The Excellent Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB Is Now Available for Nikon Z

Viltrox announced the 35mm f/1.2 LAB lens for Sony E-mount earlier this year, and it’s excellent. It is now available for full-frame and APS-C Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras, costing less than half the price of Nikon’s own Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.2 S prime.

The Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB for Nikon Z offers the same features and specifications as its E-mount counterpart, promising the same professional-level performance as well. The lens includes 15 elements arranged across 10 groups. As for specialized glass, it has five ED, three HR, and two UA elements. Viltrox says the lens delivers “exceptional wide-open sharpness and uniform resolution across the frame,” even when shooting wide open. The company describes the optical performance as “uncompromising.”

In PetaPixel‘s Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB (E-mount) Review, which should prove very instructive for Nikon Z owners considering the new fast 35mm prime lens, Chris Niccolls lauded the lens for its sharpness at f/1.2, its shallow depth of field, and excellent value proposition for photographers.

Niccolls also characterized the lens’s autofocus as quick, quiet, and accurate, which Viltrox says will remain the case for the new Z-mount version. The lens features Viltrox’s patented Quad HyperVCM motor and works with eye- and face-detection autofocus in Nikon Z cameras. The lens focuses as closely as 0.34 meters (1.1 feet), delivering a maximum magnification of 0.17x. Viltrox adds that its focusing mechanism is also well-suited to video applications thanks to its smoothness and quiet operation.

As for its design, the new Z-mount lens looks like its E-mount counterpart, including the information display on the lens barrel that shows focusing distance and depth-of-field markings. The lens includes a wide focusing ring, de-clickable aperture control ring, customizable function buttons, and an AF/MF switch. It also features weather sealing throughout the lens barrel.

Sample Images

Pricing and Availability

As was the case with the VIltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB when it arrived on E-mount, it promises photographers even more options for fast-aperture 35mm prime lenses. In the case of the Nikon Z system, Viltrox’s new lens is a much more affordable alternative to a first-party option, whereas in the Sony E-mount system, Sony itself doesn’t make a 35mm f/1.2 lens at all. Sony shooters do have the awesome new Sigma 35mm f/1.2 DG Art II to consider, though. Nikon’s Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.2 S, one of the best prime lenses of 2025, is $2,596.95 right now, down $400 from its typical list price thanks to a holiday discount. The Viltrox lens, on the other hand, is just $999. That is a massive price difference, and if the E-mount version of Viltrox’s lens is the reliable indicator it should be, then Viltrox’s lens should deliver strong performance on Z mount.

Buy the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB new on B&HBuy the Viltrox 35mm f/1.2 LAB used on KEH.com

Image credits: Viltrox