Every time you make a video the collection on the shelves behind you grows even more impressive! Thanks for the comparison Ricci, really great to know how good the Z glass is. looking forward to the 70-200 test! Cheers.

I would prefer the f-lens for sunstars, but man, the sharpness of the z is amazing

It seems routine now, we know the results before watching. Every F lens I have, the best Nikon made at specific FL and each has the same relation to the S glass...pretty good in the center but not as good, more CA/fringing wide open, weaker corners and more fall off in the corners.. My 85 1.8 S beats my F 1.4, 1.8 and Sigma ART 1.4, same with 50, 24, and 24-70 f/4 S or 24-70 2.8 S compared to either the 2.8G or E versions When Nikon teased the cameras before release they made a video and claimed the flange distance and diameter allowed better lenses. Several KZfaq gurus were already panning the camera and lenses despite never seeing one, and said the lens claim was nonsense. As usual, the YT Gurus pushing other brands were wrong, the Flange really does make a difference, in every S lens I have tried, the results are the same, just better. There are a lot of reasons to invest in the Z system , from body ruggedness, sealing, and feel in the hand, to EVF, connectivity, etc but the lenses are the best reason. I have the FTZ and it works fine but I stopped using it some time ago because by knowing the F lenses, from Nikon, Sigma or Tamron, just are not as good as the S glass. Once I saw it, it the inner voice seems to nag me until I change lenses. They are all usable and highly rated but knowing the weaknesses seems to amplify them. I always concerned myself with the composition and lighting and not the camera or lenses but now I really notice at 1:1. My audience would never see it but I do.

Without a doubt I'd get the F mount for landscapes, simply because its' sunstar is really beautiful. You always shoot landscapes stopped down and the difference really becomes rather negligable for an amateur photographer like me.

Nice reviews, I have watched several (2 of this pair of lens comparison) Thank you

Great video as always! Thank you for your dedication to detail and not just pixel peeping. Stay healthy and safe!

Love this comparison videos Ricci. Watched this on my TV to really see all the details, lol. Thanks for the awesome comparison!

Another of the best reviews available.

Many thanks for this Ricci, I believe this is the first detailed vlog I saw on this lens. Very informative and made me feel nice since I have already ordered the lens. Can't wait to receive it and test it in the field when this coronavirus issue is over.

Getting this 20mm 1.8 S lens Monday. Very excited

Ricci, thanks so much for your great videos! I'd like to use the lens for astrophotography on my Z7. The sharpness at f/1.8 is great also in the corners. But do you have informations about coma at f/1.8? Thanks and stay safe!

Thanks Ricci for the relevant and informative content!!!

Greetings from germany. Just another great, unagitated review from you, I really like that voice of reason of yours! Take care and stay sound.

Could you please tell me which weighs more -- the Z 20mm or the F 20mm w/FTZ adapter? I am leaning towards getting the F-mount lens for my Z50 because it is way less expensive, and it will also fit on my D750.

When possible it'll be nice to see how well it performs with Coma and astigmatism

Thanks again for great info (y)

Thanks Ricci. Was looking for this review for a while. Even though you should have included 2.8 because I assume most of the astro photographers gonna stop down either lens to 2.2 or 2.8. Any experience about 2.8? Also please if you have the time do an astro comparison as well.

always a great job on your reviews, best lens reviews on KZfaq, but save yourself the trouble as to assume the Z mount lens are sharper and overall better than F mount glass, in the real world shooting people you can really appreciate how wonderfully sharp and vivid the 50 and 85mm z mount lenses really are, never shot so sharp and pleasing a picture before, of course the z6 and z50 have alot to do with it

To my eyes, it looks like to me the edges of the frame on the F-mount never really sharpened up despite stopping down, is that due to 'field curvature'?

I got mine today and I am telling you is a must have lens! Is Beautiful sharp well design ...

Great video thanks. Really looking forward to the 14-30 comparison, it will be one or the other for me. I know it must be hard in the current conditions but can we expect it any time soon? Thanks!

Thanks for the review. A lens I'll probably buy.

Excellent comparison, thank you.

Great review and someone mentioned this I wonder if the sharpness is the same on the corners if we compare mirrorsless to DSLR using the same lense?

Great comparison Ricci, thanks for sharing. Love your reviews and those Z lenses. Can’t wait until this lens comes out for sale, want one for landscapes, especially night photography.

It might be interesting to have a comparison vs. the D850 with the f-Mount 20 mm. Is it possible that the z-Series sharpens more with z- Mount lenses as with the FTZ-adapter?

Has lens correction been carried out on the F lens? Is it not the case that Lens correction is carried out automatically on import into Lightroom on the Z lenses?

Thank you Ricci, that was the comparison I was waiting for. Now I am convinced about the IQ of Z mount lenses.

