses, this crop factor doesn’t matter and can even be an advantage. But for standard zoom lenses or wide-angle lenses, you need lenses designed specifically for the smaller sensor size to get the angle of view you need. In the Nikon range, these have ‘DX’ in the lens name. Other makers specify whether their lenses are full-frame or APS-C format. We have a separate guide to the best Nikon Z lenses, but not all of them will be suitable for the Z50.
The Nikon Z50 was launched in October 2019. Since then, other Nikon APS-C cameras have essentially repackaged the innards of the Z50 into different bodies, namely the retro-styled Nikon Z fc and the compact and affordable but viewfinderless Nikon Z30 vlogging camera. More recently, the Nikon Z50 II was released in November 2024. This follow-up to the Z50 is a superior camera in every way, housing plenty of tech that has filtered down from Nikon's higher-end full-frame cameras. It has significantly better autofocus and a much faster shooting rate, among other major improvements (see our Z50 II vs Z50 comparison guide for more details).
However, the best lenses for both cameras are broadly the same: most people will have chosen the Nikon Z50 or Z50 II for their affordable price tags, so I'll stick to lenses that reflect that!
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens tester and a Nikon aficionado, and has personally handpicked all the lenses in this guide as perfect companions to the Nikon Z50 and Z50 II.
Best lenses for the Nikon Z50 / Z50 II
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Best everyday lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
If you already have a Nikon Z50 or Z50 II, it may well have come bundled with the Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR kit lens. This newer Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR has the same focal length range but a much faster f/2.8 aperture that remains constant throughout the zoom range, and is a whole 2 1/3 stops faster when fully zoomed in, allowing for better low-light performance and a shallower depth of field to isolate subjects. Despite its pro-tier specs, the lens remains remarkably compact and lightweight at just 330g, pairing perfectly with smaller bodies like the Z50 II.
In performance tests, the lens proved to be exceptionally sharp across the entire zoom range. Autofocus is fast, accurate, and nearly silent, making it suitable for both stills and video. Bokeh is significantly smoother than that of the variable-aperture kit lens, plus it has a robust metal mounting plate with weather-sealing. A 4.5-stop optical VR system tops things off. It may cost about three times as much as the kit lens, but considering its spec sheet, it's a bargain!
Read more: Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR review
Features ★★★★☆ |
It’s got a solid feature set that includes a constant f/2.8 aperture and 4.5-stop VR, and unlike most Z DX lenses, it comes complete with a hood. |
Design ★★★★☆ |
The design is relatively compact and lightweight for a ‘trinity’ zoom but lacks switches for A/M focus modes and VR on/off. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
The lens is super-sharp and has very fast and consistently accurate autofocus, although it relies heavily on automatic in-camera correction for distortions. |
Value ★★★★☆ |
It’s expensive for a Nikon Z DX lens but very much more affordable than the same kind of lens for full-frame cameras. |
Best wide-angle lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
The Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR lens's combination of a wide 18-42mm focal range in full-frame terms and motorized power zoom makes it ideal for video, landscapes, cityscapes, and architectural interiors. Its party trick is an 11-speed motorized zoom that can be controlled via a lens ring, camera buttons, a Bluetooth remote, or the SnapBridge app.
Its fixed physical length during zooming and focusing makes it perfect for gimbal use, complemented by a close 19cm minimum focus distance. Weighing only 205g, it incorporates 12 optical elements and offers 4.5-stop Optical Vibration Reduction (VR), crucial for Nikon Z DX cameras as they lack in-body image stabilization. Weather-sealed construction adds to its durability, despite a plastic mounting plate.
The lens delivers quick, silent, and reliable autofocus. Sharpness is consistently very good across the zoom range, and it effectively controls color fringing. Distortion is also well-controlled, due to automatic in-camera correction. As if that wasn’t enough, the price tag is pretty competitive as well.
Read more: Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR review
Features ★★★★★ |
Optical VR always comes in handy on Z DX lenses and this one also has a video-friendly power zoom. |
Design ★★★★☆ |
Like other Nikon Z DX lenses, it has a plastic rather than metal mounting plate, but the overall design is very good. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Expansive viewing angles are backed up by excellent edge-to-edge sharpness, throughout the whole zoom range. |
Value ★★★★★ |
A little gem for both stills and video capture, the lens is terrific value for money. |
Best standard prime lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
The Nikon Z 40mm f/2 is primarily designed for full-frame Nikon Z cameras (you can tell because of the missing ‘DX’ in its name), but also works well on the Z50 and Z50 II due to its small size, where the lens has an equivalent focal length of 60mm, which equates to a slightly 'long' but still perfectly practical standard lens, or perhaps a ‘short’ portrait lens.
