Choosing the best lenses for the Nikon Z9 and Z8 sounds an easy job. But I don't think that you can just pick the most expensive S-line version of every lens. It's not that straightforward, since Nikon now offers different choices within a specific focal range and for different types of photographers. With that in mind, I'll be steering a path through all of the different options.
The Nikon Z9 and Nikon Z8 are the best Nikon cameras so far, and I think it's true that the best Nikon Z lenses are obvious candidates to go with them, but these can get very expensive, so if I can think of more affordable alternatives, I'll mention them. It all depends on what you use your camera for, and you don't want to spend top-dollar on a lens that you'll only use occasionally.
For social and wedding photographers, for example, the best constant-aperture 'S' lenses are must-haves. And if you're a pro wildlife or sports photographer, you'll be looking at Nikon's top-flight super-telephoto primes, including the Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S, the Nikon Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S and the Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S, which are highly expensive and just a little outside the scope of my list.
All things considered, these are the lenses that I would pick for general travel, landscape, commercial and other photography. Be ready for some fairly stiff prices – but then, if you're looking for the best lenses for the Nikon Z9 and Z8, you know you've already entered a major league price bracket, and that the 45.7-megapixel sensor common to both cameras is going to demand the finest lenses for the best results.
Rod Lawton
Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews Editor. He has used practically every interchangeable-lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium-format cameras, so he has the expertise to select the best Nikon lenses for you.
For me, this premium-quality standard zoom reigns supreme for optical performance – it should be at the heart of your lens collection. Read more below…
Superb image quality makes this a must-have lens for landscape photographers – and I love that unlike many, it has a filter attachment thread. Read more below…
It may not be an S lens, but with this sort of image quality, so much versatility and a competitive price, it’s worth taking seriously. Read more below…
Shoot stunning close-ups with a wafer-thin depth of field, and enjoy the usefulness of the 105mm focal length for general shooting too. Read more below…
Best lenses for the Nikon Z9 and Z8 in 2024
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This is one of three 'trinity' lenses any Nikon Z9 or Z8 owner will have on their shopping list. A constant-aperture f/2.8 24-70mm has become a standard fixture in any premium camera manufacturer's lens range.
But while the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S might look the obvious choice, it's not the only one. Nikon's Z-mount cameras first arrived with the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S, which is a lot smaller, around half the price and a lens I still rate very highly. And if you don't need such a wide angle of view, the Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 offers the same constant maximum aperture but in a lighter, cheaper package.
For outright optical performance, however, the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S still reigns supreme, and that's likely to matter most to Z9 and Z8 users.
A constant f/2.8 ultra-wide zoom is one of the essential 'trinity' lenses in any pro line-up, and Nikon pulls it off again with the superb Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S. Anyone who remembers the AF-S 14-24mm DSLR lens and its bulbous front element will be pleased to learn that this lens actually supports front filters too, though at 112mm they're probably going to cost as much as a budget lens on their own.
If you want to travel light, though, take a look at the older Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S lens. You lose a little on the maximum aperture, but you lose a lot in weight – and cost too. This could be a telling factor for landscape photographers or those who need an ultra-wide zoom now and again rather than all of the time.
And if you must have a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, there's always the Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8, which is a little longer in focal length than the S-line 14-24mm, but a good deal cheaper.
We've included the Z 50mm f/1.2 S in our list because it is the ultimate 50mm prime in the Nikon Z line-up. The f/1.2 maximum aperture is not so far behind the somewhat-crazy 58mm f/0.95 Noct and produces wonderful background blur, not to mention superb center sharpness, even wide-open.
Yet we're in two minds. For a 50mm, this is a seriously massive lens, and as you stop down the bokeh shape starts to get visibly nine-sided rather than perfectly round. The edge sharpness doesn't really catch up with the center performance until you stop down to around f/4, either.
Much as I love this lens, for everyday usability, I also rate the far more humble – and much cheaper and lighter – Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S, which I feel is pretty much a match for the f/1.2 lens optically.
Not so long ago, we all thought the classic 85mm f/1.4 was the ultimate 'portrait' lens – but the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.2 S takes it just a bit further. It offers a hairs-width depth of field wide open, but it has the fast and accurate autofocus needed to make that work, and produces quite superb image quality. This does make for a very big lens, though, not to mention an expensive one (wait, weren't mirrorless systems mean to be smaller?).
If the Z 85mm f/1.2 S is a step too far, consider the Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S. It's a much smaller lens, and way less expensive. Although it doesn't offer the bigger lens's razor-thin depth of field, it still delivers strong background blur and great optical performance for more infrequent portrait shooters.
Every pro and most enthusiast photographers needs a 70-200mm f/2.8 – the telephoto part of the so-called ‘trinity’ of f/2.8 zoom lenses, long with standard and wide-angle zooms. The constant-aperture telephoto is incredibly useful for short-range sports, wildlife, event and social photography, and even portraits, where it can deliver beautiful background separation.
