Nikon Publishes Update to NIKKOR Z Lens Roadmap (July 21, 2020), Plans to Add 10 New Lenses

UPDATE 2020-08-05: Nikon published a correction, changing the Micro 60mm lens to a Micro 50mm lens.

Under the title “A rapidly expanding lineup of Nikkor Z lenses,” Nikon has refreshed its NIKKOR Z Lens Roadmap with 10 yet-to-be-announced lenses for its Z Series mirrorless cameras.

The “S” label designates Nikon’s top of the line lenses.

To the existing 14 NIKKOR Z lenses, Nikon plans to add these 10 new lenses:

1 Prime Lens: 50mm f/1.2 S
2 Compact Prime Lenses: 28mm, 40mm
2 Micro (Macro) Lenses: Micro 50mm, Micro 105mm S
5 Zoom Lenses: 14-24mm f/2.8 S, 24-105mm S, 100-400mm S, DX 18-140mm, 200-600mm

This will bring the total number of dedicated NIKKOR Z lenses to 24. Of course, with the FTZ Mount Adapter, many more of Nikon’s existing superb NIKKOR F-mount DSLR lenses can be attached to a Z series mirrorless camera.

Note that 9 of these lenses are FX format and 1 is a dedicated DX format lens.

What Is the Difference Between FX and DX?

FX denotes full-frame, as in a 36x24mm image sensor.

DX denotes APS-C, as in a 24x16mm image sensor.

Nikon’s APS-C and full-frame Z series mirrorless cameras both use the same Z mount, so the NIKKOR Z lenses can be attached to either body. In other words, DX lenses and FX lenses can be used interchangeably.

But because a DX image sensor is smaller than an FX image sensor and covers a smaller portion of the image projected by the FX lens, a 1.5x crop factor (focal length multiplier) is introduced. A 24mm lens attached to an APS-C DX sensor camera provides an approximate (24mm x 1.5 =) 36mm view.

For example, a 50mm lens on a full-frame body will be equivalent to a 75mm on an APS-C body. So, the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S lens will have a focal length of 50mm on a full-frame body, but you need to mentally apply the 1.5x focal length multiplier and realize you are actually getting (50mm x 1.5 =) 75mm on an APS-C body.

Currently, there are only one APS-C body (the Z 50) and three full-frame bodies (Z 7, Z 6, Z 5).

There are also a number of lenses meant specifically for the APS-C body and these are specially marked with the “DX” label, and you do not need to apply the 1.5x focal length multiplier to the published focal length. One example is the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR. These DX lenses are generally cheaper to manufacture since they only need to cover a smaller image sensor. As such, though you can also use a DX lens on a full-frame body, the DX crop mode will be automatically selected by your full-frame camera so as to avoid vignetting.

Learn more here.