First test
PRICE: £2699
NIKON.CO.UK
Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6VR S
With its extensive reach, this well-featured, great- handling Nikon telezoom is sure to be popular with action and wildlife photographers
be fair, the lens combined really well with both camera bodies, giving good balance. Build quality is
“HANDLING IS LOVELY. ONE QUARTERTURN COVERSTHE ENTIRE ZOOMRANGE AND MANUAL FOCUSING IS EXCELLENT” without battery grip) and a Z 9 – a combo weighing a hefty 3.7kg. To IT MIGHT BE a coincidence, but there seems to have been an increased interest in nature photography over the past two years. And the Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S is sure to appeal to long lens shooters who want a versatile unit. It offers a decently fast maximum aperture, without the bulk, at a reasonable price – although it is still a considerable £2699. Weighing in at 1435g and measuring under 29cm with the hood in place at 100mm – becoming 34cm at 400mm – this lens is a significant presence in the camera bag, but it is by no means unmanageable for the range. I used it on a Z 7II (with and
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solid, and despite the weight, it is comfortably handholdable without too much strain. Having the lens’ tripod foot resting in the palm of my left hand worked, and I could still easily reach the zoom barrel, focusing ring and function buttons. On the tripod foot, sadly this is not Arca-Swiss compatible, although it is swappable – the rotating collar is not designed to be removable. Third party Arca foots are available, and Nikon will probably follow suit. In other areas, the lens is well equipped, with two function buttons and L-Fn 2 in four positions around the lens, a focus range limiter, and OLED display showing distance or focal length. It’s interesting to note that the two lens function buttons have different options, depending on the camera, so you get 30 choices on the Z 9 and just 23 on the Z 7II. While probably not a deal-breaker, it is worth checking. The focus limiter needs another position. Other than full range, there’s just 3m to infinity, so if you are
› In the box Lens, back and front caps, bayonet fit lens hood, case › Format Full-frame › Compatibility Nikon Z mount › Construction 25 elements in 20 groups › Special lens elements Six ED elements, two super-ED elements › Coating Nano Crystal Coat, Fluorine coat, Arneo coat › Aperture range f/4.5-5.6 to f/32-40 › Filter size 77mm › Diaphragm Nine blades › Magnification 0.35x › Autofocus Internal focusing, focus limit switch, full, infinity to 3m › Minimum focus 75cm at 100mm, 80mm at 200mm, 98cm at 400mm › Weather-sealed Yes › Image stabiliser VR with lens shift, 5.5EV benefit › Dimensions (dxl) 98x222mm › Weight 1435g › Contact nikon.co.uk
out to exploit the very useful close focusing – 98cm minimum focus at 400mm – you can miss shots with the lens searching out to infinity. A minimum focusing distance to, say, 3m would be useful. Perhaps it could come in a firmware update in the lens function menu. The option to dial vibration reduction (VR) in and out via the same method would also be handy, because there’s no physical VR on/off switch, you have to do this via the body – it’s not available on either lens function button. Overall, handling is lovely. One quarter turn covers the entire zoom range and there's no zoom creep when the lens is hanging down. Manual focusing is excellent and responsive and you also get a basic distance scale in the EVF/monitor. With Canon having a 100-500mm and Sony a 200-600mm, I feel the lens’ 400mm long end was limiting. The Canon lens is only a little heavier and in the same ball park size-wise, but that extra 100mm makes a difference. If you need to crop, there are fewer wasted pixels. I did quite a lot of work with the lens, especially when out testing the Z 9. It is lovely in use. I spent several hours with both cameras and the lens at the local lake, shooting gulls in flight. By the end of the session, I’m happy to admit my arms ached a little. I also took the lens just with a Z 7II to a wildlife park, in both situations leaving the monopod at home. No reflection on the lens, but the difference in autofocus tracking skills of the Z 7II and the Z 9 was very noticeable, so the sooner Nikon cascades the latter’s AF skills to other models, the better. You can read more
DISTANCE CONTROL There is a focus limiter with two options. With this lens’ useful close focusing – 75cm at 100mm and 98cm at 400mm – an option to stop the lens hunting to infinity would be ideal, to save time and lower the risk of missed shots about the Z 9/100-400mm AF’s skills in the big test this issue. The combination acquitted itself impressively, coping well with the birds and mammals, as well as eye detect – particularly when the subject and lighting was favourable. The eye detect box tracked the subject as it moved, and re-engaged quickly when it turned its head away and back again. The Z 7II fared well with less demanding subjects with single spot, wide-area AF (animals) and auto-area AF (animals) in AF-S and AF-C modes. Optically, there’s no doubt that this Nikon telezoom is a strong performer, producing sharp, contrasty images. Any small detail present is really beautifully recorded. I tested the lens at 100mm, 135mm, 200mm, 300mm and 400mm on my custom test chart, shooting at 0.3EV though the range. The restrictions of the long focal length in my small room explain the different views between the 100mm and 400mm, as I could not retreat further.
THE EYE HAS IT Absolutely no worries about the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S lens when it comes to resolving fine detail, as you can see from the enlargement of the bird’s eye. This crested grey crane at Hamerton Zoo Park was shot on a Nikon Z 7II, fitted with the lens set to 400mm. Exposed at 1/1000sec at f/7.1 and ISO 400
36 Photography News | Issue 97
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