I’ve found that many of these new
technological advancements have been
making these lenses perform remark-
ably well, including the five in this
review roundup. You’ll also find a
variety of lens types—lenses for full-
frame systems, a couple for models
with APS-C sensors and a lens for
full-frame DSLRs.
Also, be sure to check out my
reviews online, where you’ll find
longer ones of each lens on Digital-
PhotoPro.com. And just as we did in
our last issue, we’ll have a list of new
wide-angle lenses that have hit the
market recently.
Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S
Until earlier this year, the Nikon mir-
rorless Z system had offered several
options for shooting with a wide-angle
lens on the Z 6 or the Z 7, including
the NIKKOR Z 24mm F1.8 prime
and two 24-70mm zooms but no ultra-
wide-angle zooms. Nikon corrected
this by introducing this impressive
14-30mm lens, so that Nikon Z mir-
rorless camera owners could have a
native lens—instead of needing to use
Nikon’s lens adapter for one of the
Nikon F-mount cameras.
I really enjoyed shooting with this
lens, which has a body construction
of 14 elements in 12 groups and four
ED glass and four aspherical lens ele-
ments, plus it has a minimum focus-
ing distance of just under 1 foot.
It’s much lighter and more compact
than Nikon’s DSLR ultra-wides:
Nikon said it’s 51.5 percent lighter
and 35 percent
shorter than
the AF-S NIK-
KOR 14-24mm
f/2.8G ED for
the F mount.
In terms of
image quality, I
found it to be a
remarkable lens,
with excellent
edge-to-edge
performance—
and great power
and flexibility. It
can also accept
screw-in filters,
which is a plus.
(I paired this
lens and used it
primarily with
the Nikon Z 6
full-frame mir-
rorless camera.)
One down-
side to this lens
is that it’s pretty
pricey at $1,299.The Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S (above)
can shoot ultra wide at 14mm (above left) to
moderately wide at 30mm (above center).Below: These images were shot with the
Tamron 17-35mm F/2.8-4 Di OSD at 17mm
(top) and 35mm (bottom) to show how
versatile this lens can be. digitalphotopro.com November/December 2019 | 51