Nice comparison. Can't wait to see comparison vs 14-30. Wondering how postponing 2020 Olympic games will effect release of more S-mount product. Am contemplating Z6 purchase for low light, and night sky/astro photography and general images that don't need the size of my D850. I have used the 20mm 1.8 F-mount on a Z7 and got some extremely nice aurora images, although a bit noisier than the same scenes shot with D850 and 14-24mm.

Hello Ricci, another informative video. I just got my 20mm f/1.8S yesterday so I’m very excited to start taking some photos. One of the reasons I bought this lens was for astrophotography (e.g., Milky Way, Star Trails, etc.) because the wide aperture will allow me to shoot at lower ISO’s to minimize noise. I’ll let you know how it performs under those conditions.

Just want to say thank you. I asked about sun stars in the last video you did about the 20mm 1.8. Appreciate your time and effort. One more question, I see the z mount has more ‘beams’ of light on the sun stars, has it got more aperture blades than the f mount version?

Nice comparison, thanks for that. I am looking forward to get one as well. I prefer it for Astro photography. Did you tried this as well. I am not so happy with the Sigma Art 14 1.8 or 20 1.4. Did you compare these lenses?

The Z lenses are so good. They never disappoint. Especially love my z 85mm and my new 20mm.

Thanks for another great review! Mine has been shipped. Wondering what you think about the emotional and/or psychological response changes these corner to corner sharp lenses might evoke over time. We all grew up with every image being soft in the corners with some vignetting. In fact, adding vignettes to images became mainstream and in vogue with digital editing. Now that there’s an opportunity to have sharpness across the entire image, do you think what people admire and expect to see in various genres of photography will change over time?

the colors and the contrast look much better too...not just sharpness. I just got the Z 50 mm and was in total shock how good it looked. I’ve never seen anything like that before and for only $600!!! My eye is on this lens next

The z series lenses are beautiful 😱

I'm surprised. I've always considered my 20mm F lens as one of my best. The Z lens must be really impressive...

I would love to see how much in post, Topaz could clean up the f mount's sharpness. You may be surprised, I was after testing it with my F mounts.

Hi Ricci, thanks for another informative video. I would be interested in your thoughts comparing pro’s and con’s of owning either the Nikon Z 20mm F1.8S vs the Nikon Z 14-30 F4 S. Is having a the sharper image of the 1.8 worth losing out on the various zooms the F4 provides? Price is also cheaper owning the F1.8 but again you are missing out on the various zoom focal lengths. Any advise you could provide on helping me make a decision between these two fantastic lenses would be greatly appreciated.

Well I think that has sold me on the Z 20mm F/1.8S. I have been looking for a decent 20mm for a while due to it being one of my favourite focal lengths for low light photography.

Excellent as always. Looking forward to comparison between 14-30 and this 20mm.

I have the 20mm 1.8G for 6 years now, it was the first Nikon lens I bought. I love it, it's still one of my favorite lenses. I actually rarely shoot wide open with it, so for me the G would still be a better option considering that it costs 800 USD vs the Z which cost 1050 USD. And when I bought mine in Taiwan, it was on a discount, and it cost me around 700 USD. I feel it's a great value lens. One day when I add a Z camera I will keep the G, because I don't use it all the time. The 50mm 1.8G however, that one I will not put on a Z camera. 50mm is my most used lens, so I would definitely want a Z lens in that case.

I always enjoy watching Ricci Talks' KZfaq. I would like to see the Nikkor Z 20mm F1.8S VS Z 24mm F1.8 S. Please consider.

Any chance you could do a similar comparison for the 24mm?

Thank you for your tests and report. The shots are taken at relatively close range. Have you, or can you, do some comparisons at a longer range? Many landscape shots would be at a materially longer range, close to infinity focus. Curious to know whether you would see the same level of performance from the Z lens there and the same relative differences versus the F mount lens. I expect so, but would love to see someone check. So far I have really liked all of the Z mount lenses I have.

Would love to see your review of the z 70-200!

I don't recall if you do milky way photography but do you think this lens would be a good choice for that? Great work as usual.

I watched this on my phone and couldn't see any difference to be honest between them so will have to watch on my tv to really see properly. But a very useful comparison. Thanks Ricci.

very nice thanks, what if you try the F mount on d850 to see the lens at its best?

Can you do more on the 24-200 Z? im trying to decide if I want to jump to that with a Z6 from my D5600...

My hypothesis is the difference we see in sharpness between the two lenses would mostly disappear using a z6 on the test instead of a z7 (given the difference in sensor resolution between the two cameras). Good comparison anyway!

Enjoyed the comparison. Thanks very much. I own the 20mm f1.8g and find it perfect for lightweight landscape/architecture/astro images on my z6 and z7. Im not convinced the outright image quality of the new lens is worth the £350 premium over and above its g relative. If corner detail is important then maybe so or if you want to use it wide open perhaps but again I find the g lens more than adequate for astro. I would suggest most would be stopping it down for landscapes etc so the softness of the wide open g lens would be negligible particularly on a wide view lens. Be interesting to see how it copes with coma for astro...

