The best lenses to pair with your Nikon DX camera

Both the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 VR and the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR offer the same zoom range, equivalent to 24-75mm in full frame. This range is incredibly useful for a wide variety of scenarios, from landscapes to portraits, travel, street, food and much, much more. The NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is often supplied as a kit lens and is an excellent all-rounder for beginners, but upgrade to the NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/2.8 and you’ll see a significant difference, with beautiful background blur, great low-light performance and increased closeup capability.

The NIKKOR Z DX MC 35mm f/1.7 is two lenses in one. With a 35mm focal length that is equivalent to 50mm in full frame, it’s the DX version of a ‘nifty fifty’ – a large aperture lens with a natural field of view that can be used in a huge number of situations. This lens performs wonderfully in low light and creates images and video with lovely background blur and wonderful sharpness. But that’s not all. It’s also a macro lens, specially designed to go in close for remarkable images of small objects.

Get a fast prime

With an equivalent focal length of 36mm, the NIKKOR Z DX 24mm f/1.7 is a lens that loves the world as you see it. This is a focal length loved by pro photographers and movie directors alike for its wide-but-not-too-wide look, making it great for storytelling and showing subjects in their environment. The fast f/1.7 aperture means it delivers both the creamy bokeh blur that gives your images and videos a professional look and the low-light performance to allow creating into the night.

The vlogger’s best friend  

The NIKKOR Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR is made for video, with PZ standing for Power Zoom. The variable ultra-wide 12-28mm focal length is perfect for vlogging, while the power zoom function adds a whole new level of professionalism to your footage. The zoom can be controlled either on the camera or, if you’re filming yourself, using a dedicated remote control or even your phone with the Nikon SnapBridge app. This is a fun, creative lens that will raise your content to the next level.

Versatility at your fingertips

There are a couple of options for DX lenses with huge focal length ranges – great if you only want to carry minimal equipment. The NIKKOR Z DX 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is a really useful ‘do-anything’ lens with the ability to capture huge vistas of landscape at the wide end, small details of faraway objects at the telephoto end and everything else in between. If you want to see further into the distance, then the NIKKOR Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR has the extra reach. Both are perfect for travel and everyday walkabouts.

FX lenses to try

You can also use any NIKKOR FX lens on a DX camera, with the DX crop giving them a whole new look and feel.

Classic looks  

In Special Edition (SE) retro trim, the NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 and NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 prime lenses look the part on a Nikon Z fc and will cover everything from streets to portraits, closeups and more, with equivalent focal lengths of 42mm and 60mm. They’re also available in modern styling, and either is a great ‘stick it on and leave it’ lens for a walkabout.

Get the extra reach

The crop factor on a DX camera means lenses have an equivalent focal length of 1.5x. This is especially useful for wildlife photographers who want to get close to their subject from a distance. The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S, for example, will give the reach of a 600mm lens while the NIKKOR Z 600mm f/6.3 VR S has an equivalent focal length of 900mm! Both of these are prime (fixed focal length) lenses but, if you want a little more flexibility, the NIKKOR Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S or NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR will match brilliantly with a Z50II in the wild.

Go retro with an FTZII adapter

Don’t forget that an FTZII adapter lets you attach literally hundreds of older Nikon F mount lenses to your mirrorless camera, so you can experiment with a whole host of different looks.