Nikon's own S-line wides lead here. The 14-24 f/2.8 S appears in four guides.
The 5 Best Astrophotography Lenses for Nikon Z in 2026
Shooting the Milky Way rewards wide, fast glass, and the guides mostly agree on which lenses deliver it. We counted every tagged pick across the astro guides for each mount, and we left a gap where the data runs out instead of filling it.
Top 5 as of October 24, 2026
Ranking table
| # | Lens | Pros | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S | 14-24mm zoom (1.7x); f/2.8 maximum aperture; Nikon S-line. Picked in Camera Lookout (#2), Amateur Photographer (#1), Digital Camera World (#1), Space.com (#1) | Check price |
| #2 | Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S | 20mm prime; f/1.8 maximum aperture; Nikon S-line. Picked in Camera Lookout (#1), Live Science (#1), Capture the Atlas (#1) | Check price |
| #3 | Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 Z | 16mm prime; f/1.8 maximum aperture. Picked in Camera Lookout (#3) | Check price |
| #4 | Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S | 24mm prime; f/1.8 maximum aperture; Nikon S-line. Picked in Camera Lookout (#4) | Check price |
| #5 | Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S | 14-30mm zoom (2.1x); f/4 maximum aperture; Nikon S-line. Picked in Camera Lookout (#5) | Check price |
#1. Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S
Photo: Julian Herzog (Website) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized)
Photo: Julian Herzog (Website) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (resized)
Nikon: Launched at $2,399.95 in 2020 (US)
Check priceWhy it's #1: 4 guides we counted name it (Camera Lookout (#2), Amateur Photographer (#1), Digital Camera World (#1), Space.com (#1)), for an average position of 1.25.
What would knock it off #1: a lens picked by more guides, or by as many guides at a better average position than 1.25.
✅ Buy it if you want Nikon's widest f/2.8 S zoom.
❌ Skip it if another lens on this list matches your kit better.
Bottom line: 14-24mm zoom (1.7x), f/2.8 maximum aperture, named by Camera Lookout (#2), Amateur Photographer (#1), Digital Camera World (#1) and Space.com (#1); that makes it the most-picked Nikon Z lens we counted.
#2. Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S
Photo: Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized)
Photo: Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized)
Why it's #2: 3 guides we counted name it (Camera Lookout (#1), Live Science (#1), Capture the Atlas (#1)), for an average position of 1.0.
Why it isn't higher: #1 (Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S) has more picks (4 vs 3).
✅ Buy it if you want a fast S-line wide prime.
❌ Skip it if another lens on this list matches your kit better.
Bottom line: 20mm prime, f/1.8 maximum aperture, named by Camera Lookout (#1), Live Science (#1) and Capture the Atlas (#1).
We have not reviewed it yet.
#3. Viltrox AF 16mm F1.8 Z
No sample photos yet: we found no openly licensed photo taken with this exact model.
Why it's #3: One guide we counted names it (Camera Lookout (#3)), for an average position of 3.0.
Why it isn't higher: #2 (Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S) has more picks (3 vs 1).
✅ Buy it if you want the pick the guides agree on most at this slot.
❌ Skip it if another lens on this list matches your kit better.
Bottom line: 16mm prime, f/1.8 maximum aperture, named by Camera Lookout (#3).
We have not reviewed it yet.
#4. Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S
No sample photos yet: we found no openly licensed photo taken with this exact model.
Why it's #4: One guide we counted names it (Camera Lookout (#4)), for an average position of 4.0.
Why it isn't higher: #3 has a better average position (3.0 vs 4.0).
✅ Buy it if you want the pick the guides agree on most at this slot.
❌ Skip it if another lens on this list matches your kit better.
Bottom line: 24mm prime, f/1.8 maximum aperture, named by Camera Lookout (#4).
We have not reviewed it yet.
#5. Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S
No sample photos yet: we found no openly licensed photo taken with this exact model.
Why it's #5: One guide we counted names it (Camera Lookout (#5)), for an average position of 5.0.
Why it isn't higher: #4 has a better average position (4.0 vs 5.0).
✅ Buy it if you want the pick the guides agree on most at this slot.
❌ Skip it if you need a brighter aperture than f/4 for stars.
Bottom line: 14-30mm zoom (2.1x), f/4 maximum aperture, named by Camera Lookout (#5).
Also considered
- Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S: 1 pick (Camera Lookout (#6)). Check price
- Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 S: 1 pick (Camera Lookout (#7)). Check price
- Nikon Z 85mm f/1.8 S: 1 pick (Camera Lookout (#8)). Check price
How we ranked them
We counted every ranked pick in published best-astrophotography-lens guides for each mount. A pick counts only for the exact model, and only when it's the camera maker's own lens or a third-party lens the guide tags with that mount. Lenses are ordered by number of guides, then average position, then the standing of the best source (Digital Camera World first; then Amateur Photographer, Imaging Resource, Live Science and Space.com; then Sony Rumors, Wex and Capture the Atlas; then Finding the Universe; then everyone else). Maker blogs, kit pages, star-rating roundups, compatibility lists and unranked pages don't count. Stock, missing photos and missing shop links never change a rank.
Sources counted:
- Camera Lookout (published 2026-09-23, updated 2026-09-23)
- Amateur Photographer (published date not shown, updated 2026-02-19)
- Digital Camera World (published date not shown, updated 2026-07-16)
- Digital Camera World (published 2024-02-07, updated 2026-07-14)
- Space.com (published date not shown, updated 2026-03-05)
- Live Science (published date not shown, updated 2026-02-24)
- Capture the Atlas (published 2026-01-25, updated 2026-01-25)
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Rankings as of October 24, 2026