New mid-range zooms for Nikon Z

New mid-range zooms for Nikon Z

With the 24-120 f4 and the 28-75 f2.8 Nikon added two zoom lenses to the Z system. So there are four such zooms now, or five if you count the diminutive 25-50mm in as well. Time to take a closer look.

Enter the Nikkor Z 24-120mm f4 S

On one hand this lens is quite like the Z 24-70mm f4 S, very similar in performance, and even in price, but with a longer reach. On the other hand it’s quite different from the Z 24-70 f4 S as it’s certainly not a compact lens anymore. In this regard it is more similar to the Z 24-70 f2.8 S. Both are fairly big lenses and the main question is ‘reach or f2.8’?

If indoor/low light events must be covered the advantage goes to the 24-70 f2.8, if that’s not a priority and the lens serves as a single-lens setup at times the Z 24-120 f4 S has the advantage.

Both are optically very, very good, both are solid, weather proofed lenses, both are chunky, so it is the use case that differentiates those two lenses, plus perhaps the price tag for some. The Z 24-120mm f4 S is very well priced for such a capable lens, while the Z 24-70 f2.8 S sits clearly on the pro-price shelf.

Dual stepper motors in the 24-120mm f4 for fast and accurate focus.

Enter the Nikkor Z 28-75mm f2.8

Made with Tamron optics inside – and not the newest generation ones – this Z Nikkor is often snubbed online. Not a real Nikon, not the latest optics, yet more expensive than the Tamron it is based on.

Despite being an f2.8 lens the 28-75mm lens is size wise a good fit for the Nikon Z bodies.

But that’s the key here, albeit based on a Tamron it still is a Nikon. Firmware compatibility, no need for an adapter, plus build with Nikon weather sealing and using Nikon lens corrections are all points which make this better than an adapted lens. It’s a Nikkor and as such plays nice with Nikon bodies.

Corner sharpness is not on par with the best of the best, but not exactly bad either. It’s just good, instead of very good. AF is quick and quiet, and a close focus distance of 19cm results in a quite good magnification of 0.34x. Background blur is quite smooth, again not the best, but still very pleasant.

Overall there’s a lot to like, in particular when looking at its price. US$1200 upon launch it is often priced at a very competitive US$1000. It’s quite light as well at 565g as well, and a bit smaller than the two chunkier options above. Overall it compares more to the Z 24-70mm f4 S, and again it’s the intended use that makes up for most of the differences. The collapsible – and therefore even smaller – 24-70mm f4 S definitely has the better range and great S lens edge-to-edge image quality. Yes, those 4mm at the wide end make for much of a difference, way more than the 5mm at the long end. 24mm is definitely wide. 28mm is…not quite wide. In this sense the ‘kit zoom’ is the better all-rounder. Takes up less space and a more useful range.

However, the Z 28-75mm f2.8 does have its use. Much like the Z 24-70mm f2.8 S it is more suitable for low light work, albeit a bit more restricted when it comes to indoors and events due to the difference at the wide end. Still, there’s one task where I does really well – out in the streets when the light goes down. Street photography with one zoom instead of several primes. People, portraits, street scenes, all in one lens, and quite compact as such. Usually edge-to-edge corner sharpness doesn’t matter when shooting in such environments either.

Additionally, carrying two or more small f2.8 primes instead of this 28-75mm f2.8 won’t offer really any advantage, neither in size nor performance. Faster, high performing 1.8 primes sure will, but the size will go up in comparison to this 28-70 f2.8. So yes, this lens looks very appealing for a compact, single lens, yet high performance, street-walking setup.

Since I do shoot a lot of low light street scenes here in Bangkok the longer I look at this lens, the more I like it. Price, performance and size are very well balanced and should suit this particular of my use cases very well. Yes, it is very likely that the Z 28-75mm S will find its way into my setup at one point.

How about the Nikkor Z 24-50mm?

This is the one lens I’m not sure about yet. It’s tiny, yes, and I love tiny lenses. However, it’s range is very limited, to the point where I rather would go out with the Z 28mm f2.8 only. The wider aperture of f2.8 offers more for my style of shooting here than such a limited zoom range.

Perhaps the right body for this diminutive zoom hasn’t been made yet. Once Nikon puts a full frame sensor into a z50 or – even better – a z30 body that little 24-50mm would come into its own. Yes, I do like the idea of an ultra-compact Fx body, serving essentially the same purpose as the z30/50 do for now, but I think we will have to wait for a while until this will happen.