As I've come to expect from Nikon's S-line lenses, the Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S is superb in every way. If it's just a bit too big and heavy for a lens you don't use often enough to justify the cost, take a look at the Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 instead. It only goes to 180mm rather than 200mm, but it's half the price, much more compact and lightweight, and still gives you a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture.
If the 70-200mm or 70-180mm Nikon Z telephotos don't quite have the reach you need, and you're not quite ready for the astronomical cost of Nikon's super-telephoto primes, the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S is a top choice. It gives you double the reach, although it doesn't stretch as far as the newer Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. Even so, it's worth pointing out that the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S is a professional S-line lens, while the 180-600mm is more of a consumer-grade zoom.
The Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S does have a variable maximum aperture, but it's only a short shift from f/4.5-5.6, and it is compatible with Nikon's Z teleconverters, so you can extend its reach far beyond its regular 400mm maximum.
Nikon's new super-telephoto zoom is an ideal lens for sports and wildlife photography, without going to the expense of one of Nikon's S-line lenses. The 180-600mm focal length is unusual – just a tad longer than the best 150-600mm lenses at the short end of their zoom range, but with this lens type, it's arguably the longest zoom setting that counts – and they don't come any longer than this without a big step up in price bracket.
The Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR does have a variable maximum aperture, but I'm not going to hold that against it: it's only a small drop of just 1/3EV. I think this is one of Nikon's most important telephotos for the consumer market, and even though many Nikon pros might gravitate towards the S-line lenses, I know they'll be taking a long, hard look at this one too.
Nikon's flagship macro lens is interesting for several reasons. One is the f/2.8 maximum aperture, which makes this lens handy not just for extreme close-ups but also as a general-purpose short telephoto – or even a portrait lens, where the longer 105mm focal length vs an 85mm lens will help with background blur, despite the smaller aperture.
The other notable feature is Nikon's VR image stabilization – Nikon's full frame Z-mount cameras all have IBIS, but lens VR, where available, adds to the stabilizatiion effect. The 105mm focal length helps maintain usable shooting distances too, which is where the admittedly cheaper Nikon Z MC 50mm f/2.8 falls down somewhat.
What's perhaps most impressive, though, is the price. The Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S looks very good value for a professional S-line macro lens.
The graphs below show the comparative performance of the lenses in this guide, based on our in-house lab tests. I’ve been highly impressed by the sharpness of all Nikon Z-mount lenses across the board but, as shown in these lab test graphs, the premium S-line lenses tend to be the best. Color fringing and distortions are also well controlled.
Scores for sharpness and color fringing are averaged from data taken across the entire image frame, from the center to the edges and corners, throughout the aperture range. For zoom lenses, the scores are also averaged from data measured at all marked focal lengths, and the same applies to distortion. Bear in mind that these average values don't fully reflect specific areas of performance. For example, a zoom lens might have noticeable barrel and pincushion distortion at its shortest and longest focal lengths respectively, which tends to average out when looking at the data overall. For more detailed graphs of each lens's performance, which give the full picture, check out the graphs in our full standalone lens reviews.
How to choose the best lens for the Z9 and Z8
Which lenses fit the Nikon Z9 and Z8?
The Z9 and Z8 use the Nikon Z mount and are compatible with all lenses designed for that mount. Nikon’s own Z-mount lenses all have Z at the start of their model names.
Some Z-mount lenses are designed for use with APS-C format cameras rather than full-frame cameras such as the Z9 and Z8. Nikon lenses that fall into this category have DX as part of their model names. While they physically fit on the Z9, these lenses produce a cropped image, so they’re not ideal. None of the lenses in this guide is a DX-format lens.
If you are buying a third-party lens for the Z9 or the Z8, always check that it is designed for full-frame (or FX) Nikon Z cameras, rather than APS-C (or DX) Nikons.
The Z9 and Z8 are 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 DLSR cameras can buy a Z camera and still use their old lenses.
How do I know which lens to get for my Z9 or Z8?
The reason there are so many types of lens in the first place is that different scenes demand different lens designs, particularly when it comes to focal length and aperture rating.
Usually, you will 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.
The lens experts in our testing lab run a range of tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.
We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the centre of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths.
There's more to it than just the technical side, though! Beyond the lab, our reviewers test lenses in real-world environments – and sometimes on professional shoots! We work with lenses both indoors and outdoors, in studio conditions and in natural light, with as many different subjects as is 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 speed of autofocus and the overall quality of the images produced.
Rod is an independent photography journalist and editor, and a long-standing Digital Camera World contributor, having previously worked as DCW's Group Reviews editor. Before that he has been technique editor on N-Photo, Head of Testing for the photography division and Camera Channel editor on TechRadar, as well as contributing to many other publications. He has been writing about photography technique, photo editing and digital cameras since they first appeared, and before that began his career writing about film photography. He has used and reviewed practically every interchangeable lens camera launched in the past 20 years, from entry-level DSLRs to medium format cameras, together with lenses, tripods, gimbals, light meters, camera bags and more. Rod has his own camera gear blog at fotovolo.com but also writes about photo-editing applications and techniques at lifeafterphotoshop.com
