Nikon NIKKOR Z 24 70mm F 4 S Review | 54 Data compared

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S as a highly recommended, portable lens offering exceptional, prime-like optical quality with excellent central sharpness and minimal chromatic aberration. Key advantages include its compact, weather-sealed 500g design, close-focus capability, and versatile performance across its range. Cons primarily involve the fixed f/4 maximum aperture, lack of built-in VR, and reliance on software correction for distortion, along with a telescoping design that extends at longer focal lengths.

The Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S is a highly capable standard zoom lens designed as a compact and lightweight companion for Nikon’s full-frame mirrorless cameras, such as the Z6 and Z7. Despite its seemingly modest f/4 maximum aperture, it delivers stellar optical performance that rivals high-end lenses, boasting terrific center sharpness and unusually clean edge clarity. It handles distortions and color fringing exceptionally well, keeping them practically non-existent. Physical highlights include a retracting design for easy packing, a customisable control ring for adjusting ISO or exposure compensation, and built-in weather sealing for added durability. The review highlights distinct advantages and drawbacks for potential buyers. On the positive side, its main pros are outstanding optical sharpness across the frame and a highly portable, travel-friendly build. On the negative side, its primary con is a steep retail price point, which sits around $1,046 at major retailers like Amazon and Target—though it can sometimes be found discounted closer to $399. Additionally, while its slower f/4 aperture is mitigated by the camera's in-body image stabilization, it remains one full f/stop slower than professional-grade f/2.8...

Ken Rockwell describes the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S as an ultralight, high-performance, and sharp standard zoom lens, boasting near-perfect optical performance similar to the f/2.8 version. Key pros include a compact, collapsible design, silent electronic diaphragm, and a versatile, programmable control ring. Conversely, the lens features a plastic exterior and filter threads, lacks built-in optical stabilization, and relies entirely on camera body IBIS. Additionally, it lacks a focus distance scale and has a poor value proposition when purchased alone, as opposed to in a kit bundle.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S is a highly uniform and well-rounded constant-aperture kit zoom lens designed for full-frame mirrorless Z-series cameras. Tested on the high-resolution 45.7MP Nikon Z 7, it earns praise for its exceptional sharpness consistency across the entire frame at almost all focal lengths and apertures, exhibiting virtually no measurable astigmatism. It is lightweight at 500 grams, features a dust- and moisture-sealed retractable body, utilizes an internal focusing stepping motor to minimize focus breathing, and delivers excellent light transmission with low reflectance. Despite its stellar uniformity, the lens compromises on peak outright resolution when compared to its DSLR and mirrorless rivals. When its built-in digital profiles are overridden, it reveals significant native optical flaws, including high barrel distortion at 24mm, high pincushion distortion at 70mm, and the weakest lateral chromatic aberration corrections among its competitors. Vignetting is also prominent, reaching over -2EV wide-open at 70mm and never fully clearing up even when stopped down. Furthermore, it lacks built-in optical image stabilization (OIS) and is relatively expensive if purchased as a standalone item rather than bundled in...

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S is a highly compact, lightweight full-frame standard zoom lens that offers excellent build quality and a silent, fast stepping motor autofocus system. The reviewer notes that the lens delivers stunning color rendition and admirable optical performance across its zoom range, falling only slightly behind prime lenses. However, the lens does suffer from a bit of image softness, which becomes especially noticeable at the longer 70mm end. A standout feature is its pricing structure; while its standalone retail price of $996.95 makes it hard to recommend over the longer-reaching Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S, its bundled kit price of $600.00 provides exceptional value. The primary pros highlighted include its high affordability when bundled, constant f/4 maximum aperture, silent autofocus, and robust build. Conversely, the main con is its retractable barrel design, which requires a manual twist to unlock before shooting and can occasionally slow down the user in fast-paced environments.

The Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S is an exceptionally sharp, compact, and travel-friendly kit lens designed for Nikon's mirrorless Z-system bodies. Extensively sealed against dust and moisture, it features a 14-element optical layout that delivers excellent center sharpness wide open, particularly at 35mm, with very high image quality that remains consistent across all focusing distances. Autofocus is remarkably fast and precise, chromatic aberration is highly controlled, and it boasts an impressive maximum reproduction ratio of 1:3.3 for close-up shooting. When purchased as a camera bundle, its implied price of $600 makes it an absolute bargain for full-frame photographers. However, the lens does have several drawbacks, most notably its "rotate to use" collapsible design, which requires an extra twist before shooting and increases the risk of missing quick shots. It is not entirely silent, emitting a faint operational noise that built-in microphones will catch during video recording. Optically, there is noticeable focus shift from f/4 to f/16 at the 70mm end, along with a steep, rapid vignetting acceleration just outside the DX crop boundary. Furthermore, the lens relies heavily on digital in-camera...

