Nikon Z 85mm 1.2 S

The Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S is beyond the budget of most mortals but if you are among the lucky ones who could afford it, it'll be a hot commodity. It's quite sharp at f/1.2 while also offering a smooth bokeh. Stopped down a bit, it's sharp as a tack in the center from f/2 and it achieves greatness at medium aperture settings. Lateral CAs are very low and there's also very little native image distortion. Even the vignetting is very well controlled for such an ultra-fast lens. It's still not flawless, though. Axial CAs can be visible in critical scenes and during our field testing we noticed that it is a bit prone to glare (thus use the lens hood). The build quality is excellent but we expected no less from a pro-grade lens here. If you aren't used to such lenses it has to be said that it's very much on the heavy side so be prepared. The AF is pretty quick. The biggest question may be whether you REALLY require an 85mm f/1.2 lens. 85mm f/1.4 lenses are more affordable and usually more compact and light-weight. Still, if you want to have the fastest 85mm around (in Z-mount), this is probably "the one". Thus, highly recommended.

The Nikon Z 85mm f1.2 S is an outstanding lens: It delivers the smoothest Bokeh of any lens up to 135mm focal length which I've tested so far. And its extra bright focal ratio of f1.2 allows the lens to collect more than one stop of light over the Z 85mm f1.8 S with astonishingly little light fall-off in the corners. Unfortunately this also makes the lens very large, pretty heavy, and quite expensive. The Z 85mm f1.2 S has a very reliable and fast autofocus, is hardened well against the elements, and has an extra L-Fn function button plus dedicated focus ring. Optically the lens is very sharp even at f1.2 - surprisingly not at the center where you need to stop down to f1.8 to achieve very good acuity. But all-in-all the Nikon Z 85mm f1.2 S clearly earns a Highly Recommended - its superior Bokeh alone would justify this verdict.