The July 1, 2025 Nikon Z8 firmware upgrade to version 3.0 has a very nice feature addition for manual focus. This feature works for both AF lenses using manual focus and totally-manual focus lenses with no ‘smarts’. It really helps you nail focus by letting you zoom in exactly where you want it to. Eye detection using manual focus   The feature called “MF subject detection area”, in the “Photo Shooting” menu, is half of this new focus-assist option. It lets you choose between 3 area types, “All”, “Wide(L)”, and “Wide(S)”, in addition to the default “Off”.   If your subject is outside of the selected “detection area”, you of course won’t get any subject detection. Subject detection area in manual focus 3 subject detection area choices       The other half of this new feature is the “AF/MF subject detection options”, which is right above the “MF subject detection area” option. It used to only work for auto-focus mode, and has the same options for subjects that it previously had. Manual-focus subject detect now available Select the same subject types that auto-focus has     To actually take advantage of the new subject detection area feature, you also need to use the display zooming feature. When you zoom, it automatically zooms with the detected subject centered in the zoom. Speaking of the display zoom, the new 3.0 firmware now allows you to zoom all the way to 400%, instead of the previous maximum of 200%.   I have assigned the “Fn2” function button to have “Zoom on/off” via the “Custom Controls (shooting)” menu. This allows me to toggle the zoom feature on and off with the press of a button, where I’m already centered on the detected subject (usually the near eye of a person or animal). Get ready to assign a button for zooming Selecting the “Fn2” button for zooming Select Zoom on/off toggle for the Fn2 button Select the zoom magnification, up to 400%     The display looks a bit different, depending upon using a fully manual “dumb” lens or a “smart” lens that you want to manually focus. In either case, subject detection still works as long as you are looking at a suitable subject. A “dumb” manual-focus lens programmed for birds     Note in the shot above that the subject detection found the eye. I used focus-peaking to get a rough idea of where to focus. By the way, when I switched from “bird” to “auto” subject detection, the camera would no longer automatically detect the eye. The subject-detection box is white with this “dumb” lens. Press the “Fn2” button to zoom in   By pressing the assigned “Fn2” button, the viewfinder zoomed in, centered on the 'subject-detect box' over the eye, which was automatically placed by the subject detection. I could now work on adjusting manual focus with a lot more confidence.   After adjusting focus, I just press the “Fn2” button again to see the whole frame. This ability to toggle between a magnified and full view of the frame is really golden, especially when it zooms in exactly where the subject detection box is presently located. A “smart” auto-focus lens using the manual-focus ring     When switching to a smart lens (the Nikkor 28-400 Z lens), the display shows the little grey box where the subject’s eye was detected. The red square shows where I had placed the focus point (which is ignored during manual focus). When I press the “Fn2” button to zoom, it centers the display on the grey box and not  the red focus point. The magnified view zooms in exactly where I want     I still  need to have the “Focus peaking display” active, via the “Custom Settings Menu”. I almost always use the “low” sensitivity, which has the value “1”. This is also the “accurate” sensitivity, versus being somewhere in the vicinity of “in focus” with the “high sensitivity” setting.   Focus peaking disappears when you activate the zoom feature, but at least it will allow you to quickly get to the “pretty close” focus zone.   Unfortunately, the focus point still  never turns color from red to green when you manually achieve focus on the subject under the focus point, which is why focus-peaking should always be active.   Summary   The new subject-detection feature is invaluable for critical manual focus. I wish that there was an “in-focus” indicator that was tied to the subject-detect grey/white box as well, but I’m just being a bit ungrateful. Thank you, Nikon, for this new Version 3.0 firmware feature that you didn't have to give us.

