Customer Ratings & Reviews

Excellent prime lens. Very sharp. I picked this up for my Z6iii and am very pleased with it. Very light weight. Good for portraits and low light as well as when you want a light travel lens on the telephoto side. The focus ring is very easy to bump, so I had to turn it off in the camera settings for when the AF switch is set to A.

I can't afford the f/1.2 so this works excellent for me :) Switched to Z series and this is the first Z-mount lens I bought so I don't need to use the FTZ adapter. Really impressed, at least for the hobby shots that I do. Pros will likely want the faster prime, but looks like it's sold out :) Tried to upload photos taken with the lens, but Best Buy's review platform won't allow files larger than 10MB, and I don't have the time to adjust file size, so here are some pics with the lens (w and w/out lens hood) attached to the Z7II from iPhone.

Excelent lens , one of the best N beautiful , light, conform and easy to use,

I bought this for my new Nikon Z6 II. Excellent quality glass and takes fabulous pictures. I got this for a great deal at Best Buy and I’m so glad I purchased it there. The 85 mm lens is a great portrait lens and also for general photography.

Another excellent Z lens from Nikon. I find faster lenses much more expressive because I can control the depth of field. My subjects are mostly children. I mostly do videotaping because I get excellent quality if I snatch single frames. Not for enlargements but plenty sufficient for sharing. The attached picture of turkeys is fine JPEG cropped while the picture of a child is taken from a video that was videotaped at HD with 60FPS.

The Nikkor z85 mm lens is a great lens. The bokeh that come out of this lens is sweet. Picture sharpness from edge to edge is great. I couldn’t be more pleased. Even though this isn’t a cheap lens it worth the value.

Since this lens came, I just fall in love... Its perfect for my portraits and senior pictures. The 1.8 works perfect with my z5 and z6ii

Great lens to get detailed, clear, close ups of plants and insects!

It’s a beautiful lens all around, look design, weight etc…just isn’t as crisp in the outer edges of the pictures as some higher pixeled cameras or lenses it’s competing with

Great lens. Light weight, tack sharp, quick autofocus, weather resistant. Produces great results and virtually no chromatic aberration. Very very silent. Beautiful color. I wish the lens hood would be have been slightly well-built and not just plastic. Regardless of the quality of this lens, I feel price could have been slightly lower it being a 1.8 max aperture.

Incredibly smooth AF and a superior lens. I have been using Nikon's previous F-mount 85mm for the last 6 years and, as a headshot photographer, it has been a staple in my kit. I was interested to see if this improved at all in comparison to its predecessor and WOW it did. While the old 85 still holds up quality wise, it sounded *crunchy* using the FTZ adaptor on my Nikon Z6ii. It worked, but there was quite a bit of focus breathing if I was using continuous focus mode. This is one is near silent, and it locks on SO quickly. Additionally, while I was still pleased with the crispness of the previous 85, this one packs that little extra oomph and the focus almost never misses (likely any misses are due to my errors rather than the lens's). Also, as with most 85s, the bokeh is creamy and gorgeous. The photo is a very zoomed in, unedited headshot to show you just how insanely detailed the skin is In summation, it's faster, quieter, and better quality than its predecessor. I highly recommend this lens.