The fast f/2 aperture ensures good sharpness and smooth bokeh, while the autofocus is swift and nearly silent, making it suitable for both stills and video. It features a simple optical construction with six elements, including two aspherical elements, and Nikon's Super Integrated Coating to reduce ghosting and flare. Despite its remarkably affordable price, it delivers strong performance. The build quality is solid and includes weather-seals for durability. The manual focus ring can be customized for other camera functions, such as aperture control.
There are a few minor drawbacks: the absence of a dedicated lens hood (even as an optional accessory), the lack of an auto/manual focus mode switch (requiring menu adjustments), and the omission of optical image stabilization, which could be a concern for DX-format bodies without in-body stabilization, like the Z50/Z50 II. Nevertheless, the lens punches above its weight with rapid and accurate autofocus, excellent corner-to-corner sharpness even at its widest aperture, and good resistance to ghosting and flare. It's great value for its price.
Read more: Nikon Z 40mm f/2 review
Features ★★★★☆ |
There’s not really any room for any fancy features, as this lens is unfeasibly compact and lightweight. |
Design ★★★★☆ |
The design aims for simplicity, right down to its plastic mounting plate and lack of a hood. |
Performance ★★★★☆ |
This little lens punches above its diminutive weight in terms of image quality and all-round performance. |
Value ★★★★★ |
The standard version is terrific value for money but the retro-styled SE (Special Edition) is more pricey. |
Best street lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
For street photography and when I’m on walkabout or traveling, I really like lenses that are compact to stash, lightweight to carry and make my camera inconspicuous for candid shooting. At less than an inch thick and tipping the scales at a mere 5oz, this Viltrox lens ticks all the right boxes, qualifying as a ‘pancake prime’. I also have an older Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 pancake lens in my collection but the relatively new 26mm is much more sophisticated, adding manual focus instead of being limited to autofocus, and having a fully adjustable aperture diaphragm instead of a fixed f/4.5 aperture.
On full-frame cameras, I like the generously wide-angle 26mm focal length, but that's not the whole story. I love that that I can also use it in crop mode, or on a DX (APS-C format) camera body like the Z50 and Z50 II, where it gives an entirely natural perspective, equating to an ‘effective’ 39mm focal length.
Either way, the actual or effective focal length is coupled with a fairly fast f/2.8 aperture that enables quick shutter speeds for freezing motion, even under dull lighting conditions. That adjustable diaphragm that I mentioned also comes with a physical aperture control ring, which is a neat handling extra.
Best of all, the tiny Viltrox delvers excellent sharpness and clarity, punching well above its weight in terms of performance. If you'd rather stick with an own-brand Nikon lens, don't rule out the compact Nikon Z DX 24mm f/1.7.
Read more: Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 Evo review
Features ★★★★★ |
The feature set might not look overly exotic but in the context of a pancake lens, it’s relatively rich with stepping motor autofocus and focus/aperture control rings. |
Design ★★★★★ |
Build quality feels very sturdy, with an all-metal construction and weather-sealed mounting plate. The design manages to shoehorn useful features and high-end handling into an ultra-compact build. |
Performance ★★★★½ |
Performance is impressive by any standards and image quality is outstanding for a pancake lens, with excellent edge-to-edge sharpness, great clarity and well-controlled aberrations. |
Value ★★★★★ |
The lens costs about three times as much as the previously launched Viltrox 28mm lens but I reckon it’s more than three times as good, making it great value. |
Best travel lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
When you take the Z50 / Z50 II image sensor’s crop factor into account, the Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR provides a versatile 7.8x zoom range that is equivalent to 27-210mm in full-frame terms. It features a 5-stop optical stabilizer and a customizable control ring, offering good overall performance and decent value. It’s light enough that you won’t mind carrying it around all day long, and makes for a good choice for when you need to travel with just one lens.
Autofocus is quick, silent, and suitable for video, with minimal focus breathing. Sharpness is generally improved compared to the older F-mount version, particularly in the mid-frame and corners at wider focal lengths, though it noticeably decreases at the telephoto end.
