Nikon Patents 85mm f/1.2

Nikon finally appears to be getting around to filling in the Z mount lens lineup holes with professional glass. A patent just published showing the firm is looking at an 85mm f/1.2 “soup can of glass” bonkers lens.

The design patent shows a beefy lens with about 15 elements, showing slightly fewer correcting elements than those see in the Sony, Canon and Sigma f/1.2 offerings. This may show in some of the aberration graphs included in the patent, which show extremely good quality in the center of frame, but a bit more “character” out in the edges of the frame.

The 85mm focal length has been perhaps the focus of the greatest competition in the industry since mirrorless became the dominant form of camera. Especially in the extremely large aperture category of f/1.4 and wider, the industry has never had so many good options. To command a premium in price, first-party camera makers seem to be offering f/1.2 lenses to distinguish their best-of-the-best offerings from the quite-good offerings of the third party makers.

Samyang/Rokinon offers an 85mm f/1.4 in most mounts for mere hundreds of dollars. Most users would be hard pressed to determine image quality differences (if not autofocus reliability) between that and first-party f/1.4 lenses.