I've been waiting for this 85 mm portrait lens for my z6 for quite a while and this lens did not disappoint! Sharpness is incredible. Bokeh is buttery smooth. Color & contrast look fantastic. This lens is so much better than my 24-70 f/4 zoom (at 70 mm f/4) (blows it away, understanding that this is not a fair comparison, but due to limited lens options for Z system, this is all I had). Photos just look magical on the 85 1.8. Please refer to other reviews of the 85 1.8 for testing of resolution, distortion, vignetting, other details (e.g. Ephotozine review, Ricci Talks review on YouTube). I use the 85 mm to photograph mainly kids, and I can get shots of their faces, but if you get back far enough you can get more in the frame. I have shot with primes for many years and I am used to "zooming" with my feet. However there is only so much you can step back. I have just ordered the Nikon z 50 1.8 as well for a "wider" field of view than the 85 mm for more of a walk around lens. I have generally favored primes over zooms and I shot with a 35 mm for many years and loved it. I considered the Nikon z 35 mm 1.8, but in most reviews, the sharpness is not as good as the 50 mm 1.8 particularly not until you get to 2.8 (e.g. see reviews at pcmag and photography life, where you can compare their 35 mm review to their review of the 50 1.8). I'd like to shoot at 1.8 when I need to, so stopping down to 2.8 is not ideal. Additionally I had actually rented the 35 1.8 back when I first bought my z6 and I was not impressed with the performance at 1.8. I also considered the 24-70 2.8 (I have the 24-70 4), but for my shooting of subjects that don't stay completely still (e.g. kids), I can get faster shutter speeds / lower ISO, and more shallow depth of field with the 50 1.8, and the cost of the 2.8 zoom is extremely high for a leisure / non professional photographer (4 times the cost of the 50 1. 8). In summary, if you're looking for a portrait lens for the Nikon z system, the 85 mm 1.8 will not disappoint. FYI, I ordered mine at Best Buy and had it shipped to the store which I was very happy with, was in new condition, etc. I have had some issues with lenses from the company named after a river in South America. My other go to company is the one in NY that starts with a B, but I am getting great service at Best Buy so I have been buying lenses at Best Buy.

A necessary lens for the Z series cameras. Excellent portrait shots and sharp photos. The only con on this, I would say, is the price. However, it is built tough, and the facial recognition with this lens works great. Overall it is a great prime lens. If you are a portrait photographer would highly recommend this lens.

This lens is a great balance of quality and affordability. My go-to for most photography. I spend more time with this lens on my camera than all others combined. The ability to shoot sports indoors in poor lighting is amazing. I also use a 50mm s class lens as well, but the 85 gets me nice and close for Volleyball and basketball. When I have sideline access I use it for soccer and flag football as well for night games. The s-class lens gives amazing clarity. I use it on my Z6ii and can outshoot people with higher resolution cameras using zoom lenses. Are there better lenses? Yes. At this price point…. No way!

The Nikon NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S is the perfect lens for those close-up portrait shots. I wouldn't necessarily label it as a "Telephoto" lens as it's only 85mm (127.5mm on the Z50) and nowhere near 200mm or even 600mm. However, This lens is sharp, very sharp for an entry-level lens. I call it entry-level as even though this is an "S" series lens, it's not nearly as fast as other NIKKOR glass with 1.4, 1.2, or even .95 apertures. This doesn't mean, though, that the images are any less than crisp as this lens is sharp throughout the aperture range even wide open. Also, gone is the annoying autofocus noise of the old F-mount lenses. These new Z-mount lenses are silent, not quiet, silent. You'd have to be in a truly noiseless environment to hear the autofocus. The only drawback to this lens is the coating they tout on the website. It's supposed to protect against fingerprints but is quite awful. Don't accidentally touch your glass or take it out into the world you will very quickly find fingerprints and or random dots on your glass. So either clean it often, put a filter on it, or try to stay indoors as best as possible. Other than that 10/10.

This a surprisingly versatile prime lens that delivers exceptional image quality and a beautiful bokeh effect for its mid-range price. It's an excellent choice for portrait and street photographers looking for a lightweight, high-performance option.

Super sharp across the entire image. Focuses very fast - I was using Nikkor F-mount lenses with an FTZ adaptor and the result was fast focus, but the Z 85mm focus is even faster. It's not super small, but I don't mind the somewhat larger size since the performance is more that justifying the size/weight. I find it to be a great lens for portrait photos, but I think it could be a staple for everyday use too. A bit on the pricey side, but if you can swing it, I recommend it, especially if you don't already have an 85mm prime lens that can be attached to the Z bodies (I use a Z6).

Awesome Nikon Nikkor Z lenses have amazing quality.

exceptional sharp portrait lense. The weight an construction paired with the new z mirrorless system makes it a solid start into photography especially for portraits an street photography

Very sharp lens on the Z7. But since I bought it I struggled with the price. It's ungodly expensive. It costs twice as much as a F mount 85mm G prime. I tested the 85mm Z against the FTZ mounted 85mm prime G lens. There was not a drastic or noticable difference. I ultimately returned the 85mm Z, not because of any fault with lense. I actually loved it. But for the quality and the price of using a FTZ mounted 85mm Prime G lense, they're nearly identical. If you want to spend the extra money it's a great lense, but you can get the same performance for half the price.