While the 18-140mm offers the convenience of a single, versatile zoom, it doesn't surpass the image quality or build of combining the Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR and Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR kit lenses. The kit lens combination provides a wider maximum viewing angle and longer telephoto reach, presenting a compelling alternative for those willing to swap lenses.
Read more: Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR review
Features ★★★★★ |
Powerful 5x zoom range is top of the features list, backed up by fast autofocus and 5-stop optical stabilization. |
Design ★★★★☆ |
There’s an additional, customizable control ring but no switches for A/M focus nor VR on/off, and the mounting plate is plastic. |
Performance ★★★★☆ |
Image quality and all-round performance are impressive but sharpness drops off a bit at the long end of the zoom range. |
Value ★★★★☆ |
Good value rather than entirely great, the lens costs about the same as a pair of Z DX 16-50mm and Z DX 50-250mm zooms. |
Best telephoto zoom for the Z50 / Z50 II
You can use Nikon's full-frame telephoto lenses on the Nikon Z50 / Z50 II, and its smaller sensor's 'crop factor' will give them 1.5 times the magnification. But full-frame Nikon Z telephotos are big and expensive. This lens is a cheaper and more practical option for these cameras – and, if you bought the twin-lens kit that includes this, you got yourself a real bargain.
This telephoto lens has an effective focal length range of 75-375mm in full-frame terms, taking it into super-telephoto territory. But it’s much smaller and lighter than you’d expect for a lens with that reach.
I found it enjoyable to use during testing: it balances nicely on the Z50 and Z50 II, and its controls are lovely and smooth. You can choose from several functions for the control ring. 5-stop image stabilization helps to mitigate the inevitable camera shake you’ll encounter at the long end.
Read more: Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR review
Features ★★★★☆ |
Strong features include a 75-375mm ‘effective’ zoom range, fast autofocus and 5-stop optical stabilization. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The retractable design makes for a small stowage size and the lens is refreshingly lightweight, although it has a plastic mounting plate. |
Performance ★★★★☆ |
As advertised, autofocus is rapid and stabilization is very effective. Sharpness drops off a bit at the long end but is very good overall. |
Value ★★★★★ |
As one of Nikon’s Z system (albeit DX format) lenses, it’s great value for money. |
Best telephoto prime for the Z50 / Z50 II
This lens from the Viltrox Evo line-up takes me back to my youth! It’s a DX (APS-C) format lens, so once you factor in the 1.5x focal length multiplier, it feels just like using a 135mm prime lens on a full-frame camera. I used to find this focal length perfect for tight head shots in portraiture, for still life photography, and for general telephoto shooting when I wanted to simply cover a bit of distance or to isolate subjects within a scene with a tight depth of field.
Adding to the retro charm of the ‘effective’ 135mm focal length, the Viltrox feels pretty old-school in terms of handling, with a physical aperture control ring and a large manual focus ring, even if the latter is electronically coupled to the stepping motor autofocus system. It’s actually bang up to date with fast and virtually silent autofocus, a customizable function button, and a click/de-click switch for the aperture ring.
If you’d rather go for something slightly shorter but with a faster aperture, there’s also the very similar Viltrox AF 75mm f/1.8 Evo, which launched at the same time. This one has an ‘effective’ focal length of 112.5mm. We gave both lenses 5-star ratings in our reviews.
Handling is excellent, not only due to the little extras that I’ve just mentioned, but also because the APS-C design enables a relatively compact and lightweight build, ideal for like-minded mirrorless camera bodies. And to mix metaphors, the proof of the pudding is in the pictures, with beautiful image quality and excellent all-round performance.
Read more: Viltrox AF 90mm f/2.2 Evo review
Features ★★★★★ |
The strong features list includes fast and accurate autofocus and a dedicated aperture control ring. For Nikon and Sony, there’s also an AF/MF switch, customizable function button and click/de-click switch, although these are lacking in the Fujifilm version, in keeping with Fuji own-brand lenses. |
Design ★★★★★ |
The design of the lens manages to combine a conveniently compact and lightweight construction with solid and sturdy build quality, complete with weather-seals. All in all, the lens has a great look and feel. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Edge-to-edge sharpness is excellent even when shooting wide-open at f/2.2, along with superb clarity, contrast and color rendition. Bokeh is super-smooth, while color fringing and distortion are kept to a minimum. |
Value ★★★★★ |
This APS-C format 90mm lens is more expensive to buy than the full-frame compatible Viltrox AF 85mm f/2 Evo lens but it’s still outstanding value for money. |
Best macro lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
The Nikon Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 is a compact and lightweight standard prime for Nikon’s APS-C (DX) Z-mount cameras, and is particularly suited to the Z50 II, offering both a fast aperture and close-up macro capabilities. Its 35mm focal length translates to an effective 52.5mm on a DX camera, providing a natural perspective favored for general shooting, portraits, and street photography. The bright f/1.7 aperture allows for beautiful bokeh, excellent low-light performance, and fast shutter speeds.
