The BEST NIKON Z Trio of Primes Balancing $$$, Optical Brilliance & Focal Length? | Matt Irwin

#Nikon #Zmount #Primes

Is This The Best 3 Primes to cover a wide range of uses in the Nikon Z line today? What do you think?

PRE-ORDER YOUR CALENDAR HERE

Gear I love you might want to grab via affiliate link -

Nikon

Peak Design

Rode Audio

CFexpress Type B

Check out my social media

[MichaelCortese]

Before I watch the video I'm going to put what my trio would be. The 20mm 1.8s, the 50 1.8s, and the 105 MC. The 105 bumped out the 85 1.8s! The 20 is a monster wide angle, . incredible rendering. The 50 is light, bright, and so sharp. It's also the best focal length. And then the 105 for portraits and close detail

[Tompie]

I think I actually read something by a Nikon lens designer talking about how people tend to fall in one of two camps when it comes to preferred focal lengths. There's the 17-35-85 group and there's the 20-50-105 group. Each focal length in these groups corresponds to roughly half the FOV of the previous one. I also am in the 20-50-105 group, and I already have the 20 and 50mm, so I'm definitely thinking of getting the 105.

[JosefFoti]

I currently happen to have a setup of 3 prime lenses - 24 mm, 50 mm and 85 mm. And I'm happy with it. I'd like to add the 35 mm to the collection but basically, I don't complain at all. The 85 is my all time favourite as I do quite a lot of portraits and the bokeh of this lens is really beautiful (yes, I'm crazy about bokeh), the 24 is a little too wide for some situations, there were times when I was wondering, whether I should have gotten the 35 first but I've grown to like this lens and I use it quite often now, sometimes even for portraits (one has to be really careful though). And the 50 is just so universal, it's useful for portraits, it's my go to lens for shooting couples and for street photography. So I'm really happy I have these three. By which I'm not saying I play to save up to buy some other lenses

[deroux]

I was a 35, 85, 105/180 girl but now I've moved to 20, 35 and 85/105). I got the 24-70 2.8 and have found I really love it. Incredible workhorse lens and I'll carry that one if it's too risky to change lenses due to water or blowing sand/dust if I'm only carrying one body. It's a bit heavy but it renders incredible images. If I had only one prime lens, it would be the 35 for stills and video, portrait and landscape.

[gwk]

Hello Matt, great to see you. I have the 50 1.8 and the 105 2.8. I do not have the 20 1.8. I would have to replace it with the 35 1.8. But lately my go to lens has been the 24-70 2.8 lens. Either way, these Z mount lenses are a great bunch of lenses for my Z7II. Keep safe.

[Flashback]

This is why I love this channel, I too think the 105 macro is an underated portrait beast I like it more than the 85mm

[ridgebackpilot]

For underwater photography with my Nikon Z8, my three "Prime" Z lenses are: the Z 105mm for macro-photography; the Z 24-50mm zoom for wide angle; and the AF-S 8-15mm Fisheye (using the FTZ II adapter). Of course, they are all encased in a Nauticam housing and appropriate ports and water-contact optics, which are different for each lens. Interesting that the Z 105mm is such a key lens that it features in the top three Z lenses for both terrestrial and underwater photography!

[AcidicDelusion]

Nikon is absolutely killin' it

Just got the 24-70 2.8 and holy hell is a stunning lens.

[nightscapeimages.richard]

Hey Matt. I have the 20mm, 35mm and 50mm as I specialise in Nightscape photography. The 20mm f1.8S is my most used lens by far . .I love it. But of course all the Z lenses are wonderful. Richard

[daviddye]

great analysis. I have the 20, but really needed the versatility of the 24 200 as I have limited income of course so I was able to pick that up. I have the 24 70 but will have to save my pennies for a while

[MichaelCantwell]

I own the 20mm, the 50mm, the 85mm, and within the past few days the 105mm. Had the 105mm come out before the 85mm, I might not have gotten the 85mm but the 85 is still an incredible portrait lens and maybe would be my go to over the 105mm. Time will tell, but if I could only have 3 lenses, it would be the 20, 50 and 105. I also have the 24-200 for landscapes and hope to one day possibly acquire the 100-400, however, if I could only use the 3 primes you mentioned, I would still be pretty happy.

