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

Product Information

The combination of camera and lens works great; I can hand-hold at a quarter of a second and consistently get ultra tripod-equivalent sharpness. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S has the edge at most focal lengths and aperture values. When comparing the charts below, make sure to look at the same apertures on each lens if you want a true apples-to-apples comparison. We’ll start with 24mm: I happen to have both 24-70mm S lenses, the f4 and f2.8. The f4 is very fine but f2.8 is excellent. However, I am not sure exactly what "WOW" is, but I agree that is probably more the result of lighting and composition, and maybe shallower depth of field. Shooting wide open (f/4.0) at the wide-angle end of the lens (24mm), reveals some light drop off in the corners of the image. This is particularly noticeable because the subject matter is a white wall, but it’s not something which is problematic for most normal subjects. Light drop off at 28mm, 35mm and 50mm is a little less prevalent at f/4.0, becoming more noticeable again when shooting at 70mm and f/4. By the time you reach f/5.6 across all focal lengths, drop off is much less obvious, and again, overall, when shooting ordinary, everyday subjects, it’s not something which should cause too much of an issue. Focus accuracy and repeatability is critical to consistently produce sharp shots. Repeatability (the accuracy of focus on the same subject after repeated focus-acquisition) of the Nikon Z 24-50mm f4-6.3 is very good (measured 99.4% in Reikan FoCal) with no outliers over a series of 40 shots. At 50mm focal length the lens focuses in around 0.3 sec from infinity to 0.58m (1:10 magnification), which is very fast and comparable to the Z 24-70mm f4 S.

Overall, I judge the sharpness to be quite good for a kit lens and its price. This small, light lens is performing in a category well above expectation. It’s just not perfect. There’s little astigmatism and coma in the corners, though, which means that corners do tend to sharpen up well, particularly with deconvolution sharpeners. Yes, there are a few things about the 24-70mm f/4 S I wish were different. I’m not a fan of the rotate-before-using-lens thing Nikon does to make lenses travel smaller. I wish that I didn’t have to use the lens corrections—you pretty much have to at 24mm to deal with the linearity and vignetting, unfortunately. But in terms of the basics, this is a quite sharp lens with few worrisome attributes. Moreover, it’s the right size and weight for the Z6/Z7 bodies and makes a svelte travel companion. Note that the rest of the image is extremely high in contrast, meaning there is very little veiling flare. Try as I might, I couldn’t get anything worse than this in a real-world image. The 24-70mm f/4 just has very impressive flare performance. Starburst Performance

Field Curvature

Best focal length appears to be 35mm, and best aperture is either f/5.6 or f/8 (the Z7 will have diffraction by f/8). Bridgeport Hotel at Night, October 2018, 8:01 P.M. Nikon Z7, Nikon 24-70mm f/4 Z at 24mm, f/4 hand-held at 1/25 at Auto ISO 2,500, Perfectly Clear v3.6. bigger. I think you'd be disappointed. I think the "WOW" comes more from the user. In my case, having the extra light is worth it.