It’s difficult to appreciate just how complex modern zoom lenses are. In this article, I’ll try to show some of the amazing technology and complexity that is built into a typical Nikon zoom lens.   I disassembled the Nikkor 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S ED VR DX lens into its basic components. This lens has very complex glass elements inside it, and these elements have to shift in a very complicated way relative to each other while zooming.   There are also some electrical aspects to zooming, which are there to provide feedback (saved into the photograph EXIF data) about the focal length. Nikkor 55-300 mounted on Nikon Z9 with FTZ-II adapter The 55-300 lens elements, courtesy of Nikon   This lens has 17 different lens elements. For zooming purposes, the elements are housed into 4 different groups. You might think that just the front group of glass moves during zooming, but that’s not even close to what actually happens. The front of the lens, which ‘telescopes’ during zooming   The shot above shows the front section of the lens, which moves away from the camera when zooming to longer focal lengths. 4 main groups of optics   Note that the optics group that’s second from the right above. This group also contains the lens aperture (on its left end) and the vibration-control mechanism (on its right end).   The (left side above) front group has 3 lens elements. The next group behind the front group also has 3 lens elements. The group that includes the VR control and aperture has 7 elements, and the group nearest the lens mount has 4 elements.   As you’ll see, these 4 groups are moved separately from each other during zooming, which alters the relative spacing of each group. The lens front spiral guides   Just inside of the lens front is a cylinder with spiral ridges and grooves. The interior portion of the lens front has cams that move along these grooves when twisting the zoom ring. The first 3 lens elements, which include the exterior front lens element, move together when the lens front moves along these grooves.   The spiral ridges keep the lens front stable and wobble-free, while maintaining a minimum of friction with only a small area of actual surface contact. These ridges are coated in a high-quality grease to further reduce friction.   Note the second group of optics is visible at the top of this module. This optics group movement is controlled separately from the front-most optics group. The lens front spiral guides viewed from behind Lens front spiral guides separated from ‘middle’ zoom sleeve.   Shown above, the front spiral guide sleeve has been turned upside-down and separated from the ‘middle’ zoom sleeve. The middle zoom sleeve shows both a white roller-cam and a black roller-cam in its grooves. These white and black cams move along very complicated grooves, which adjust two separate sets of optical groups.   The shapes of these grooves accommodate the very complex relationship between the optics groups that control the focal length. The spacing between these optics changes at a very un-even pace while zooming. There are actually 3 separate sets of grooves with their independent path shapes. The grooves are machined in triplicate around the sleeve, to provide an even load distribution.       The optics shown on the left-hand side above represent the third optical group. This group is mounted inside the vibration-control module. This same group has the aperture blades mounted at the opposite end. Cams at right-hand side of the grooves   At the zoom position shown above, the optics are at their deepest inside the inner zoom sleeve. The inner zoom sleeve has straight slots in it, and the optics are sitting at the bottom of these slots. This would be the 300mm zoom position. Cams at left-hand side of the grooves   At the zoom position shown above, the optics are at their farthest outside of the inner zoom sleeve, at the top of the inner sleeve’s straight slots. This would be the 55mm zoom position. Side view at mid-zoom position   Note in the shot above that the cams move along straight grooves on the inner sleeve. This moves the optics while keeping them parallel to the camera sensor. The sleeves are coated in grease to reduce the sliding friction. Side view, near the 55mm zoom position Zoom sleeves with optics removed Middle zoom sleeve by itself   Imagine the insane mathematics that goes into these path shapes. Modern optics design is incredibly complicated. Inner zoom sleeve with its straight slots   The cams slide in these slots to push the optics groups forward and backward to adjust the focal length. It’s all coated in messy grease. Who would have expected so much grease inside a lens? Zoom sleeves with optics and cams     Focus SWM stepping motor for autofocus   Just below the SWM motor, with its green teeth, is the gear train that the motor spins to adjust focus. This little motor is only 12 millimeters in diameter, yet it has the power and accuracy to obtain and track focus with very little battery drain. Only the 7-element group of optics gets moved to obtain focus. The front and rear optics groups don't move during focusing. This is what they mean by an "internal focusing" lens.     Focal Length Detection Electrical conductors for focal length detection   The picture above shows 5 rows of gold conductors. 4 of these rows are segmented into an uneven pattern. These rows are the mechanism for how to determine the “Focal Length” setting, which gets saved into the photograph EXIF data.   When you zoom, little conductive ‘fingers’ get dragged along these rows. Depending upon the zoom setting, some fingers will complete a circuit, and some fingers won’t. The 5th (bottom) row is just an electrical ground to complete the circuit.   The vertical positioning of the gaps in the top 4 rows represents bits. With one set of fingers dragging across these rows, you would then get 4-bit data. With 4 bits of data available, this lens can indicate up to 16 different focal lengths.   By the way, there’s a similar circuit for determining the focus distance, but there are 4 rows of gold conductors instead of 5 rows. This gives 3-bit data, or 8 different focus distances saved into the EXIF data. The last row, similar to the focal length circuit, is just an electrical ground.     Summary   There’s a lot more going on inside a zoom lens than most people could appreciate. I hope this little tour helped clear up some of mystery of those inner workings.