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24–70 mm f/4 S is a solid and efficient kit lens designed for less demanding full-frame users who prioritize low weight and compact dimensions over fast apertures. In terms of performance pros, the lens delivers a commendable performance in the frame center, where it distinctly exceeds the established decency level across all focal lengths, even at its maximum relative aperture. This reliable resolution extends beautifully across the APS-C/DX crop area; at 45 mm and 70 mm, it produces completely useful images wide open, which quickly improve to truly good resolution levels when stopped down to f/5.6 – f/8.0. Conversely, the lens exhibits clear drawbacks when it comes to raw resolving power and edge performance. Unlike the system's high-end prime lenses that comfortably breach 80 lpmm, this f/4 zoom struggles with optical aberrations wide open and fails to reach even 70 lpmm in the center. Price is another notable con, as it carries a hefty $1,000 standalone price tag ($600 when bundled). Most critically, image quality heavily degrades on the extreme edges of a full-frame sensor wide...

The Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S is a highly capable, compact kit lens packaged with Nikon’s Z 5, Z 6II, and Z 7II mirrorless cameras that punches well above its weight class. Weighing just 1.1 lbs and measuring 3.5 inches in length, its lightweight composite plastic construction features robust weather sealing with six total gaskets, making it an excellent all-purpose choice for hiking and photo walks. Optically, the lens delivers impressive sharpness across its entire zoom range—even when wide open at f/4—alongside exceptional performance in resisting chromatic aberrations, fringing, and ghosting. The stepping motor (STM) provides quiet and accurate autofocus tracking suitable for street, landscape, and light sports photography. Additionally, it features macro capability, a versatile customizable control ring, and an approachable price tag of $600 when bundled as a kit ($1,000 standalone). Despite its stellar performance, the lens does come with a few notable drawbacks. Its main ergonomic flaw is a retractable locking design that requires a forceful manual twist to unlock before the camera can shoot, which can cause users to miss fleeting moments. Its maximum f/4 aperture...

The Nikkor 24-70mm f/4 S is a highly compact and lightweight full-frame kit zoom lens that pairs excellently with Nikon Z series bodies, offering optical performance well above typical kit lens expectations. Its primary strengths include fast and precise autofocus, a solid build quality, and excellent sharpness in the center that stays strong across most of the frame. It is exceptionally well-controlled against flare, shows very little chromatic aberration, and performs consistently well across all focusing distances, even near its macro-range minimum focus. When bundled with a camera body, its heavily discounted implied price makes it an absolute bargain for travel and everyday shooting. However, the lens does come with several distinct drawbacks that users must navigate. Its "rotate to use" retractable design can cause photographers to miss spontaneous shots if the lens is not already extended. Optically, the lens relies heavily on in-camera digital corrections; with these turned off, it suffers from heavy vignetting and noticeable "mustache" barrel distortion at the 24mm wide end. Additionally, it exhibits clear focus shift issues—particularly at 70mm—and despite marketing claims, it is not...

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24-70 mm f/4 S is a highly capable and solid kit lens that performs exactly as designed, making it an excellent bundled choice for Nikon Z camera buyers. It features a compact, lightweight, and handy casing equipped with a silent and highly accurate autofocus system. Optically, the lens delivers good image quality at the frame center and acceptable resolution at the edges of an APS-C/DX sensor. It also effectively manages optical flaws, showing low spherical aberration, negligible vignetting on APS-C sensors, no issues with astigmatism, and good resistance against bright light flare. Additionally, it provides moderate longitudinal and sensible lateral chromatic aberration corrections. Despite these strengths, the lens suffers from notable drawbacks, specifically severe distortion issues when processing RAW files and massive vignetting when used on a full-frame sensor. Price is another major consideration; purchasing the lens standalone is quite expensive at nearly $1,000. However, buying it as part of a camera kit drops the effective surcharge to a much more reasonable and acceptable $600.