A new Nikon patent hints at tech to make bright aperture lenses smaller, but you might already have it in your Z-mount lens

A new Nikon patent has quietly revealed an intriguing dual focusing-group system designed to help make bright aperture lenses more compact. However, while patents usually get me all excited, Nikon may have gotten our hopes up for nothing, as the seemingly new optical design may in fact be one we saw released over a year ago.

Patent 2026-035920 was published by the Japan Patent Office earlier this month, and it describes two lenses, a compact 35mm f/1.2 and 50mm f/1.4, that use two groups of optical elements that move independently along different paths – or loci – during focusing.

Sounds familiar, right? That’s because last year Nikon released the Z 35mm f/1.2 S and in 2024 released the Z 50mm f/1.4, which both feature a focussing system that closely matches the newly published patent. Bolstering my suspicions is that the original application date for patent 2026-035920 was March 03, 2023, which would’ve given Nikon plenty of time to turn these designs into lenses I just mentioned.

The design described in the patent, and the ones employed by the Z 35mm f/1.2 S and Z 50mm f/1.4 lenses, contains two optical element groups both with positive refractive power – that’s to say they're convex elements that bend light rays inward.

Unlike previous Nikon Z-mount prime lenses, such as the Z 50mm f/1.8 S and Z 85mm f/1.8 S, which rely on a single movable focusing group, the dual-group system more effectively deals with circular aberrations and distortion, along with delivering better focus correction from near to infinity.

This isn't to say that the Z 50mm f/1.8 S and Z 85mm f/1.8 are no longer good lenses, they absolutely still are. It’s just that this newer optical design is brighter and more compact thanks to Nikon's clever use of internal motion.

So, does patent 2026-035920 reveal anything new? Seemingly not. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t dig into it and give myself a headache trying to explain the nitty-gritty of Nikon’s optical designs in the process.

The patent also serves as a reminder that, by the time those documents are public, the developers have had quite a bit of time to play with those concepts.

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