This lens has the worst technical specifications of any lens I have ever owned. It has produced some of my favorite nighttime images. The TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95 leaves me perplexed. Photographers are supposed to purchase lenses based upon the best combination of technical specifications and price, unless you’re wealthy enough to just go by the specs. Sometimes, what a lens can produce cannot be defined by specifications.   I really, really like the look of the shots that I make at night with this TTArtisan. Nothing is needle sharp, but I find myself not caring about that. I do, as with all of my lenses, use the Topaz DeNoise AI software on the raw shots.   This lens is specified as ‘DX’, but I always shoot it as full-frame FX instead. Sometimes I crop the shot, but usually I don’t. It has the Nikon Z mount, and I shoot it with either my Nikon Z9 or Z8 camera. None  of the shots in this article are cropped from the FX frame.   Since this lens has no electronics, I have to program my camera to use it as “non-CPU”. This lets my camera get proper exposure, but it also lets the IBIS system work correctly by knowing the focal length. This is probably what I hate most about this lens; I wish it had at least some 'smarts'.   I almost never use any aperture except f/0.95. It’s the reason that this lens exists, really. 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/3s ISO 8000 EV -4.9, Nikon Z8   I depend upon my camera IBIS system for vibration removal, and I’m able to easily take sharp shots down to around 1/3 second shutter speed. In the shot above, it was so dark that I could barely see anything until I looked through my viewfinder. I should probably use my Nikon Z9 instead of the Z8, since the Z9 has extra weight and therefore more inertia for those really slow shutter speeds.   I use the ‘low sensitivity’ setting on my camera “Focus Peaking” while I manually focus, which makes it really fast and accurate. If I owned the $8000 58mm f/0.95 Nikkor Noct lens, I do exactly the same thing, since it's manual focus, too. Lens field curvature is terrible outside of the DX area   The FX-format frame sides go kind of crazy with focus. A perfect lens would show a straight horizontal band in the shot above, instead of having sharp focus curve away from the camera. This is the main reason that TTArtisan calls this lens ‘DX’ instead of ‘FX’. I did crop the top and bottom of this shot, but the sides are full FX frame. I made this shot using the Photoshop Filter |Stylize|Find Edges  feature, shooting a flat lawn.   This lens also has a fair amount of barrel distortion, but if that bothers you, it’s easy enough to fix in an editor. The lens aperture ring produces very subtle clicks at each half-stop, but you generally need to look at the aperture scale to set it. This isn’t a problem for me, since I leave it parked at f/0.95, but many people would find it irritating. Coma is terrible on frame edges. f/0.95 shot.   Lens coma gets really bad outside of the DX frame. This wouldn’t be your first choice for star shots. 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8   I wrote a technical article on this lens, which is located here 50mm f/0.95 1/200s ISO 6400, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/50s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8 50mm f/0.95 1/80s ISO 8000, Nikon Z8   This lens is small and light enough that it’s easy to take it along on photo adventures with my other gear. If I don’t see any subjects that seem suitable, it’s no big deal. But I’m rarely disappointed with how this lens renders the right kind of subject. It’s hard to believe that a cheap lens with such terrible specifications can consistently produce pictures that have such an elegant look to them. It’s not technical, but this lens has, as the French would say, Savoir-faire .

