Nikon today announced the long-awaited 35mm f/1.2 S, the last lens from the now historical Nikkor Lens Road Map. We hope you've been saving up, as the list price on this new wide wizard is US$2800 (magic wand not included).
The lens is pretty much as you might expect: S-level attention as well as attempting to make a bold statement about just how good a Z-mount prime can be. You can see that both from just the spec sheet (3 aspherical, 3 ED, and one combined element), as well as Nikon's own press release wording: "...perfect combination of sharpness and atmosphere. Soft, delicate organic textures, such as skin and hair, are rendered with a natural authenticity, while reflective objects like jewelry are sharp and free of distracting color aberrations." In other words, sharp, with well-behaved bokeh.
The penalty for pushing the optical capabilities upwards—besides price—is a relatively large, heavy lens for the focal length. Let me put that into perspective:
| f/1.8 | f/1.4 | f/1.2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| length | 3.4" | 3.5" | 5.9" |
| diameter | 2.9" | 3" | 3.5" |
| weight | 13.1 ounces | 14.7 ounces | 37.4 ounces |
Thus, you have to really need all the qualities that this new lens provides, or else you may be better served by one of the other models.
At this point we know 41 of the 50 lenses Nikon was promising in the Z mount (the 28-135mm f/4 PZ S is a development announcement, but should appear soon). One might guess an 85mm f/1.4 to round out the intermediate prime set, but beyond that it's anyone's guess as to what's next.
Along with the 35mm f/1.2 S Nikon also announced the Coolpix P1100. Effectively, this is the EU-friendly version of the P1000, as about the only physical change is that a USB-C connection is now used. While many of us were hoping Nikon would bring their superzoom compact into the EXPEED7 era and all that provides, that didn't happen. I can only spot a small handful of minor changes from the P1000 to the P1100 in the menus. It doesn't look like a full team effort went into updating that camera, but rather a very small team was likely used temporarily to just address a few things. Pity.
Thing is, the P950 is still my favorite of these superzoom bridge cameras. While the P1000—and now P1100—take the lens and a few other things up a notch, the usability suffers some once you try to hold 3000mm on small subjects using contrast detect focus and a modest lens-based VR.