Why are the Z mount lenses so big in length compared to their counter part F mount lenses?

To me, the sharpness of the Z 20mm is just better than the F 20mm. However, F 20mm excels on the sunstar part of the image. Sharpness is important but it is not all about the image quality of a lens. The F 20mm is lens with character. It has a very pleasing and unique sunstar pattern that the Z 20mm cannot give. With that being said, for people who prioritise corner-to-corner sharpness and video, the Z mount lens is a better option.

What do you do think about this lense for Northern Lights photography?

awsome review. super useful

Thank you Ricci

You mentioned that this lens wasn't as sharp as the 50, but the MTF charts show this lens being sharper than the 50. Any thoughts?

I wonder how it would compare if you used the D850 instead of the adapter🧐

On a technical note, I'd like to know the distance from the rear element to the film plane in both lenses, as well as the diameter of the rear elements. Wide angle lenses have always had higher resolution, but now the sensors have higher resolution as well. Brave new world if you can afford it.

I wish any test of fast wide angle prime like those 14mm and 20mm would include a Coma test, as this type of lens is very popular for astro photography and Coma plays a huge part in lens selection when it comes to astro.

Expected the z mount to be better ;) 20mm vs. 24mm would be awesome mate. When doing this video please explain which lens is for which use. Don't get the differnce between the 20 and 24... i mean there has to be a big difference because nikon released both lenses really fast...

Thanks for the video. If sharp is your thing and you don’t mind the lower build quality, and honking size and weight, particularly versus the AI-S version, go for it.

Can anyone provide astrophotography samples in full resolution?

The Z20mm will find its way into my camera bag at some point it is just so bloody sharp, my only gripe is that it is a big bugger. So I will buy one, maybe next year if we ever get over this pandemic and the price drops a bit.

Cool !

The sun stars just saved me $1000 :) The z is impressive when pixel peeping but for real world landscape images I like sun stars too much to switch. The F lens just has more character with those. 14 rays is perfect. 18 is too many IMO. Plus the rays are too "perfect" and symmetrical on the Z lens for my taste.

Looking at the charts the Zmount looks slightly but not significantly better than the Fmount. In the photos however, the F mount clearly wins. If you plan on photographing charts, get the Z mount. For everything else, get the F mount.👍

Hi, please compare with the Sony and other versions please!

I think this may lead to a new test; does a lens meet a minimum bar for commercial work using off the shelf digital (and film) camera bodies. It seems to me, good lenses from the past decade are still plenty good and we've been reduced to splitting hairs. I am drawing parallels with my astronomy hobby were folks dissect eye pieces, lense elements and mirrors to the n'th degree when in real life few people are trained enough to see real world differences (for us hobbyists anyway, atmospherics will swamp minor differences anyway). Now I'm seeing people do video's on the character of old lenses vs the clinical new lenses. Character being another word for defects that for many of us have come to love and insert in our photos if they don't have them (vignetting anyone? LOL ). We do seem to be in a golden age of photography where excellent equipment is available (assuming you can afford it, e.g. the 58mm Noct) and it's great the new glass is so good. But the "old" glass in many cases is more than good enough. Thanks for doing these tests - I keep learning things!

Around 3:15 you say looking in the corners and you look at the "D780" type on the camera, but that is not in the corner of the frame. It seems the corners of your frame composition are mostly empty (see 1:52). I don't doubt your conclusions, but you might want to change up your subject matter to get more detailed things into the actual corners of the frame. New viewer to the channel, nice job!

Hi Ricci, keep up the good work. We really enjoy it! One think that you usually include and I think it is important and it is missing from this review is the focus shift. Even for us landscape photographers, focus shift is important as it makes focus stacking possible/much easier. Is this new lens similar to say 50mm Z where there is no focus shift at all? Is there any focus distortion variance at different focus distances?

Thanks to this video, I'll probably upgrade to the Z mount version soon...

I wonder how the Z lenses compare to the new Canon RF lenses... Would be interesting to see!

I just received my 20mm f/1.8 S lens from B&H today.

Buying the 20mm for video and portraits

For shooting sun stars you don't always need f16 or 22. At night it is very easy to shoot sun stars at f8. I would post a link to an image shot at f8 (30 sec exposure) to illustrate but KZfaq will delete that post.

Does Nikkor 20mm 1.8 G ED autofocus works on Nikon Z6? Thanks

Sun stars look Great on the F Mount !

Would have loved to see an astro photography comparison.....

