Smart_Photography_-_September_2019

Rohinton Mehta

T

Š‡‹‘”ͳͶǦ͵ͲˆȀͶ™ƒ•

Žƒ—…Š‡†‹†‹ƒ‘ ͅ–Š

ƒ—ƒ”›

ʹͲͳ ͅƒ†‹•–Š‡β‹”•–—Ž–”ƒǦ™‹†‡Ǧ

angle zoom lens from Nikon to have a

β‹Ž–‡”ƒ––ƒ…Š‡–ǤŠ‡Ž‡•‹•†‡•‹‰‡†

ˆ‘”‹‘‹””‘”Ž‡••…ƒ‡”ƒ•ȋ͸ƒ†

͹ȌǤ‡–ǯ••‡‡Š‘™–Š‹•Ž‡•’‡”ˆ‘”•‘

‘—”–‡•–Ǧ„‡…ŠǤ

Design & Build Quality

Š‡‹‘”ͳͶǦ͵ͲˆȀͶŽ‡•‹•

†‡•‹‰‡†ˆ‘”–Š‡Ǧ•‡”‹‡•‘ˆ‹‘

mirrorless camera bodies. The outer

body is made from engineering plastic,

ƒ†–Š‡„—‹Ž†“—ƒŽ‹–›‹••—ˆβ‹…‹‡–Ž›

good. I found no ‘play’ between the lens

and the body, while there has always

been some ‘play’ between the lens and

–Š‡„‘†›™‹–Š  Ǧ•‡”‹‡•Ž‡•‡•ǤŠ‡Ž‡•

™‡‹‰Š•ƒ’’”‘š‹ƒ–‡Ž›Ͷ ͅͷ‰™‹–Š‹–•

Top-notch

Performance!

Nikkor Z 14-30 mm f/4 S `99,950

turns smoothly but not so smoothly

as to inadvertently change the

focus. You need to unlock the

lens before you can use it. To

do that, you turn the zoom ring

in clockwise direction towards

–Š‡β‹”•–ƒ”‡†ˆ‘…ƒŽŽ‡‰–ŠȋͳͶ

ȌǤ‘Ž‘…–Š‡Ž‡•ǡ–—”–Š‡œ‘‘

”‹‰‹ƒ–‹Ǧ…Ž‘…™‹•‡†‹”‡…–‹‘–‹ŽŽ

the white dot aligns with the white

index mark. On the left of the lens

‹•ƒǦ•™‹–…Šˆ‘”—–‘ˆ‘…—•ƒ†

ƒ—ƒŽˆ‘…—•ǤŠ‡Ž‡•‘—–‹•

made of metal, and there are 11 gold

plated contacts to pass information

to and fro from the lens to the body.

The lens is constructed with 14

elements in nine groups, which

‹…Ž—†‡•ˆ‘—”š–”ƒǦŽ‘™‹•’‡”•‹‘

ȋȌ‰Žƒ••‡Ž‡‡–•ƒ†ˆ‘—”

aspherical elements for superior

optical performance. Nano Crystal

Coating on certain elements improves

…‘–”ƒ•–™Š‹Ž‡‡‡’‹‰βŽƒ”‡ƒ†

ghosting under control. The front

‡Ž‡‡–‹•βŽ—‘”‹‡…‘ƒ–‡†™Š‹…Š†‹•’‡Ž•

water droplets and makes it easier to

…Ž‡ƒ•—†‰‡•ǤŠ‡•Š‘”–βŽƒ‰‡ˆ‘…ƒŽ

†‹•–ƒ…‡‘ˆ–Š‡Ǧ•‡”‹‡•„‘†‹‡•Š‡Ž’•–‘

deliver superior optical performance.

Ergonomics

The lens was easy to use, though, on

a personal level, I found it somewhat

annoying to turn the zoom ring off the

white dot before you could use it. If

you don’t, you get the message “Before

taking photos, rotate the zoom ring to

‡š–‡†–Š‡Ž‡•dzǤ‹…‡–Š‹•Ž‡•‘ˆˆ‡”•ƒ

β‹Ž–‡”–Š”‡ƒ†ȋ–Š‡β‹”•–•—’‡”Ǧ™‹†‡Ǧƒ‰Ž‡

œ‘‘ˆ”‘‹‘–‘‘ˆˆ‡”ƒβ‹Ž–‡”–Š”‡ƒ†Ȍǡ

it is possible to use a polariser or a split

‡—–”ƒŽ†‡•‹–›β‹Ž–‡”ˆ‘”…”‡ƒ–‹˜‡‡ˆˆ‡…–•Ǥ

‘‡‡’‹‹†–Š‘—‰Š–Šƒ–—•‹‰ƒ

β‹Ž–‡”™‹–Š•—’‡”Ǧ™‹†‡Ǧƒ‰Ž‡Ž‡•‡•ȋ‘ˆ

ƒ›ƒ‡Ȍ…ƒ…ƒ—•‡—‡˜‡†ƒ”‡‹‰

of a blue sky.

Performance

The lens is a cracker! It was reviewed

using a Nikon Z7 body.

Autofocus was quite fast, silent and

accurate in good light, but it did slow

†‘™Œ—•–ƒ„‹–‹’‘‘”Ž‹‰Š–ȋ”‡‡„‡”

‹–‹•ƒˆȀͶŽ‡•ƒ†‘–ˆȀʹǤ ͅȌǤ

The lens was sharp throughout its

ƒ”‡†ˆ‘…ƒŽŽ‡‰–Š•Ǥ‹…—•Š‹‘

and barrel distortions were very well

lens hood and is quite small in size.

It increases its physical length as it is

œ‘‘‡†‘—–ˆ”‘͵Ͳ–‘ͳͶǡ

but the front element does not rotate,

making it easy to use a polariser or a

‰”ƒ†—ƒ–‡†β‹Ž–‡”ǤŠ‡β‹Ž–‡”•‹œ‡‹• ͅʹ

mm, and the lens is made in Thailand.

Key Features

Š‡‹‘”ͳͶǦ͵ͲŽ‡•‹•‘’–‹‹•‡†

–‘ƒ–…Š–Š‡Š‹‰ŠǦ”‡•‘Ž—–‹‘•‡•‘”‘ˆ

–Š‡‹‘͹„‘†›ȋƒ†ˆ—–—”‡Š‹‰ŠǦ

”‡•‘Ž—–‹‘„‘†‹‡•–‘…‘‡Ȍ„—–…ƒ„‡

—•‡†‘–Š‡͸„‘†›–‘‘ǡ–‘’”‘˜‹†‡

excellent contrast and sharpness

–Š”‘—‰Š‘—––Š‡ˆ”ƒ‡ǤŠ‡™‡ŽŽǦ†ƒ’‡†ǡ

broad zoom ring is rubberised and is

–‘™ƒ”†•–Š‡β‹Ž–‡”‡†ƒ†‘ˆˆ‡”•ƒ‰‘‘†

‰”‹’ǤŠ‡ˆ‘…ƒŽŽ‡‰–Š•Ȅ͵ͲǡʹͶǡʹͲǡͳ͸

and 14 mm — are clearly marked in

white, which makes it easy to read even

in poor light. The manual focus ring

✓ Lens

✓ ‡•Š‘‘† ͅ͸

✓   ”‘–Ž‡•…ƒ’ ͅʹ

✓ ‡ƒ”Ž‡•…ƒ’   Ǧͳ

✓ ‡•’‘—…ŠǦͳ

Inside the Box

98 | Smart Photography | September 2019 http://www.smartphotography.in

LENS REVIEW