Hands-on with Nikon`s 58mm F0.95 `Noct` lens
Announced as a development way back in August last year, the Z 58mm 0.95 `Noct` is Nikon`s fastest ever lens, described by the company as a no-compromise flagship prime designed for optimum image quality, to take full advantage of the new Z mount. Like `a well-tempered Japanese sword`. as one promotional pamphlet put it, and priced to match, at an MSRP of $7999.99.
Nikon has shown mockups of the Noct at several tradeshows over the past 12 months, but it was only recently that we got our hands on a working sample of the lens - albeit a pre-production copy. We`re still waiting for a reviewable lens, so you won`t find any shots of Seattle in this article, but click through to learn a little more about Nikon`s most expensive and undoubtedly most impressive Z-series prime.
Hands-on with Nikon`s 58mm F0.95 `Noct` lens
First things first, this is a big lens. At fifteen centimeters (six inches) in length and ten centimeters (4 inches) in diameter, the Noct dwarfs the body of the Z6/7. Weighing in at 2 kilos (4lb, 7oz) it`s heavy, too. So heavy in fact that Nikon has included an integral tripod foot, on a locking ring around the barrel.
While the weight of the lens didn`t threaten to pull the mount off our Z7 during normal handling, it`s not a combination suited to single-handed shooting. This image also shows the screw-in hood, which is lined with felt.
Hands-on with Nikon`s 58mm F0.95 `Noct` lens
Here`s a closeup view of the barrel of the Noct, showing the L-Fn and `DISP` buttons, which operate in the same ways as those buttons on the Z 24-70mm F2.8 S (L-Fn can be configured in exactly the same way as the equivalent controls on Z-series camera bodies).
The control ring to the right works in the same way as other Nikon Z lenses too, and can be configured to do various things (i.e. to provide direct control over aperture or exposure compensation). On the left of this image you` ...
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