For Leica shooters, the Voigtländer Nokton 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical has been a worthy option for portrait photographers looking for a fast and affordable prime. Cosina teased a while back that this lens would also be headed to Sony, Canon and Nikon mounts. Exactly one month ago today, the Canon RF mount got its big reveal – and now the Nikon Z mount is joining the party.
While slightly different in design to the Leica version, the Voigtländer Nokton 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical has seen a few physical tweaks for Canon and Nikon Z mounts to make the lens more of a cylindrical shape with fewer protruding parts, and in my opinion, is a big improvement.
The lens is capable of covering the full-size image circle for both full-frame (Nikon FX) cameras and APS-C format (DX) cameras – although remember that Nikon DX cameras have a 1.5x crop factor that makes this lens equivalent to 112.5mm in full-frame terms, a focal length that might even make it more favorable to APS-C portrait shooters.
The Nokton 75mm f/1.5 is a manual focus and manual aperture lens, but comes equipped with electronic contacts and can communicate electronically with the camera body.
As such, it provides EXIF information and can work in conjunction with in-body image stabilization (if your camera has it) as well as focusing support, such as focus peaking, so long as your camera's firmware is up to date. The focusing mechanism uses an all-metal helicoid unit that Cosina says has been machined and greased for a smooth and very high precision focusing experience.
The lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.5 and a minimum of f/32. Smaller apertures often see diminishing returns in quality, so it will be interesting to see how this lens performs. The lens is generously constructed with 12 aperture blades, which should make for a smoother bokeh, and is made up of 7 elements in 6 groups. You can see the full specs below.
The Voigtländer Nokton 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical lens for Nikon Z will cost ¥135,000 in Japan, which at the time of writing roughly converts to approximately $877 / £703 / AU$1,353. The lens is scheduled to be released in May 2024.
For more great lens options for your Nikon camera check out our guide to the best Nikon Z lenses.
