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NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4.0-8.0 VR

 

Like many other photographers, I also carry a large photo backpack with me everywhere I go, containing several lenses. As an aviation photographer, I very often take pictures of planes flying far away but often I also take pictures of aircraft, pilots or reenactors standing close by. Then it is particularly convenient to be able to use a zoom lens with an extended range. Still, I try to be careful with that since super zoom lenses often have problems in terms of image quality. After Nikon released the Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4.0-8.0 VR superzoom lens in April 2024 and it won the prestigious EISA 2024-2025 award for “Best Superzoom Lens,” I couldn't wait to use this lens during various aviation events. 

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Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4.0-8.0 VR superzoom lens

 

Air Legends & International Sanicole Airshow 

 

The month of September is always a busy time for aviation photographers and aircraft spotters as numerous airshows are then organized in Europe. In the weekend of September 14 and 15, I took the Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4.0-8.0 VR super zoom lens to the Air Legends airshow near Paris in France and tested it again a week later at the International Sanicole Airshow in Belgium. In between both events, I also flew with the Aviation PhotoCrew on Wednesday, September 18, or take aerial photos of other aircraft participating in the International Sanicole Airshow. These events were the perfect locations and moments to extensively test the Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4.0-8.0 VR lens since during the Air Legends airshow in France I was able to photograph mainly people and aircraft up close while in Belgium I was able to test the extended zoom range of this lens during the Spotters Day at the Kleine Brogel airbase and when I photographed the aircraft from the air. 

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Supermarine Spitfire and pilot

 

Not heavy, not too big and decently built  

 

The first impression I had of this lens was that, for its range, it was quite light at 725 grams and that it has a lock button on the outside that allows you to lock the lens at specific focal lengths. The lens, which has a polycarbonate body, can also be “locked” at 28mm which keeps it from sliding out unwittingly when not taking pictures. When zooming to 400mm, the lens does almost double in size (25cm) but due to its light weight this does not bother you at all and you can use it perfectly for freehand shooting. The solid and reliable sealing of this lens also ensure that no moisture or dust gets in when the lens is fully extended. This is an important asset since this lens has a large extendable section and was specifically designed to be taken with you when traveling. 

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SoloTürk solo display of the Turkish Air Force

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The zoom ring itself rotates smoothly and does 90 degrees for the entire range. Although the lens has vibration reduction, there is no physical VR switch on the lens itself. In addition, this lens also does not possess an external button to switch to manual focus. If you want to use the lens with manual focus, you need to digitally adjust it in the camera's menu. This lens is equipped with 21 optical elements in 15 groups, including four special dispersion elements and three aspherical elements. Unfortunately, this lens does not have fluorine coating on the front, nor does it have Nikon's special ARNEO anti-reflection coating that the Z 100-400mm and Z 24-120mm lenses do. At the front of this lens is a distinctive square lens hood. 

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Aerosparx

 

Limited in aperture

 

A quality lens with such a range that is light and compact should probably have a drawback. This disadvantage or downside, according to some, is seen in the aperture of this lens. For example, at 28mm this lens has a minimum aperture of f/4 and at 400mm it has a minimum aperture of f/8. When you start zooming in, you notice pretty quickly that the aperture number gets larger, at 50mm this already becomes f/5.6, causing you to lose light. At 200mm you are already at an aperture of f/8 and that is of course something you have to take into account, especially if you want to take pictures in poorer light conditions or indoors. Therefore, this lens will mainly be used for photos taken outdoors unless you have external light sources inside. In clear weather, I personally noticed very few disadvantages of the aperture of this lens at 200 to 400mm but as soon as evening came or the amount of light diminished, I was forced to drastically increase my ISO values. Meanwhile, the new generation of system cameras marketed today can handle ISO noise very well. Thanks to improved software, I no longer have any fear of taking pictures at ISO 5000 or even 6400, for example.  

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Flying Dragons

 

Unique lens with no typical weaknesses

 

Lenses with a large zoom range often dare to fall short in terms of sharpness and contrast in the corners or at the longest focal lengths. What I noticed pretty quickly after using this lens was that it takes extremely sharp photos at a focal length of 28mm and that its contrast was excellent at all focal lengths. When taking photos at a focal length of 28mm, I did notice some barrel distortion (barrel-shaped distortion) but as soon as I zoomed in a bit, this was much less. I also noticed a fair amount of vignetting when taking photos at 28mm f/4. This distortion and vignetting can be perfectly eliminated thanks to software during post-processing and is therefore not an issue for me personally. The built-in optical vibration reduction system of 5.0 stops helps to counteract vibrations in low light or when photographing fast objects such as airplanes in my case. When combined with a Nikon Z camera with Synchro VR function, the VR advantage even increases to 5.5 stops. 

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For focusing, the Nikon Z 28-400mm F4-8 VR uses an STM motor. That is a stepper motor known for its quiet, fast and smooth operation. When I wanted to focus when quickly changing from 28mm to 400mm, I did notice that it took half a second. Then again, when taking a series of photos at roughly the same focal length each time, focusing was very fast. With this lens I also took a lot of pictures with backlight and to my great surprise, this lens has little trouble with that. Because this lens has a short focusing distance of only 0.2 meters at 28mm and 1.2 meters at 400mm, it can also be used perfectly for close-ups and portraits. In terms of bokeh, the effect of blurred parts in a photo, this lens does not score extremely well but also not badly. The zoom range of this lens is really something that convinced me heavily. Being able to move very quickly from 28mm to 400mm gives the photographer a lot of freedom in any kind of photography. 

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SoloTürk F-16 solo display of the Turkish Air Force

 

Final conclusion

 

Due to its unique range, this lens can undoubtedly be used for many types of photography, think architecture, portrait, close-ups, street and travel photography. Its zoom range of 28-400mm virtually eliminates the need for lens changes making this lens a real gamechanger. Its compact design will also be greatly appreciated by any photographer who is often on the road and travels, making this lens already described as the “king of travel lenses. It is true that this lens has its limits in terms of aperture and that this can be a disadvantage for photography in poorer light conditions but this can be amply compensated for by increasing ISO values. As far as I am concerned, Nikon has a fantastic trump card in their hands with this 'all-round' lens and therefore sets the bar extremely high for the competition. With a suggested retail price of 1,549 euros, this lens is not among the cheapest but you get a lot in return for this purchase. Actually, there is no cheaper way to have such a large zoom range in your hands with one lens. 

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Text & photos: Kris Christiaens

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Curtiss P-40 Warhawk

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