Excellent video! As expected the Z lens performs better, but I think there is one reason one would still go with the G and that reason is astrophotography combo with a Z6. The Z6 outperforms significantly the Z7 for astrophotography and since you can’t crop that much lower resolution Z6 images anyway, when comparing both lenses you shouldn’t notice that much of a difference. Maybe if you plan to make very large prints then you would probably need the Z version. So if you are on a budget and you’re not planning to make large prints, for the price of 1 Z lens you could get the G lens + good tripod + star tracker. Obviously someone needs to test that just to be sure.

The 20mm f/1.8 g has been revered as one of Nikons greats . Now it’s kind of dethroned but only if you have a Zed body . I first off noticed in the first picture the bright areas were brighter and blacks darker on the 20mm s lens . This tells me that maybe the 20mm g has better microcontrast, maybe? But you didn’t test anything but sharpness and noted the g lens had more aberrations. It’s going to have more and mainly because of the f mount flange size . The newer lens designs have more elements, more corrections and usually a larger size . This is to correct for more aberrations . Sigma really started this modern perfection of correction in affordable lenses. What you get usually is a lens that has less innertonal details many times with more contrast and sharper . But you get a flatter looking less realistic image . Cartoonish images at times especially when pushed into the higher ISO ranges with high contrast situations. I’d like to have seen a more detailed review of the lenses. I did notice a softer more pleasing oof on the f mount lens also . I’m not hating on the Z lens at all and I’m liking what Nikon is making now . I’ve just noticed that many of their g lenses had decent microcontrast. Something I think is being lost in much of the modern lenses. Zeiss, Voightlander and Leica still seem to prioritize this into their many of lenses still . But it costs . Thanks for the review

They should really add a gold ring around those S lenses... They deserve it! So much better

Was toying with the idea of getting the 20mm F mount for my Z6_2. Find Rick's video. Then comes 2:42 . Buy the 20mm Z Mount.

The big question is whether the pictures taken with Z are better than pictures taken with a Nikon DSLR and the same lenses, I don't think so

How about compare with Sony 20mm 1.8? it looks the most successful 20mm for ever.

Should have added a good used 20mm f/2.8 AF-D for about $150-$200 to see value vs. quality. For a wide angle the 1 1/3 stop isn't that big a deal IMO.

Is it possible the FTZ adapter was responsible for the F-mount lens taking in less light?

Does FTZ adapter also acts as an extension tube?

Gosh I wish you had not shown me this. Now I have to add replacing my F 20mm to the budget. 🙁

In my opinion Nikon should have offered it with an aperture of 2.8, it would have been much smaller and cheaper with the same performance. With the mirrorless cameras it is not so important that they are so bright, because there is no optical viewfinder.

I love my 20mm F so much. It is my most favorite lens for astro photography and landscape. Unfortunately the comparison in the video still not convincing enough to trade it in for Z version. I will keep my 20mm F and waiting for the 14-24mm f/2.8Z.

I believe the hint on the difference of exposure between the Z setup and F setup might indicate a worse T-stop number of the Z mount lens, which has quite some importance for astrophotography. The fact that such a monstrous lens gathers less light is slightly disappointing. of course the sharpness is just outstanding - kudos to Nikon! I still hope the coma in the corners ii going to be the main reasons for astrophographers to switch. Would you please do a comparison of comatic aberration in the corners please?? Otherwise, thanks for the excellent review as usual.

God knows why they didn't use the coating?

Sharpness is not everything....The total IQ of the image says more about the lens quality!

Wow Look at the crop on the Z mount due to profile corrections! Yikes

Maybe we have to check them at the same speed and at the mount they are supposed to be.

I bought the f mount especially for sunstars the new version isn't that good at all!

Z mount 20mm is biggest 20mm lens ever.

Ricci, love these comparisons. However, this is the first Z vs F review I am actually going to disagree with. I know you are trying to achieve a sort of consistency across these, but the measure of an ultra wide and whats important in an ultra wide is not the same as a portrait or tele lens. Different things matter, and the tests should adapt. The main thing I care about in an ultra wide at fast aperture is coma. Dont care that much about color fringing, bokeh, etc. In an ultra wide, performance at fast aperture is only valuable if it can work for astro. That question is not answered in this comparison. Otherwise, I want to know how it performs F8+ for landscapes day and night. Again, that is not really answered here. Sharpness at close distance is not exactly the same as sharpness at far distance. The F 20mm f1.8G is a stellar lens for F8+ landscapes, but poor for astro. Seems the Z 20mm is about the same, meaning that in the ways that actually matter for a lens like this these two lenses seem to be identical. I just dont see a meaningful advantage here, and certainly not $380 worth of advantage. If you dont have the F 20mm f1.8G, the Z will serve you just as well. However, if you have the F 20mm f1.8G, there is no real reason to trade up, unless you just dont want to use the FTZ. F has better sunstars, IMO. Also, you can tape down the focus on the F for astro. Can't do that with the Z. That's actually a huge negative.