Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70 mm f/4 S Mirrorless Camera Lens JMA704DA

Product Information

Focus: Fast and precise. I know of no better way to describe this. More words and I'll just confuse you. So let me just phrase it a different way: within the constrains of the Z6/Z7 autofocus system, the lens is not slowing anything down or making it less precise. The 24-70mm f/4 S has one switch (A/M) and two rings. The zoom ring is the frontmost ring and marked at 24, 28, 35, 50, and 70mm and rotates about a quarter turn from wide to tele (again, there's a "retracted point, which requires moving the lens another 1/8 of a turn from 24mm).

Usually described in qualitative terms such as smooth or creamy, bokeh is the word to describe the out of focus areas in an image. Although the maximum aperture of the lens is f/4, you can still get some very pleasing shallow depth of field effects, with pleasing and attractive bokeh. Since evaluation of bokeh can often be down to personal preference, we have included some samples below so you can judge for yourself. With a Sharpness score of 19 PMpix, the figures for the S-series zoom are a little deceiving: although not as high as the Sony Zeiss equivalent, the new Nikon Z 24-70mm F4S zoom earns praise for its highly-uniform sharpness across the frame. That’s not only-wide open, but at each aperture and at practically every focal length. At 50mm, the story changes a bit. Here, the two lenses are well-matched in center sharpness at 50mm. If anything, the 24-70mm has a slight advantage in that respect. But the 24-70mm f/4 S’s corner sharpness has dipped a bit at this focal length, giving the Z 24-120mm f/4 S a clear advantage at f/4 in the corners. By f/5.6, the differences even out. Overall the lens is 14 elements in 11 groups. The element positioning, shape, and size looks a bit different in this S lens than we typically see, though. There are four aspherical elements, one of which is made of ED glass, plus an additional ED element. Compared to that 24-85mm, the S lens seems to have slightly bigger inner elements (the ones that move for focus) and a larger and simpler rear element design (which is also very close to the image sensor). Obviously, these two lenses have different focal lengths and maximum aperture values – but that might make the comparison more confusing, not less. After all, it’s pretty easy to compare two 50mm f/1.8 lenses and just get whichever one is sharper or cheaper, but you can’t do that here :)

Intro

There are only a couple of minimal ghosts if you let the sun shine in the side of the lens from outside the picture area. Otherwise there's not much else to see or say here, it's not 1969 anymore. There are few to no ghosts or flare in this lens. Of course, that says very little one way or the other about the lens’s durability. Plastic is not inherently worse than metal as a lens design material, and some photographers even prefer it, including me. Plastic lenses don’t feel as sleek, but they often function better in adverse conditions – not freezing in the cold, weighing less, and (if high-quality plastic) often allowing harsher bumps and bruises in the field. At 24mm, the inherent distortion is clearly a barrel mustache type (e.g. not a regular curve). There's high barreling in the middle with tapering barreling to the corners. At somewhere around 28mm the lens produces close to perfect linearity, then it descends into pincushion distortion (minimal at 35mm, clear at 70mm). The pincushion distortion looks more “regular” to me than the barrel distortion at the wide end (again, the wide end has mustache traits). As usual, you can create your own comparisons and in-depth analyses using our interactive image lens comparison tool. The texture you're seeing is on the watch face. As with all lenses at macro distances there is no depth-of-field, so the hands are supposed to be out of focus as are half the things on the watch face.

This is quite an impressive performance. The images above range from two to six stops of image stabilization performance compared to the standard “1/focal length” rule. Field Curvature For less money, the B+W 72mm 010 is an excellent filter, as are the multicoated version and the basic multicoated Hoya filters, but the Hoya HD3 is the toughest and the best. While it’s usually the shorter focal lengths that are the sharpest, the new Nikon’s peak sharpness is at 35mm f/5.6, but it is at its best at 50mm overall. Even then, however, it isn’t the sharpest of the three, but it isn’t far off; moreover, the Sony is the least impressive of the three at 70mm. While the Sony and Canon outshine the Nikon at some focal lengths, neither comes close in with respect to uniformity. The graph below shows light fall-off for each of the three lenses set to 70mm at their widest aperture, when it would be at its most noticeable. The other big difference in these lenses is the build quality. When I'm using two camera bodies, flashes, and carrying other stuff, my gear is going to get bumped around. The f/2.8 lenses are built to professional standards - meaning they can stand the bumps and drops better than the smaller and lighter alternatives. They still can be damaged - but they can be repaired.Center and mid-frame sharpness gets even better at 50mm, although at the expense of the extreme edges due to field curvature. Stopping down the lens to f/5.6 makes things look drastically better though, so keep this in mind when shooting in the field. Anyway, the more expensive, heavier and larger lens won't result in "wow" images taken with your camera, unless you yourself have what it takes, and you can really (and objectively) say that "this image does not have the wow factor because I used the wrong lens". So in my opinion, self improvement is more important than more expensive lens. I would get a fast prime (and I mean fast like f2 or faster) to practice with it. Nano Crystal Coat (N): Magic anti-reflection coating that has a variable index of refraction that's far more effective against ghosts and internal reflections than traditional multicoating. The following 100% crop is a worst-case scenario – extreme corner, 36mm, f/4, sharp-edged subject. Even then, chromatic aberration is minimal: NIKON Z 7 + NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S @ 36mm, ISO 800, 1/25, f/4.0 However, looking at the actual RAW file in software like FastRawViewer, or even some editors like Capture One, shows that the 24-70mm f/4 S has quite a bit of distortion indeed – barrel at the wide end, and even more extreme pincushion at the telephoto:

Weird Wood, October 2018, 3:21 P.M. Nikon Z7, Nikon 24-70mm f/4 Z at 41mm, f/8 hand-held at 1/30 at Auto ISO 64, Perfectly Clear v3.6. bigger or full-resolution. Measuring 77.5 mm x 88.5 mm (3.07” x 3.5”) when retracted, and weighing 500 grams (1 lb, 1.7 oz), the new Nikkor Z 24-70mm F4 S is a relatively compact model. The “S” line is the very first line of proprietary lenses for the Z mount, with speculation that there will be other lines available at some point. The S line is designed to be the sharpest and best available, which goes some way to explaining their high asking price. The story is basically the same. I prefer the 24-120mm f/4 S in the center and midframes, while the 24-70mm f/4 S has an advantage in the corners. Both lenses are quite sharp throughout, though, and by f/11, the differences have basically vanished.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S Specifications

I easily get sharp 45MP images hand-held at all focal lengths at 1/8 of a second with the Z7's great VR, no tripods needed! It works great at 1/4 second at the wide end. As for used prices, the same thing applies! However, the Z 28-75mm f/2.8 generally has cheaper used prices than the Z 24-120mm f/4 S. As you can see, this is a very strong lens. It looks like the sweet spot of the lens is at f/5.6 for landscape and architecture photography, although when shooting at longer focal lengths, you might want to stop down between f/5.6 and f/8 to get the best results. When photographing people, you don’t need to stop the lens down at all – this is one of the sharpest zoom lenses out there in terms of its wide open performance in the center. To understand how good this lens is, you really need to look at the comparisons with other Nikon F-mount lenses. Lens Construction On balance, I’d give a slight overall sharpness advantage to the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S. I should emphasize – slight. It also depends on what focal lengths and apertures you use the most. Value and Recommendations