[raunlohry]

Hi Matt! You picked my ideal 3 Z primes. Still waiting for my 105 mc so my longer prime would be the Z 85 1.8 or my favorite lens of all time - the F mount 105 f1.4 E- it's big and heavy but gorgeous. Just a side note - I shot the F mount 85 1.4 G for years and loved it. I was shooting family portraits on both 85s and noticed a difference in camera review and confirmed in post production that the Z 85 was visibly sharper with better rendition. I sold the 85 1.4 G the next week.

[nickmorgan]

Waiting on my 105 to arrive, but I would have picked the 20 and 50 as well. The 35 and 85 are also fantastic, but edged out by those two. The choice gets even tougher if you include the zooms. The 14-24 and 70-200 are absolutely amazing, but I would give the nod to the 70-200mm as possible the best Z lens overall.

[nceebee]

I am a hobbyist. I have the 35mm f/1.8. Id like to swap that out for the 20mm, a compact lenses (28) and the 24-120 f/4 as my do almost everything well.

[jpdj]

I actually have all 5 Z 1.8S prime lenses and the 105/2.8S. Plus an ancient design "Petzval" with F-mount (needs FTZ adapter). When I have to travel light, in my pre-shoot planning, I decide which 2 lenses I bring. For a broad assignment, I concur with the 20-50-105, but in a variant could go with 24-50-85 and pack smaller and lighter because of that. The 1.8S lenses are all very sharp, have no optical flaws to mention and for this old Nikon F & D shooter they're on another level. (After a Z 7, I shoot Z 7ii now). That all said, the 105/2.8S is magical in its tones and gradations. The other day, it was the only lens I brought to my shoot and I also shot some portraits with it. Even at f/8 it has a beautiful velvety smooth background blur - wow.
I owned the F-mount 20/2.8D and 20/1.8G and felt these were between good and great. The 20/1.8S is excellent. As to the 85/1.8S, compared to the 85/1.4G that I owned is on another level and I actually preferred the 85/1.8D over the 1.4G version. And that Z 50 lens? Can you imagine the biggest Leica snob in the world having tried it and saying that mr. Nikon san should consider making this lens in Leica mount as well? Nuf said.

[erwinmulder]

For years, I have been using a 50mm f1.8 AF-D lens and the 24-135mm kit lens on my venerable Nikon D80. I recently upped my game and picked up a Z5 with the 24-200mm lens in a bundle and also (quite randomly) picked up the 50mm f1.8 s to go with it, because it was on sale I wanted a fixed lens similar to what I had on my D80. And man, I seem to have hit the jackpot; Both these lenses turn out the be really great.

[guyyowell]

Although, they are significantly larger and heavier than the primes, I still prefer to go out shooting with the trinity of f/2.8S zooms. Though I’m seriously considering bringing along the new 105mm f/2.8 MC just to have that buttery bokeh for portraits, and the ability to shoot macro if the opportunity arises.

[andreabbenhaus]

14-30mm 4.0
50mm 1.8
105mm 2.8 MC

Great video. Greatings from Germany!

[jtes]

It's a tough pick for me, but I would go 35 1.8, 50 1.8, and the 105 VR 2.8 S. However, if the 40 F2 was out I would do 20 1.8, 40 F2, and the 105. 2.8 VR S.

[tommolewis]

I've been using the 24-70 f2.8s for the last couple of years and it practically covers all my needs, motorsport, portrait and a small amount of landscape and street, given the choice I would also pick up the 70-200 F2.8s and perhaps the 14-24 F2.8 or perhaps the 20 1.4s.