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

Product Information

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

Maybe that description from earlier was pretty accurate! The two lenses are pretty evenly-matched in terms of sharpness overall. I’d give the 24-120mm f/4 S higher marks in the center overall. Meanwhile, the 24-70mm f/4 S is better in the corners at the wide focal lengths, while the 24-120mm f/4 S is better in the corners at the long focal lengths.

In practice, that means RAW photos in Lightroom look a lot more corrected than they are in their original RAW format. But if you open it in other software like RAWDigger, you’ll notice some substantial distortion: Both lenses have some pretty substantial distortion. Although this is correctible in post-processing software, I still prefer lenses with low distortion – it makes the files easier to work with in obscure software, and it also means less “stretching” in the corners of the frame when fixing distortion. That can have a minor, but visible effect on lens sharpness.

In this review, we have compared the Nikkor Z 24-70mm F/4S to its closest rivals from other brands. Remember that the lenses are intended to be used on different camera systems and mounts, so the comparisons are not strictly applicable. 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. The other reason is that you already have a telephoto lens to cover the over-70mm focal lengths (something like the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3), so the 24-120mm f/4 S is redundant to you. If this is your situation, I still think you should consider the 24-120mm f/4 S in case you ever want to travel light and just bring one lens. But if a 70-200mm or 70-300mm is always going to be in your bag anyway, maybe you just save the money and size/weight by going with the 24-70mm f/4 instead. Designed with 14 elements in 11 groups (including 1 ED lens element, 1 aspherical ED element, 3 aspherical elements, and elements with Nano Crystal Coating), the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S zoom lens offers a 24-70mm focal length, a classic “walkaround” lens for full-frame users, giving you the option to cover a variety of different subjects, including landscapes and portraits. Of course, if narrow DOF is what you mean by "wow" factor, then the faster the better (for you), but none of the lenses are primes, so you will never get the same "wow" from any of the zooms as you can get from primes. On the other hand, a prime is a single focal length, and if that's not enough and you need more, or too much and you need less, than a zoom gives you a better "wow" factor...

ED extra-low dispersion elements, one of which is also aspherical. These help reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration. 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). 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.