While designated as a 'macro' lens, its native maximum magnification is 0.67x, not a true 1.0x macro. However, the 1.5x crop factor of the DX sensor makes this effectively a 1.0x magnification in full-frame terms.
Performance is highly impressive, delivering excellent sharpness in both general shooting and close-up macro photography. Autofocus is fast, silent, and accurate thanks to a linear stepping motor, and is a welcome departure from the often-sluggish focus found in many macro lenses. Color fringing and distortions are negligible with in-camera corrections.
Its superior build quality includes a durable metal mounting plate and weather seals, while weighing just 220g, and its dual functionality as a fast standard prime and close-up lens makes it a versatile and worthwhile addition to the DX system.
Read more: Nikon Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 review
Features ★★★★☆ |
Top features are the fast f/1.7 aperture rating and macro facility, but there’s no image stabilization and the hood is sold separately. |
Design ★★★★☆ |
The design is simple but effective. The lens is certainly streamlined but I’d have preferred an A/M focus mode switch to be fitted. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
Image quality is highly impressive in all respects, and autofocus is fast and consistently accurate for close-ups as well as general shooting. |
Value ★★★★☆ |
It’s a lot pricier than its sibling Nikon Z DX 24mm f/1.7 lens but better built and more versatile, making it pretty good value. |
Best portrait lens for the Z50 / Z50 II
Compared with full-frame cameras, APS-C models like the Z50 and Z50 II can struggle to deliver a tight depth of field. That’s because DOF is more dependent on the ‘actual’ focal length rather than the ‘effective’ focal length after the 1.5x crop factor is applied. To compensate, I love that this lens has an ultra-fast f/1.2 aperture, which is capable of delivering a really tight depth of field at typical shooting distances for portraiture.
Making the most of the tight depth of field, the Viltrox combines superb sharpness with beautifully smooth bokeh in defocused areas, with a natural-looking roll-off between the two. It’s a great portrait lens that enables you to really isolate the main subject within a scene by blurring fussy-looking backgrounds.
Handling is excellent, and although the lens is necessarily a bit chunky due to the super-fast aperture rating, it’s well stocked in features. These include an aperture control ring with a click/de-click switch, a handy AF/MF focus switch, and a customizable function button.
See our full Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro review
Features ★★★★★ |
Top-ranking features include great glass, a click/de-click aperture ring, AF/MF switch and AF-hold button. |
Design ★★★★★ |
Up-market build quality includes a full metal casing and metal mounting plate, complete with extensive weather-seals and great handling. |
Performance ★★★★★ |
The lens fulfils all the aspects of image quality that you want from this kind of lens, including excellent sharpness, beautiful bokeh and minimal aberrations. |
Value ★★★★★ |
It’s twice the price of some of the most inexpensive Viltrox lenses but worth every cent and much more, being a top-class optic. |
Lab test data and comparisons
The lens experts in our testing lab run a range of tests under controlled conditions. We take photos of Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts, then use the Imatest Master testing suite to analyze sharpness, distortion, and chromatic aberrations at the centre of the image frame, corners, and mid-point distances across the range of aperture settings (up to f/22).
The graphs below show the comparative performance of the lenses in this guide, based on our in-house lab tests. For zoom lenses, we repeat our test at the widest and longest ends of the zoom range, plus intermediate 'mid-wide' and 'mid-telephoto' settings. Use the dropdown menus to select between them (for primes, the same data appears on all graphs for ease of comparison). Only full f-stops are labelled on the X-axis for sharpness, so, for example, an f/1.2 or f/6.3 lens would correlate to f/1 and f/5.6, respectively.
As for the Nikon lenses, every one's a winner, as I'd expect from Z system glass. In terms of upgrades, the Nikon 16-50mm f/2.8 lens has performance that makes it a worthy replacement for the retractable 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 kit lens. Viltrox also puts in a good showing. The Viltrox 56mm prime retains excellent sharpness, even wide-open at its extravagant f/1.2 aperture (and certainly without an extravagant price tag). The Viltrox 26mm is also astonishingly sharp for a 'pancake' lens, closely matching the Nikon 40mm prime. The Viltrox 26mm has the worst color fringing and appears to have the worst barrel distortion. However, some of the Nikon lenses are flattered by automatic in-camera correction for distortion that can't be disabled.
