NIKKOR Z 24-70mm F/2.8 S Lens - Nikon's New Standard Zoom

Nikon’s Z Roadmap

At CES 2019, Nikon showed the lens roadmap for Nikon Z-mount full frame mirrorless cameras. There should be a total of 23 Z-mount lenses until 2021.

The NIKKOR Z 24-70 f/2.8 S is the 5th Z lens by Nikon, but it’s the first f/2.8 constant aperture zoom. This lens fits perfectly between the 14-30 f/4, 24-70 f/4 and the 70-200 f/2.8 that should come out later this year.

Like Nikon’s F-mount 24-70 f2.8 lens, I hope that this will be an excellent all-around Z lens. You should be able to use it in nearly every shooting scenario, from documentaries, event, wedding, run-n-gun and so on: it should get the job done.

Technical Specifications

The NIKKOR Z 24-70 f/2.8 S is the first lens to feature Nikon’s new ARNEO coating. It’s a new type of treatment on top of the Nano Crystal Coat to help reduce flare and ghosting.

Also, it’s a pretty light piece of glass, weighing just 805g. Quite impressive, considering the lens features 17 elements in 15 groups. The 9-blade aperture should provide a pleasing bokeh.

The lens is also the first NIKKOR Z lens to feature a dedicated manual focus ring in addition to the customizable control ring and the zoom ring. The control ring can be customized in the camera to adjust various settings. For example, you can set it to change the aperture, the ISO, the white balance or the exposure compensation.

It has an internal focusing system and a new STM motor for fast and quiet autofocus. Even more, a new Multi-Focus System is built-in that can “move two focus groups at once, enabling the lens to achieve critical focus rapidly from nearly any distance”, Nikon says.

The minimum focus distance is 38cm and the lens front diameter is 82mm. If you like to shoot in wet/dirty environments (or simply have to) – the lens is weather sealed.

The OLED display

Furthermore, at the bottom of the lens there is a Function (L-Fn) button, plus an OLED info display. This OLED display is the Organic EL Lens Information Panel. It displays useful settings – that you can change by pressing the DISP button next to it – such as focus distance, depth-of-field, aperture, and focal length.

The Function (L-Fn) button, like the customizable control ring, can be set to adjust over 20 custom functions.

Pricing and Availability

When buying the NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens, you also get the lens hood, front/back cap, and a soft pouch. The lens is available for pre-order and is not cheap at $2299.95 compared to the NIKKOR Z 24-70 f/4 S that costs $999.95. It should be available at the end of April 2019.

What do you think of this new NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S? Would you consider buying it instead of the f/4 version? Let us know in the comments down below!