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Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Fred Miranda
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

The NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena is a prime lens known for its exceptional brightness. Its name, derived from Latin, signifies a state of complete spatial fullness. This lens aims to excel in light capture, producing pleasing background blur (bokeh), and delivering sharpness from corner to corner of the image.

Nikon meticulously crafted this lens to ensure consistent brightness across the entire frame. Its 11-blade diaphragm and substantial rear glass element contribute to creating a circular bokeh effect and adding a three-dimensional quality to images. With its 135mm focal length and wide f/1.8 aperture, it allows for creating a shallow depth of field, enhancing your photography experience. Unlike the Noct lens, the Plena supports autofocus, but it lacks built-in vibration reduction (VR). This lens consists of 16 lens elements in 14 groups and has a weight of approximately 2.2 pounds or 995 grams.

Pre-order the NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens at B&H Photo:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1788915-REG/nikon_20123_nikkor_z_135mm_f_1_8.html

B&H Article on the 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Sep 27, 2023 at 08:40 AM

Nathan Padgett
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Oh boy. That is a sexy looking piece of glass. This might be the one to make me give up my 105 1.4. Specs say they are about the same size and weight.

Sep 27, 2023 at 09:07 AM

Richard-BB
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

About the same weight as Sony or Canon 135mm lenses? As for prices? Nikon wins in terms of style?

Sep 27, 2023 at 09:53 AM

CanadaMark
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Richard-BB wrote:
About the same weight as Sony or Canon 135mm lenses? As for prices? Nikon wins in terms of style?

The Sony 135/1.8 is 950g, $2,098 USD

The Canon RF 135/1.8 is 935g, $2,099 USD

The Nikon 135/1.8 is 995g $2,496 USD

I suspect the Nikon will be the best of the 3, as it is the newest and Z lenses are often best in class when a direct comparison can be made, but it's also slightly heavier and more expensive so everything is a trade off depending on your priorities.

Edited on Sep 27, 2023 at 10:50 AM · View previous versions

Sep 27, 2023 at 10:12 AM

deepbluejh
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

CanadaMark wrote:
The Sony 135/1.8 is 950g, $2,098 USD

The Canon 135/2 is 780g, $2,099 USD

The Nikon 135/1.8 is 995g $2,496 USD

I suspect the Nikon will be the best of the 3, as it is the newest and Z lenses are often best in class when a direct comparison can be made, but it's also slightly heavier and more expensive so everything is a trade off depending on your priorities.

The RF Canon is a F1.8 with Image stabilization (which the other two brands don't have). It also weighs 935g.

The Canon 135/2 is an EF lens and is ancient. I'm going to assume you did not mean to compare that lens to the new Nikon and Sony lenses.

Sep 27, 2023 at 10:34 AM

CanadaMark
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

deepbluejh wrote:
The RF Canon is a F1.8 with Image stabilization (which the other two brands don't have). It also weighs 935g.

The Canon 135/2 is an EF lens and is ancient. I'm going to assume you did not mean to compare that lens to the new Nikon and Sony lenses.

Thank you for the correction, I grabbed the wrong lens when I was looking

Sep 27, 2023 at 10:49 AM

sebjmatthews
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Looks nice, and adds to the growing list of reasons I have to reconsider the Z series. I'm surprised they didn't get on this sooner; I consider a fast 135mm to be a mandatory part of any camera system, just as much as a fast 50mm or a 24-70mm.

Though, I take issue with the statement that it is "known for its exceptional brightness"; how can it be known for anything when it's only just been announced?

Also I'm a bit confused as to what's going on with this weight/size/pricing. The Canon equivalent is about 1cm narrower and shorter, weighs 30g less, yet has IS/VR... and nobody can accuse that lens of not having great optics and autofocus, too. I can't really see where that size and weight has gone. It's hard to imagine how this lens could offer such significantly better performance that it justifies not having VR and costing $400 more than either the Canon or Sony.
Granted, anyone who is already deeply-invested in one system or the other doesn't really have a choice and will just have to accept whatever, but for people like me who do float between systems... as I said, it looks nice and I'll be keeping an eye on reviews, but there's definitely a question mark over the value and what Nikon have optimised this for.

Sep 27, 2023 at 11:44 AM

maverick777
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

sebjmatthews wrote:
Looks nice, and adds to the growing list of reasons I have to reconsider the Z series. I'm surprised they didn't get on this sooner; I consider a fast 135mm to be a mandatory part of any camera system, just as much as a fast 50mm or a 24-70mm.