For more detailed graphs of each lens's performance, which give the full picture, check out the graphs in our full standalone lens reviews.
Center sharpness
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings
| Timestamp (f-stop) | Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR () | Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR () | Nikon Z 40mm f/2 () | Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 EVO () | Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR () | Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR () | Viltrox AF 90mm f/2.2 EVO () | Nikon Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 () | Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro () |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2086 |
| 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1620 | 2041 |
| 2 | N/A | N/A | 1741 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2440 | 2146 | 2277 |
| 3 | 1812 | 2059 | 1938 | 2042 | 2081 | N/A | 2395 | 2236 | 2566 |
| 4 | 2130 | 2028 | 2376 | 2455 | 2027 | 1859 | 2409 | 2244 | 2550 |
| 5 | 1998 | 2168 | 2504 | 2492 | 2093 | 1883 | 2343 | 2257 | 2330 |
| 6 | 1932 | 1945 | 2346 | 2265 | 1897 | 1713 | 2004 | 1942 | 2048 |
| 7 | 1589 | 1622 | 2038 | 1942 | 1557 | 1545 | 1594 | 1583 | 1720 |
| 8 | 1338 | 1300 | 1781 | 1650 | 1242 | 1257 | 1232 | 1241 | 1364 |
| 9 | 1026 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 989 | 939 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Fringing @ f/8
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings
| Product | Value |
|---|---|
| Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR | 0.07 |
| Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR | 0.03 |
| Nikon Z 40mm f/2 | 0.13 |
| Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 EVO | 0.44 |
| Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR | 0.13 |
| Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR | 0.26 |
| Viltrox AF 90mm f/2.2 EVO | 0.35 |
| Nikon Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 | 0.18 |
| Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro | 0.15 |
Distortion
Use the dropdown menu to select between wide-angle, mid-wide, mid-tele, and telephoto zoom settings
| Product | Value |
|---|---|
| Nikon Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR | -0.8 |
| Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR | -0.11 |
| Nikon Z 40mm f/2 | -0.98 |
| Viltrox AF 26mm f/2.8 EVO | -2.14 |
| Nikon Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR | -0.68 |
| Nikon Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR | -0.14 |
| Viltrox AF 90mm f/2.2 EVO | 0.56 |
| Nikon Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 | 0.22 |
| Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro | 0.78 |
There's more to it than just the technical side, though! Beyond the lab, our reviewers test lenses in real-world environments. We work with lenses both indoors and outdoors, in studio conditions and in natural light, with as many different subjects as possible (or appropriate – there's no point testing a landscape lens' ability to shoot a portrait!).
We take into account everything from handling and ease of use to autofocus speed and the overall quality of the images produced.
Find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World
How to choose the best lens for the Nikon Z50 / Z50 II
Which lenses fit the Nikon Z50 / Z50 II?
The Z50 / Z50 II uses the Nikon Z mount and is compatible with all lenses designed for that mount. Nikon’s own Z-mount lenses all have Z at the start of their model names.
You can use any Z-mount lens on the Z50 / Z50 II, although some Z-mount lenses are designed for use with APS-C format cameras, rather than full-frame cameras. Nikon lenses that fall into this category have DX as part of their model names. These lenses are typically smaller, lighter, and cheaper than equivalents designed for full-frame cameras.
If you buy a DX lens and later upgrade to a full-frame Nikon Z camera, the image you get through the DX lens will be cropped compared with a full-frame lens.
The Z50 / Z50 II is also able to use F-mount lenses, which are made for use with Nikon’s DSLR cameras. For this, you need an adaptor such as the Nikon Mount Adapter FTZ II. The idea is that owners of older DSLR cameras can buy a Z camera and still use their old lenses.
How do I know which lens to get?
The reason there are so many types of lenses in the first place is that different scenes demand different lens designs, particularly when it comes to focal length and aperture rating.
Usually, you decide what you want to photograph, then get a lens with the focal length that suits the situation. For example, to shoot landscapes, you will need a wide-angle lens, while for sports and wildlife, you will need a telephoto.
You can watch this video that explains focal length; it helps you work out what kind of lenses you need for different genres of photography.
