An affordable wide-angle prime with classic styling

Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I've covered cameras at PCMag for the past 10 years, which has given me a front row seat for the DSLR to mirrorless transition, the smartphone camera revolution, and the mainstream adoption of drones for aerial imaging. You can find me on Instagram @jamespfisher.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 28mm F2.8 lens sacrifices a bit of build quality to meet a reasonable asking price, but it captures pleasing images and offers lots of value.

Lenses like the Nikkor Z 28mm F2.8 (and the 40mm F2) address Nikon's budget-concious customers. The good news is that the Z 28mm F2.8 delivers generally sharp results and works well on both full-frame and crop-sensor bodies. You can even choose between standard ($299.95) and Special Edition ($309.95) finishes depending on your aesthetic preferences. Occasional chromatic aberrations and a stuttering autofocus motor are our biggest complaints here, but those are acceptable compromises in light of the price and the lack of low-cost third-party options on the platform. That said, the premium Nikkor Z 24mm F1.8 S ($999.95) remains a better option for serious photographers who value optical perfection.

The Z 28mm F2.8 is available in two versions. The standard has a black finish and no adornments—it looks like most of the other Nikkor Z lenses. We received the fancier Special Edition version for review. It comes at a modest $10 premium but resembles a 1980s Nikkor prime, complete with a silver accent ring and square knurling on the barrel and focus ring.

Regardless of which version you choose, it's one of the lightest primes you can get for a full-frame Nikon Z camera. It measures just 1.7 by 2.8 inches (HD), weighs 5.6 ounces, and supports 52mm filters. Minus the lens elements, which are optical glass, the construction is entirely plastic down to the mount.

The lens doesn't have any dust or splash protection, so outdoor photographers who use a weather-sealed Nikon (which is to say any of its full-frame bodies) should save up for the more durable Nikkor Z 24mm F1.8 S.

Nikon doesn't ship any accessories with the 28mm F2.8 aside from the front and rear lens caps. The company doesn't sell a purpose-built hood for it but any generic threaded 52mm options should work. A hood might not be entirely necessary, however: I didn't find flare from obscure angles to be an issue because the lens' small front element offers ample protection from incidental rays. Of course, you can certainly get a little flare by taking photos directly into the sun or an otherwise strong backlight.

The exposed front glass does not include anti-smudge fluorine, a feature Nikon typically reserves for higher-end lenses. Stray fingerprints aren't likely a concern because the glass opening is very small, but you can still equip a protective filer if you want.

The angle of view is a classic wide angle on full-frame systems, one that's a bit roomier than a moderately wide prime like a 35mm. It's a good match for group shots, interiors, and environmental portraits. With a DX sensor camera, the view (around 42mm in full-frame terms) is more appropriate for isolating subjects, such as one or two people for a portrait.

The Z 28mm F2.8's manual focus ring is the only on-body control. But it does serve a second purpose as a control ring to set aperture, ISO, or EV compensation values if you leave your camera in autofocus mode. The control ring is a lovely concept, but its high sensitivity makes it difficult to dial in precise adjustments. Even just a glancing touch can wildly change the exposure settings. This is a pain point with most Nikkor Z lenses, not just the 28mm. To date, the Z 9 is the only compatible camera body that lets you adjust the control ring's response sensitivity. The problem is that people who own that $5,500 camera probably won't buy this lens, and vice versa.

Autofocus is responsive, but not particularly fast. The focus motor kicks in as soon as you command the camera to drive focus, but takes about 0.2 seconds to move from distant to close focus. In practice, that's enough of a delay that you might miss some photo opportunities of candid or moving subjects. But the lens' wide angle and F2.8 optics means these focus issues aren't as problematic as with the similarly minded Nikkor Z 40mm F2.

If you enjoy manual focus, the 28mm F2.8 is a decent option. Its electronic focus system is quite responsive—there's no discernible lag in setting focus—and offers a nonlinear response for small, precise adjustments. Focus requirements for serious video work are a little different than for photos. Video folks like lenses with a linear focus response so they can repeat focus racks consistently between takes.

But if you don't mind using autofocus or are looking for a vlogging lens, this is still a good fit. We like that the angle of view remains the same when you shift focus; in other words, it avoids the distracting focus breathing effect.

