Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR

[PeterN]

I thought to open a Nikkor Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 VR thread for those interested in the lens. Admin: feelfree to move this post if a thread about the 24-200 already exists.

I recently purchased the lens for travel and outdoor events at my country/golf club. For both, I don't need huge prints or supersharp photos. It's mainly for viewing on laptop, iPad and iPhone as well as printing vacation books.

Initially I was somewhat disappointed. While its weight and size are perfect for travel and its focal range satisfies most of my needs, I was underwhelmed by its sharpness when I took photos of a resolution chart at various apertures and focal lengths. Especially at 24mm and f4, the output looks bad. Things get better when increasing aperture to f5.6 and focal length to 35mm. The lens performs reasonably well with f6.3 at a longer focal length (from 85mm upwards) except for vignetting.
From looking at these charts I learned  to use the lens between >24mm (26-28mm) and <200mm (let's sat 190mm) and an aperture between f5.6 and f11. Using the Dx format would allow me to get rid of the soft(er) outer areas.

Nevertheless, I thought to do some photography with the lens in the "real world" first to get a better feel first. And I must say, the lens does not disappoint for a superzoom. The rendering  colors look right, the sharpness is acceptable, and contrast is OK too with some post-processing. Obviously sharpness, micro-contrast, etc are not up to par with the prime Z lenses. But that's not the point of using a superzoom. It is all about convenience. And it is a convenient lens! It's light, (auto and manually) focuses well, and delivers acceptable results. All in all, it is worth the money.

your

[PeterN]

I forgot to share a link to Thom Hogan's review of the Z 24-200mm lens.

https://www.zsystemuser.com/z-mount-lenses/nikkor-lenses/nikon-z-mount-lens-reviews/nikon-24-200mm-f4-63-lens.html

His views were more valuable to me than other reviews. He writes this in his conclusion:

"This lens gets more praise than I think it deserves. It's a quite good lens, but not a great lens, and one with a bit of weakness at both ends when wide open (more chromatic aberration at the wide end, less sharpness at the telephoto end). On the other hand, as superzooms go, the 24-200mm is quite good, among the best you'll find (and probably the best of its focal length designation). Stopping down a bit makes for quite good results. As an all-around walkabout lens, yes, I can certainly see the appreciation some have for this lens. It doesn't have a glaring fault, as do most superzooms that try to do it all but then fail miserably at something. The 24-200mm doesn't have much focal length breathing, either, so unlike a lot of superzooms it does manage a compelling telephoto angle of view. But I'd be remiss not to point out that this lens is not up to the extremely high optical standards Nikon has been setting with most of their Z mount lenses. etc etc"

The thing I do not necessarily agree with is his choice of the best matching camera body. He chooses the Z5. While I understand his reasoning, I think the combo with the Z7 is working well too. The additional MPs allow for more aggressive cropping (te reduce corner softness) and for downsampling (to reduce noise). So far, that works for me.

[longzoom]

I completely agree with you, Peter! My very old 28-300 is able to deliver way more details and resolution when combined with the Z7, compare to any (ANY!) 24-36 MP bodies. So the image and the crop: at 300mm, f8.0, ISO 1600, 1/180.  LZ 2020-08-18 010 by longzoom, on Flickr 2020-08-18 010-3-2 by longzoom, on Flickr

[PeterN]

Great detail and tonal variation. Less contrasty than contemporary lenses but I like that a lot.
Thanks for sharing.

[longzoom]

Great detail and tonal variation. Less contrasty than contemporary lenses but I like that a lot.
Thanks for sharing.

                           Thank you, Peter!

[Luc]

I also bought this lens. I wanted wide-angle and zoom reach in a compact, lightweight lens. Intended use is city walks and holidays.
First test shots (all shot at f8) confirm the majority of reviews. For a superzoom it's very good, way better than the F-mount super zooms.

1. 200mm
Z6_DSC0657 by Luc de Schepper, on Flickr

2. 81mm
Z6_DSC0675 by Luc de Schepper, on Flickr

3. 75mm
Z6_DSC0686 by Luc de Schepper, on Flickr

4. 56mm
Z6_DSC0677 by Luc de Schepper, on Flickr