Nikon Announce The Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S Portrait Lens

Nikon introduced earlier today another lens for its Z mount lineup – the Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S – the third prime lens in this new line.

The lens has 12 elements in 8 groups including two ED elements and nano-coating as well as dust and moisture resistance with 9 aperture blades. The lens weighs in at 1.03 lb / 470 g.

The minimum focus distance is 80cm (with a 1:8 max magnification) and the lens has a 67mm filter thread. the lens uses a stepping motor (STM) to enable fast, quiet, and accurate AF drive for both still image shooting and movie recordings.

The new Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S on the Z7

The lens has only an M/A switch and you can customize the large focus ring (when not used for focusing of course), however, there is no M-Fn button like the Z 24-70mm F2.8 S.

It worth mentioning that Nikon has yet to introduce any fast f/1.4 prime lenses for the Z mount (although you can of course still use the entire F-mount with the Nikon adaptor). On the more positive note though, the ultra-fast NIKKOR Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct (manual focus lens) will start pre-order soon – so there will be more options for those looking for speed in the Z-mount in the near future.

As for pricing and availability, the Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S will start shipping this September for a price of $800.

New portrait Z-mount lens

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Iddo Genuth

Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.