Rich Maher Loc: Sonoma County, CA

For the rich show and tell crowd.

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

I am amazed at the wealth sloshing around in this country that an $8000 lens is on back order... and the Fed is reducing rates because of a fear of a weak economy.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Oh Bob, don't you want to be the baddest man in the mob? It is the ultimate in GAS! Taking portraits in the dark, what could be cooler? Only $8000!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Ha ha keep saving. Maybe by the time you have saved enough it will actually be available.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I can't speak for how this particular Nikkor Z lens might be used compared to others, but my two relatives who are currently active law enforcement officers have told me that they are more likely to use a normal or short telephoto lens for surveillance they have been involved with. They say that location information and context are generally more important than full screen portraits when capturing images to be used as evidence at trial.

Bigger lenses look more impressive on TV and in the movies, but smaller ones with wider angles of view are a lot easier to deal with inside a car or other concealed space. And images from today's cameras easily allow detailed images to be enlarged from a section of a wider view when necessary.

anotherview Loc: California

Ditto.

leicajah Loc: Texas, grew up in Louisiana

I had a Leica Noctilux. I sold it and bought my wife a Rolex. Now the fastest lens I have is a Voightlander, 50mm , f 1.1

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Actually a lot of pros, especially the ones trying to make a living, typically rent expensive specialized equipment that they might need once a year or less. And that includes 800mm f/2.8 lenses for shooting Lions or Polar Bears, Eagles or Hawks from a quarter mile away.

The idea that more is more can be a bit faulty. Less glass elements usually means better IQ. A copy or reproduction lens usually only has only 6, 7, or 8 elements. f/0.95 is only a fraction more than 1 stop wider than f/1. Full large aperture lenses might have full stops of 2, 1.4, 1, 0.7. For digital use, I don't see much difference between my f/ 1.4, 1.7, 1.8, and 2 50mm lenses. The fast ones are vintage film lenses. The argument for a 0.95 for shallow DoF for portraiture, come on. I think we all want both noses and ears in focus and with a 85mm to 105mm lens. And do we really need an excuse to shoot with a horrible background to blur-out. Most of us look for pleasant soft backgrounds. And most street photographers want everything in focus. A f/0.95 58mm lens seems only practical for the rental market, and once there are enough Z bodies out there. There is a huge number of portraits being shot with Nikon D (F-mount) cameras with f/1.4 or f/2 85mm or 105mm lenses on DSLRs. And the same situation for Canon. If I had an extra $8,000 around I might prefer to spend it on a medium format digital body, say Pentax or Fuji. I'd get more use out of that than a super specialty use lens.

Bill_de Loc: US

I guess it's not a unicorn.

"The first Nikon Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens already received in Europe

https://nikonrumors.com/2019/11/01/the-first-nikon-nikkor-z-58mm-f-0-95-s-noct-lens-already-received-in-europe.aspx/

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leicajah Loc: Texas, grew up in Louisiana

Great post!

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

It won't work on your camera ether.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

You are completely wrong that less elements generally mean better IQ. It is nearly impossible to correct fast lenses well with few elements. The standard double gauss design is six elements in four groups, and it does a decent job only until around f2.0. Faster lenses have big problems, especially with longitudinal chromatic aberration and correction of coma, so more elements are needed, often aspheric or made with special glasses, in order to correct for that. With modern coatings, light losses at air to glass surfaces are minimized, so having a lot of elements is no longer an issue. And by the way, there is no 800mm f2.8 lens. That would call for a front element of a diameter of almost 300mm. The best you can get is a 400mm f2.8, or 600mm f4.

You are also wrong about photographers wanting everything in focus. Selective focus is one of the most powerful tools to set the pro apart from those who shoot everything in focus. If you want everything in focus best to shoot everything with your phone. Some of the most compelling portraits were made with 8x10 and 11x14 Deardorff view cameras using fast lenses for the time, like the 300mm f4.5 Dallmeyer 3B. Now portrait photographers can duplicate that look with 35mm, handheld. An incredible thing with a digital camera. Look at the prices of digital MF bodies and backs, and good fast MF lenses. $8000 is a drop in the bucket.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Here's an old 50mm f1.9, used, with fungus and scratches, and almost as pricey as Nikon's new toy ;)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dallmeyer-Super-Six-2-inch-f1-9-Dallcoated-Anastigmat-Lens-M39-M42-Adapter/174054699038?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D05916ec0bebd451ea254b894bc15e2fc%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D174054699038%26itm%3D174054699038%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A703db735-fda3-11e9-a661-74dbd1803f37%7Cparentrq%3A2d801ec916e0a9e423bab81bfff81f80%7Ciid%3A1

gwilliams6

They got five more orders than the five they were expecting. Gotta crank up that production line for all the smart shoppers who have $8000 to blow on a manual focus 58mm lens. The Mitakon version 50mm f0.95 for Z-mount is 1/10 the cost at $799 USD and has gotten a fair review. Just try manually focusing on an eye or any part of a moving model or other subject with that shallow depth of field. This is for bragging rights and to prove they can do it. Oops, on further research, f0.95 lenses have been out by third=party makers for many years for Nikon, Canon and Sony. Not so revolutionary after all by Nikon.

FYI ,I shot pro Nikon and Canon gear (both) for 40 years and made many award-winning shots with them. But this lens is just a vanity project for Nikon and for those who will fork over $8000 for a lens with very limited usability IMHO.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

I have a micro four thirds equivalent, the 25mm f/0.95. It turns night into day.