Though, I take issue with the statement that it is "known for its exceptional brightness"; how can it be known for anything when it's only just been announced?

Also I'm a bit confused as to what's going on with this weight/size/pricing. The Canon equivalent is about 1cm narrower and shorter, weighs 30g less,...Show more →

It seemed pretty clear regarding the weight/size/pricing. The Nikon 135mm is all metal construction which adds a little weight. The engineering required for a uniform bokeh all the way to the corners contributed to the size, weight, and lack of VR. The sample images clearly show the design choices Nikon made compared to Canon and Sony which both have cat-eye bokeh in the corner with Sony being the worst. No everyone prioritizes bokeh as a top priority though. I will say as a non-portrait photographer who does not own any Z primes yet, this the first one to get my attention and willingness to open my wallet eventually. Sadly as a hobbyist I will wait until there's a refurbished sale someday. It may be years from now, but someday there will be a sale like the 85mm 1.2 this week. After I get the 180-600mm in the mail, this 135mm 1.8 is at the top of my list.

Sep 27, 2023 at 11:59 AM

Steve Spencer
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

sebjmatthews wrote:
Looks nice, and adds to the growing list of reasons I have to reconsider the Z series. I'm surprised they didn't get on this sooner; I consider a fast 135mm to be a mandatory part of any camera system, just as much as a fast 50mm or a 24-70mm.

Though, I take issue with the statement that it is "known for its exceptional brightness"; how can it be known for anything when it's only just been announced?

Also I'm a bit confused as to what's going on with this weight/size/pricing. The Canon equivalent is about 1cm narrower and shorter, weighs 30g less,...Show more →

The slightly higher weight (and perhaps price) is probably due to the larger number of elements (i.e., pieces of glass) in the lens. Both the Sony and Canon mirrorless 135 f/1.8 lenses are excellent. What Nikon is kind of sort of claiming is that this lens is as good as those competitors with better bokeh and less vignetting and if that is true I for one am willing to pay the higher price and live without the lens based image stabilization. For a lens of 135mm I am happy with just camera body based image stabilization.

I haven't used the Canon but have used the Sony (it is fantastic) and slight vignetting and only average bokeh are the only areas where I could possibly complain. It looks like Nikon did a good job with this lens and addressed the only areas that were not exemplary with the competing lenses, but in all honesty all three lenses are so good it is hard to imagine anyone being unhappy with any of them.

Sep 27, 2023 at 12:04 PM

nhmorgan
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

From Nikon's videos it looks like the prototype had a 112mm front opening but were worried about the marketability of such a big front heavy lens. Wonder if they originally did plan for a faster aperture. I for one would have loved to have seen that.

Sep 27, 2023 at 12:15 PM

JadedWriter
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

That's bigger than the filter size on my XF200 F2. I can't even find the lens cap size for the F mount 200F2. Yeah I know there's a demographic for the Nikon 200, but man from a portability standpoint I'm actually glad they dialed it back a bit. I do street photography and walk around the park with these things so something that's basically a dedicated bag lens that I need on a monopod isn't exactly attractive to me.
nhmorgan wrote:
From Nikon's videos it looks like the prototype had a 112mm front opening but were worried about the marketability of such a big front heavy lens. Wonder if they originally did plan for a faster aperture. I for one would have loved to have seen that.

Sep 27, 2023 at 12:51 PM

sebjmatthews
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Yeah, Sigma made a 105mm f/1.4 lens with a 105mm filter thread, and that lens was widely criticised for its size, especially the front diameter, and didn't sell very well despite it having excellent optics, build and focus. I can't imagine anyone successfully putting out a lens with a 112mm front end, other than super-teles. Nobody's going to care how big a 600mm f/4 gets, but a 135mm is something wedding photographers expect to fit in their bag alongside 2-4 other lenses, and slap a diffusion filter on.

I'll be shocked if we ever see any major company putting out one of these 'workhorse' lenses with a front filter any larger than 82mm.

Sep 27, 2023 at 01:26 PM

Joseph.
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

We're all buying one, Plena simple.

Sep 27, 2023 at 01:43 PM

JadedWriter
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens

Plena of sympathy for our bank accounts.
Joseph. wrote:
We're all buying one, Plena simple.

Sep 27, 2023 at 02:04 PM

Lance B
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Official: Nikon announced NIKKOR Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena lens