The lens focuses on subjects as close as 7.6 inches away from the image sensor. The 1:5 magnification factor is well shy of macro, so you can forget about using the lens for close-ups of insects or detail shots of flowers. It's a pretty good pick for table photos of a fancy dinner, however, and is decent for close, but not macro, shots.

I used the Nikkor Z 28mm with two different cameras for review, the full-frame Z 7 II and APS-C Z fc. I opted for the 45MP Z 7 II for optical bench tests and used Imatest(Opens in a new window) software to evaluate performance.

The Z 28mm manages very good marks (3,800 lines) at f/2.8 and hits excellent marks in the f/4-11 (4,200-4,400 lines) range. It falls shy of the outstanding resolution for the Z 7 II, but is plenty sharp for both it and the 20MP DX models, which aren't too far off in pixel density. It's worthwhile to stop down for landscapes because the lens shows some edge softness and visibly dark edges wide-open at f/2.8.

Image quality drops off at the narrowest aperture setting available, f/16. Optical diffraction, an unavoidable effect of physics, causes light particles to scatter as they pass through a small diaphragm. Some photographers stop down a lens all the way to get it to draw sunstars with crisp lines, but, as you can see below, the Nikkor Z 28mm F2.8's sunstars are anything but sharp. For the best results, don't set the lens past f/11.

In-camera corrections lessen the vignette at f/2.8, but do not eliminate it entirely until you stop down to f/4. You can opt to increase the amount of in-camera correction to reduce the effect—Nikon offers low, normal, and high options for vignette control. We used the lens with the default normal setting. If you opt for the Raw format, you can brighten or darken edges and corners using a slider adjustment in many image processors, including our standard program for photo gear reviews, Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Distortion correction is automatic for both JPG and Raw captures. It does a good job keeping straight lines as such in photos. You can't turn it off, so there's no way for us to judge how much work digital corrections are doing, but, since they happen transparently, it's not a real-world concern for anyone but optics nerds.

Chromatic aberration, which often shows up as false color, is another concern for photos. The Z 28mm does a decent job quashing lateral CA, an effect that often shows up as purple halos around high-contrast portions of your frame—like tree branches against a sky. It occasionally pops up, but is not hard to get rid of using software tools.

It's also possible to spot longitudinal CA (LoCA), which shows as false purple and green color in focus transitions and bright specular highlights. Sunlight reflecting off the surface of water is an example of a specular highlight. LoCA doesn't appear in every photo, but, when it does pop up, it's difficult to remove even if you're a Photoshop whiz.

Background blur is achievable with the Z 28mm, especially for close subjects or if there's ample separation between the subject and backdrop. Transitions between in-focus and out-of-focus portions of the frame are gradual and highlights show soft edges for relatively clean backgrounds. Defocused highlights are round at the center of an image, but appear misshapen toward the edges. Stop down to f/4 to get uniform highlights across the frame.

Some clinical complaints aside, the affordable Nikon Nikkor Z 28mm F2.8 is quite capable, sharp, and characterful. It's not as optically perfect as the $1,000 Z 24mm F1.8 S, but not everyone wants to spend a mint on a lens. The vignette and interesting bokeh give f/2.8 images a vintage look and you can get edge-to-edge sharpness simply by stopping down. A plastic build quality and a slow autofocus system are the main drawbacks, but neither is shocking at this price.

First-party alternatives are more expensive—Nikon's S Line of F1.8 primes start at $630 and go up to $1,050, depending on focal length. Viltrox makes a line of autofocusing lenses for Z mount, including a full-frame 24mm F1.8 for $379, but we haven't yet tested it.

If you're a fan of the focal length, don't hesitate to pick up the Z 28mm F2.8. It's not perfect, but it brings a visually intriguing perspective to Nikon's most pixel-rich DX and FX cameras.

Thanks to B&H Photo(Opens in a new window) for loaning the lens for review.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 28mm F2.8 lens sacrifices a bit of build quality to meet a reasonable asking price, but it captures pleasing images and offers lots of value.

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Images, and the devices that capture them, are my focus. I've covered cameras at PCMag for the past 10 years, which has given me a front row seat for the DSLR to mirrorless transition, the smartphone camera revolution, and the mainstream adoption of drones for aerial imaging. You can find me on Instagram @jamespfisher.

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