The 55mm Lens That Fixed a Frustrating Nikon Z f Problem

A 55mm lens with an aperture ring solved a workflow problem on the Nikon Z f that had annoyed one wedding shooter for years. That single feature, plus a focal length that sits just past the standard 50mm, is worth a look.

Chris Tellez walks through the Viltrox Evo AF 55mm f/1.8 Z from the perspective of someone using it on paid portrait, event, and wedding work rather than reading off a spec sheet. He leans hard on two features he now treats as mandatory: an aperture ring and a physical autofocus/manual focus switch. The aperture ring, he admits, doubles as a fidget spinner that happens to affect your photos, and you can declick it if you want silence.

The Z f workflow point is the most useful part of the video. Nikon's easy ISO setting lets you assign ISO to the front command dial without holding the record button, which Tellez used to map for years just to change ISO on the fly. The catch with easy ISO is that it takes over the dial you'd otherwise use for aperture. If your lens has no aperture ring, you're stuck. With the ring on the Viltrox 55mm f/1.8 Z, Tellez runs the front dial for ISO, the back dial for shutter, and the ring on the lens for aperture, which is why he's moved away from lenses without one entirely. He can run the ring from f/1.8 to f/16 or flip it to auto and hand control back to the camera.

Where he pushes back is flare. Shooting directly into the sun, the lens loses a noticeable amount of contrast, and Tellez shows examples from a run club shoot where the dip is obvious. He didn't see as much of it on Nikon's own 50mm f/1.8 S. Backlit work is common on a wedding day, so this comes up often for him. The fix is the included lens hood, which he confesses he's never used and plans to start using now. The lens weighs around 390 g, enough to feel substantial without wearing out your hand, which he notes pairs well with the ergonomically tricky Z f.

Tellez pairs it with a 28mm: 55mm is roughly double 28mm, so the two focal lengths give you a wide and a normal lens that feel like clear, separate tools instead of overlapping ones. That two-lens spread is a common approach among event shooters who want to move fast and cover a room without swapping constantly. If you already shoot a 28mm or 35mm as your wide, a 55mm slots in as a natural second lens, and the aperture ring makes the pairing consistent since both lenses hand exposure control the same way.

He's clear about who this fits. If you want an aperture ring and don't want to rely on the control ring approach found on Nikon's 50mm f/1.4, this is a strong option. If you want a little more reach than a standard 50mm and want to try something different, it delivers. Tellez rates the build good, the image quality good, and the bokeh and rendering pleasant, with people looking flattering through it. Watch the video above to see the flare examples and hear exactly how Tellez sets up the Z f for fast shooting.