Good news. Nikon had been consistent in pumping out quality lenses for the relatively new Z mount system. Bad news, we still have a long way to go before we can confidently declare the Z mount as a fully mature system.

One obvious gap in the Z catalog, especially for the budget conscious creatives, is the absence of affordable quality performers that the F-mount had… The current 1.8 S-line offerings aren’t exactly cheap.

Nikon, however, seems to be on top of the situation with a couple of recent releases that should appeal more to the hobbyist and new pros. In today’s round up, we’re looking at the best budget lenses for the Z mount system that are worth your cash.

Before we jump into today’s modern lenses, if you are on a budget – you could always consider legacy lenses (eg. Nikon F-Mount). I’ve used many of the legacy Canon FD lenses, and have compared them to their modern day counterparts as well, and they can still hold their own. Pros; you’ll get them for half the price. Cons; you’ll lose auto-focus, not quite as bad for videographers, but I’d say a dealbreaker for most photographers today. Another budget option are third party lenses, eg. Rokinon/Samyang, Tamron, et. al. I recently bought the Tamron 35-150mm f2-2.8 and love it so much that it’s replaced a couple lenses in my bag, I’ve previously covered some of the top Tamron lenses you can’t get for Nikon here.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8

First on the list is one of Nikon’s most affordable lenses for the Z mount ever. The new NIKKOR Z 28mm f2.8 is an extremely compact, low-cost performer that gives everyone on the system an affordable entry point to a high quality, wide-standard prime lens.

At a mere 160 grams and 1.7” in height, the NIKKOR Z 28mm f2.8 punches well above its weight class. Its sharpness from the center to the edges of the frame are impressively sharp, even wide open. Image quality peaks at f5.6 for both DX and FX systems.

If you get this little prime, you’ll be spending most of your $300 on the optics; build quality on this thing is unapologetically plastic, even the lens mount. The NIKKOR Z 28mm f2.8 however is dust and drip resistant, making it a great all around and street photography lens for just about anyone.

The Z 28mm f2.8 comes in a “special edition” that gives it a nice, retro makeover reminiscent of the AI lenses of old. Both the standard and special editions are priced similarly, so it might be worth springing for the stylized version if you can find it because sometimes, it’s just fun to have some fun.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2

Here comes the other half of Nikon’s latest pair of plastic-fantastic primes for the Z mount system. With this much performance at $300, creatives on a tight budget wanting a standard lens for the Z mount can just go ahead and get the NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2.

It’s pretty much the same story as with the 28mm f2.8. The 40mm f2 is super light at 167 grams and only 1.8” in size, making it another great choice for general and street photography. Images are also impressive, delivering excellent, sharp results wide open at f2 especially in the center. Corners don’t fare as well wide open, but are still really good. Both corners and sharpness reach their peak at f4 to f5.6.

The NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 maintains good contrast and renders fairly smooth, pleasing bokeh. Like its 28mm f2 brother, there’s not much to knock on this lens besides the plastic build including the mount. It has the same level of weather resistance, though, and it’s more than good enough consolation.

Technically speaking, the 40mm focal length is a lot closer than the 43mm as the standard, most “natural” angle of view than the 50mm. But if you don’t care about that, and you don’t want to spend $500 on the 50mm f1.8 Z, the NIKKOR Z 40mm f/2 is an exceptional alternative.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S

Seeing an S-line glass, Nikon’s flagship line of optics, in this roundup of budget friendly lenses may seem a little weird. But if you want a highly versatile, ultra wide angle lens for landscapes, real estate photography and video work, on a budget then the NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S is your only first party option.

While it may not be as sharp as the newer, far more expensive 14-24mm f2.8 Z, or the older 14-24mm f2.8 G, the NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S still delivers amazing image quality, especially with its $1,100 price tag. DXOMARK says this compact, ultra wide angle lens performs similarly to the Canon and Sony’s F4 UWAs when stopped down to f5.6.

In case you missed the last bit, the 14-30mm f4 is indeed a compact lens at only 3.3 inches in its retracted form — perfect for adventure photographers and vloggers looking to travel light. Bearing the S-line marking, the Z 14-30mm f4 also features pro-grade weather sealing.

Unlike wildly convex UWAs in other systems, this NIKKOR UWA readily accepts 82mm filter threads, which should be a huge deal for people working with filters on the daily. Pair the amazing image quality with the fully weather-sealed body, wrap these together in a portable body and I think this “budget” UWA will be a home run for a lot of working professionals.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S

If you just recently jumped ship to the Nikon Z system and only have $1,000 to spare for a lens, I think you should go for the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S. At half the price of the current flagship standard zoom, the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S offers incredible performance that rivals the legendary Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E VR for the F mount.

DXOMARK puts the 24-70mm f/4 S on equal footing with the premium 24-70mm f/2.8E VR. Getting that much performance for a little less than a grand and at this size is just mind boggling. While it doesn’t set new records in peak sharpness, the 24-70mm f/4 S offers an outstanding level of sharpness across the range. Focusing is near silent, fast and very accurate. And if you’re going to be using it as a workhorse, all-rounder of a lens, that’s exactly the kind of performance you want. Speaking of sharpness, we’ve recently covered the sharpest lenses for Canon, Nikon and Sony (the most popular brands according to recent statistics)

That 24-70mm range lets you do pretty much whatever you need it to, from wide landscapes, videography (see some tips) to portraiture, it’ll get the job done. It’s also got that S-Line badge so it’ll keep up with you even under less than ideal weather conditions. The NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S is an insanely good deal, even more so when bought as a kit. On its own, for a hair below a grand, I still think it’s worth the buy.

Nikon NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S

At a glance, the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S (that’s a mouthful) is your bog-standard macro lens for the Z mount. Look closer and you’ll see a feature-packed, super versatile telephoto lens that offers flawless image quality that’s well worth your thousand dollars.

This macro lens gets my telephoto lens recommendation, not only because we don’t have a 70-200 f4 S just yet, but because it just gives you so much for your money. It’s got a true, 1:1 magnification, VR or vibration reduction in Nikon-speak, and an S-Line badge so you know it’ll be sharp wide open and is fully weather sealed.

Image quality is stellar. The NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 is spectacularly sharp wide open at f2.8 all the way to f11 to f16, which is kind of important for macro lenses. Focusing, while not blazing fast (as expected from a macro lens) is still decently quick and very accurate — I don’t think AF will be an issue if you’re doing a lot of portraiture.

If you’re doing portraits and nothing else, I’ll point you towards the 85mm 1.8 S instead. However, if you’re going to be doing portraits, a little bit of macro work, product photography and anything in between, I think the Nikon NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S is a wonderful investment.