And just as importantly be sure that the serial number (as well as the model) match the serial number on the bottom of your lens exactly. Nikon's corrections are good. They leave a little remaining distortion at the extreme focal lengths, but an ignorable amount. The Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S has hardly any visible chromatic aberration, even when left uncorrected. It takes up just a pixel or so at most, a small enough amount that automatic correction in post-processing software will rarely leave any detectable traces. Here is a graph showing the focal lengths and apertures with the highest levels of lateral chromatic aberration (red/green fringing): 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. These days, there are plenty of options for Nikon Z shooters who need a telephoto lens, even third-party optics like the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-6.3. So, I wouldn’t say that the 70mm long end of the 24-70mm f/4 S is a dealbreaker. It’s just something you need to be aware of, assuming that you want to shoot proper telephoto pictures. You’ll end up needing to add another lens to your bag one way or another, whereas with the 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR, you might be fine. NIKON Z 5 + NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR @ 200mm, ISO 200, 1/400, f/11.0As 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. There is relatively high vignetting on the 24-70mm f/4 S, particularly at 24mm, but also at 70mm when focused at infinity. Here is a chart showing the stops of vignetting at each focal length and aperture, both close focus (CF) and infinity focus (IF): Silver Maple Motel Office, October 2018, 6:35 P.M. Nikon Z7, Nikon 24-70mm f/4 Z at 48mm, f/4 hand-held at 1/13 at Auto ISO 200, Perfectly Clear v3.6. bigger. Bokeh, the feel or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is neutral. As only an f/4 lens that can't get past 70mm there isn't often much out of focus, so the character of the bokeh doesn't matter much. You could consider an FTZ Adapter and any other Nikon zoom, like the excellent 24-85mm VR. This will save you money, especially since I know you already have lenses, but probably won't give you the performance for which you bought your new mirrorless camera in the first place.

Like others in the S-series, it has a rounded aperture to improve the disk-shaped rendering of out-of-focus highlights, and it is sealed against dust and moisture. The new lens also features an internal focusing system that uses a stepping motor and has a mechanism to reduce the effects of “ focus breathing.’ The minimum focusing distance is 30cm (11.8″). That is quite close, although not necessarily uncommon for a standard zoom today. For example, the Panasonic 24-105mm f/4 lens for their full-frame mirrorless lineup focuses a bit closer than this – a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:2 rather than 1:3.33 on this lens. I think that most photographers will be quite happy with the 24-70mm’s performance, however, which is close enough for any normal subjects.In our testing, we found practically no focus shift– change in focus when adjusting aperture – with the 24-70mm f/4, regardless of focal length. The levels were negligible, perhaps even nonexistent. This is not unexpected for an f/4 lens (usually more of a problem on wide-aperture primes), but nonetheless is encouraging to see. Focus Breathing I have the Z7 and Nikon 24-70 F4. Images are sharp, but do not have that WOW factor of great primes or zooms Personally, I think that if you need the f/4 maximum aperture, you really should go with the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S instead of the 24-70mm f/4 S. That’s what I (and probably most photographers) would have done if the 24-120mm f/4 S had been available from day one of the Nikon Z system. You can see my full comparison of the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S and 24-120mm f/4 S here, but basically, the 24-120mm is just as sharp and high-performance as the 24-70mm f/4, just with more focal lengths on the end. For context, anything under 2.5 pixels of CA by our measurements can be corrected pretty easily in post-processing. Anything under about 1.5 pixels of CA generally does not need to be corrected in post-processing. And under 1 pixel is almost completely negligible. 4. Sharpness If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 at ISO 1,600 at default sharpening in daylight of rapidly moving subjects at differing distances.

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. Usually there’s some disparity with sharpness when it’s measured horizontally and vertically, and that’s especially the case with zooms. A lens exhibiting astigmatism may show such a discrepancy, as you can see from the solid and dotted lines in the graph below. Although the 24-70mm f/4 S does not have vibration reduction lens elements, it does work with the Nikon Z camera sensor to produce better in-body image stabilization (IBIS) results than with non-native lenses. The lens has been constructed to the same weatherproofing standards as the Nikon Z 7 and Z 6 cameras, meaning you can be confident using the lens when working in inclement wether conditions. The Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens also has fluorine coatings to repel water, dust and dirt.

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 The best-corrected model of the three is Canon EF model. It has only mild barrel distortion at 24mm and very low pincushion from 50mm through 70mm. In practice, though, images taken with the Nikkor with its automatically applied profile will display practically no distortion, even when using popular post-capture software on RAW files. The focus ring is narrow, unmarked, and closest to the camera. As with almost all mirrorless camera lenses, the focus ring is "fly-by-wire" and isn't mechanically linked to lens element movement. The focus ring can be repurposed on Nikon Z bodies to other functions (aperture, exposure compensation, etc.).