The NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is here and is NIKON's latest all-purpose lens for the mirrorless Z mount camera bodies. Join me as I test out this lens with its massive 14x zoom ratio and see how it performs.

In this video review, I'll photograph birds, landscapes, and talk about the ergonomics and handling of the NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR.

What makes it special?

First off, the most remarkable feature of this lens is that it has a huge focal range. 28mm to 400mm is a tremendous range, and I can foresee that most people will be interested in this lens because of its versatility and ability to excel in different genres of photography in a light and compact body.

Performance

The NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is one hell of a lens. As expected of Nikon’s mirrorless Z body lenses, this lens is no slouch. Autofocus is unrelentingly quick and accurate, latching onto my intended subjects throughout the focal range. Subjects that are placed against the sky do appear to be affected by chromatic aberration, but the flaw disappears once the images are loaded into Adobe Lightroom, thanks to Nikon’s built-in lens profile corrections in Lightroom. I found also that the images straight out of camera look a little soft, but can be easily improved with a slight adjustment in sharpness in LR’s develop module. Minimum focusing distances are fantastic at 20cm at the wide end, and approximately 1.2m at the telephoto end. The lens boasts Vibration Reduction at up to 5.5 stops.

Ergonomics

One thing that gets overlooked often when considering a new lens purchase is ergonomics. Fortunately, the NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f4-8 VR excels in this regard. It is light, compact, and fits comfortably on my Nikon Z 8 mirrorless camera body. It does have an unwieldy long throw when zoomed out to 400mm, and personally I’m not a fan of extendable lenses. That long throw distance will eventually suck up dust and dirt particles, making the lens vulnerable to imperfections over time. It has a 77mm filter thread, which is the common size for professional grade camera lenses. A lock switch at the side of the lens prevents lens creep due to gravity.

The Nikon Z 8 with Leofoto L-bracket next to the NIKKOR Z 28-400MM F/4-8 VR

NIKKOR Z 28-400MM F/4-8 VR with its rectangular-shaped lens hood.

Concerns

The NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR has one caveat, and that is its rather unfortunate maximum aperture of F8 at 400mm. I’ve tried to use this lens indoors under poor lighting conditions, and there’s not much the lens can produce without any flash or tripod. Bring this bad boy outdoors where it truly performs. It can’t help you much indoors.

Conclusion

Ultimately, I really enjoyed the versatility of this lens. I can see it being invaluable for street photography, where its small size makes it easy to carry around, and you can get great photographs at a variety of focal lengths all in this one lens. It’ll also be good for landscape photography, where you can get wide angle shots at 28mm, and still zoom into 400mm for that telephoto compression or that shot of a beautiful bird that happened to nest near you. It’ll be a wonderful pairing with the Nikon Z F or Z fc. Unfortunately, at a maximum aperture of F8, this lens does not offer much for professional wedding or event photographers. The lens currently retails in Singapore at $2,049 SGD.

Sample Images for Nikon Z 28-400mm F4-8 VR

Off topic but a shoutout to NIKON Singapore for installing 2 of my works in their new store at Kidzania Sentosa Singapore. Both of these photos were shown in YouTube videos captured years ago and here are the links for them.

Photos and videos captured with:

Wandrd Prvke 31L
DJI OSMO POCKET 3
NIKON Z8
NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR
Leofoto LS-324
NIKKOR 60MM Micro

NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR Lens Review | Nikon's Smallest and Lightest Birding Lens?!