From wide-angle primes to telephoto zooms, we've chosen the best Nikon Z lenses to start your collection

Are you looking for the best Nikon Z lenses to start your collection? From the original trio of the Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4, Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 and Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.8, Nikon’s Z series lens range has grown considerably, with options for all the common focal lengths and more.

Just a year after it introduced the Z mount, Nikon had already released the

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Nikon Z mount lenses explained

When Nikon launched its first full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Z6 and Z7, in August 2018, the company also introduced a new lens mount. The Nikon Z mount was designed from the ground-up to enable faster lenses to be mounted than is possible with the F-mount.

This means that Nikon Z camera like the Z50, Z5, Z6, Z7, Z6 II and Z7 II have a mount with a 55mm diameter. That’s significantly larger than the F-mount (47mm diameter) on DSLRs such as the D850. However, Nikon has an adapter that enables Nikon F-mount lenses to be used on the Nikon Z6 etc. Furthermore, Nikon claims that the AF-S lenses produce the same performance on the Nikon Z series cameras as they do on a Nikon DSLR.

Although the diameter of the Z mount is larger than the F-mount, it’s flange depth has been reduced to 16mm. This means that the Nikon Z6 and other Z series cameras are very slim.

One of the key reasons that Nikon switched from the 47-mm diameter F mount to the 55mm-diameter Z mount was to give Nikon’s optical engineers the ability to design lenses with apertures of up to f/0.95, which we have seen with the 58mm F/0.95 Noct. The F mount limits them to f/1.4 or f/1.2 at a push. Nikon Z lenses such as the Z 50mm f/1.2 S proves the point, as it delivers superb-quality images throughout its f/1.2-f/16 aperture range.

Nikon has also included in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) in its Z series cameras, which means VR doesn’t have to be built into Nikon Z lenses. However, the IBIS is compatible with the VR in existing lenses used via the FTZ adapter.

The best Nikon Z lenses you can buy today

The best Nikon Z lenses are designed for hybrid shooting, meaning they offer a nice range of features for both stills and video. While the range is still in its infancy, it is growing each year. Below we’ve made our picks for the best Nikon Z lenses to start your collection. We’ve chosen optics to cover all the common focal lengths.