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PRICES: £1109/£859
NIKON.CO.UK
Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 and Z 28-75mm f/2.8 These lenses sit below Nikon’s top-tier fast zooms and promise to save you money – but is the quality there too?
dramatic than 17mm. I often reached the widest setting and found myself wanting to step back a little to get more foreground in. At the far end, the lens doesn’t feel like it has a lot of range either, and on a high-res sensor, its modest 11mm shift could be mimicked by cropping a prime. That said, it proves a capable landscape companion for most scenes. Overall, the Z 17-28mm f/2.8 handles really well. It’s small and light for an f/2.8 zoom – lighter in fact than the slower Z 14-30mm f/4 S – and has a broad zoom ring that can push from near to far in less than a quarter-turn. The now-standard Nikon control ring sits behind this and offers access to exposure compensation, ISO or aperture settings, though I preferred to leave it on the default manual focus. It has no switches or display, so going from AF to MF needs to be done via your menu – not a big deal, unless using a switch is part of your technique for astrophotography or similar. The Z 17-28mm f/2.8 also has a 67mm filter thread, which keeps expense down compared to the 112mm front filters required by the Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S. On the downside, while it’s weather-sealed, the front element moves when zooming and should therefore be treated with care in sandy or dusty environments. However, the lens does focus internally and autofocus performs well. It’s surprisingly snappy moving from near to far – and copes well in low light thanks to the large aperture. I had no trouble with subject detection AF modes either, with it locking onto target and following as expected. The lens also has a useful close focus of 19cm at the wide end, where it can grab a lot of detail, both in terms of wide-angle close-up and foreground textures. Optically, the Z 17-28mm f/2.8 impressed – possibly because I was not expecting it to be as good as it is. In terms of sharpness, the lens puts in a solid performance, and while it doesn’t match the quality of the Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S, it never lacks clarity. As you’d expect, it’s sharpest around f/5.6 to f/8, where centre to corner performance is also most even. At
TESTED BY KINGSLEY SINGLETON
SPECS 17-28MM › Price £1109 › In the box Hood, front and rear caps › Format Full-frame (Nikon FX) › Compatibility Nikon Z › Filter 67mm › Construction 13 elements in 11 groups › Special lens elements 1x Super ED, 2x ED and 3x aspherical › Aperture range F/2.8-22 › Diaphragm 9 blades, rounded › Minimum focus 19cm (at 17mm)
TWO OF NIKON’S recent additions to its Z series lenses have raised our eyebrows – they cover existing focal lengths in the range with a similarly fast aperture. On paper at least, the Z 17-28mm f/2.8 and Z 28-75mm f/2.8 are very close to the Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S and Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S. What’s the deal here? Though you’ll struggle to find mention of it officially, these are essentially remounted Tamron G lenses – also available in Sony E-mount – created to offer more affordable, fast, wide-angle and standard alternatives to Nikon’s top-of-the-range optics. Aside from the slight difference in focal ranges, these two also lack Nikon’s top-end S-Line designation, which it reserves for models that are ‘subject to even more stringent expectations and standards’. So how do they compare? I tested them on Z7 II and Z 9 bodies across a range of landscape and more general photographic subjects and found there was lots to like. Yes, these are mid-range lenses, but they deliver a very strong optical performance, handle well and are fairly priced. Combined, the pair cost less than just one of the S-Line competitors. Generally speaking, they are more accessible and portable too. Z 17-28mm f/2.8 My main gripe with the Z 17-28mm f/2.8 is that, despite only giving up 1mm overall to the Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S, the focal range feels a little restrictive – and even more so compared to the Z 14-30mm f/4 S. The simple fact is that the alternative of 14mm feels a lot more “IT’S SURPRISINGLY SNAPPY MOVING FROM NEAR TO FAR – AND COPES WELL IN LOW LIGHT”
› Weather-sealed Yes › Image stabiliser No › Dimensions (dxl) 75x101mm › Weight 450g › Contact nikon.co.uk
28-75MM › Price £859 › In the box Hood, front and rear caps › Format Full-frame (Nikon FX) › Compatibility Nikon Z 15 elements in 12 groups › Special lens elements 1x Super ED, 1x ED and 3x aspherical › Aperture range F/2.8-22 › Diaphragm 9 blades, rounded › Filter 67mm › Construction
› Minimum focus 19cm (at 28mm)
› Weather-sealed Yes › Image stabiliser No › Dimensions (dxl) 75x120.5mm › Weight 565g › Contact nikon.co.uk
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD Nikon’s not- quite-S-Line Z series lenses, the Z 17- 28mm f/2.8 (top) and Z 28-75mm f/2.8 (right), come in at less than one top-of- the-range optic combined. This relative affordability is a tempting proposition
36 Photography News | Issue 108
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