Most modern autofocus lenses use stepping motors. Canon calls them “USM”, which is short for “piezoelectric ultrasonic motor”. Nikon calls them “STM” and “SWM”, while Pentax calls them “SDM”.   In 1961, Bulova watches invented the “tuning fork”, utilizing the piezoelectric effect for accurate timekeeping. Although interesting, nobody else had any ideas for using this microscopic vibration for anything useful.   H.V. Barth in 1973 proposed the theory of creating ultrasonic vibrations for motor applications, but didn’t do anything with the idea. In 1982, Toshiiku Sashida utilized the standing wave vibrations of ultrasonic piezoelectric motors for rotational motion. In 1985, Canon used Sashida’s technology to make their USM lenses, starting with their EF 300mm f/2.8. Good idea.   Piezoelectric motors are great for camera lenses, because they create high torque, they have great positional accuracy, and they’re energy-efficient and quiet. After Canon's 300mm lens came out, all of their competitors started paying attention.   The basis of the stepping motor operation is the piezoelectric crystal. This material expands when a voltage is applied across it. When the voltage is removed, the crystal returns to its original shape. The expansion is very tiny, but it’s enough to allow the crystal to push against another object and move it slightly.   Piezoelectric crystals can expand and contract very quickly, and they don’t waste much energy while doing so, either. This means that you can drive these crystals for a long time on a battery charge. It’s most efficient to drive these crystals at their “natural frequency”, where they expand to their maximum amount with the least energy. The rate of applying/removing voltage is about 30,000 times per second (30 KHz) at this natural frequency, or “resonant frequency”. The crystals only expand by something like 0.1% of their original dimensions, so they have to be very  close to the part that they push against. Each little push is a ‘step’, which is where these stepping motors get their name.   The ultrasonic motors are ring-shaped, with the crystals placed side-by-side around the ring (typically called ‘teeth’). Voltage is progressively applied/removed moving around this ring of crystals, creating what’s called a “standing wave”. This wave can be envisioned like an ocean wave that pushes a surf board along. In this case, the surf board is replaced with the moving ring of the stepping motor, whose rotary motion causes lens elements to move back and forth very quickly and accurately. These motors can run about 480 degrees/second (Canon specifications) with high torque, so they can focus a lens very quickly.   Many piezoelectric ultrasonic motors are connected to gears, instead of the large and expensive ring motors. These motors are very tiny and cheaper to make than the ring type. A Nikon SWM motor that drives gears for focus   In the shot above, the Nikon SWM autofocus motor uses the green stator to push against the silver-colored rotor to rotate a shaft connected to a gear train. The gears move a lens element group forward and backward along the lens axis to achieve autofocus. The green teeth in the stator of this motor are a piezoelectric material. This particular stator is 12 millimeters in diameter. The Nikon SWM motor and gear module How the motor drives the focus action in a Nikon SWM lens Canon ring drive USM stator Canon ring drive USM rotor Canon USM piezoelectric motor     I read an article by Douglas Kerr here  where he made a very useful diagram of the principle of how a USM motor works. The diagram below shows the expansion/contraction of the motor “stator” ring, which is the part that doesn’t actually rotate. The stator presses against the motor’s “rotor”, which is the part that spins around the stator. In the diagram, the rings are spread out flat, instead of being in a ring, or doughnut shape. Only the expanded part of the stator touches the rotor, while voltage is applied to that portion of the stator. How a piezo stator ‘tooth’ moves in time   In Douglas’ diagram above, the voltage progresses around the motor ring through the stator in an “electrical wave”, moving left to right. The piezoelectric material expands and then retracts in a wave motion, moving from left-to-right following the voltage. If you look at the highlighted green “tooth” on the stator, it moves upward and towards the left (steps 1-3). As the voltage is reduced, the tooth retracts from the stator and back to the right until it points vertically at rest (steps 4-5). The next wave of voltage starts the next expansion.   Due to the tooth’s motion while pressing against the stator, the rotor moves to the left, or in the opposite  direction from the wave induced in the stator.   The voltage can be applied in a wave in the opposite direction, which drives the motor motion in the opposite direction.   Each little tooth tip on the stator moves in basically an elliptical motion in response to the voltage wave. In the above diagram, it moves leftward while expanding and in contact with the rotor and then rightward while retracting and no longer in contact with the rotor. The net result is a leftward push on the rotor. Reversing the voltage wave direction will then reverse the motor’s rotor direction.   The motor’s rotor ring is a bit springy, so that the stator teeth don’t chew it up. As you might expect, there lots of little mechanical details that make the motor work reliably over many years without any maintenance required.   There are also several electrical details not covered here. For instance, the piezoelectric elements respond a little differently according to the ambient temperature and their variation in physical dimensions. Real motors have separate “reference” piezoelectric elements that are used in a feedback control system to adjust the controlling voltage frequency. Life’s complicated.   Toshiiku Sashida was one brilliant individual to have the vision to make these motors from the information he had to work with. Photography wouldn’t be where it is without him.

Not all photo editors are created equal. Also, no single photo editor seems to be the best at every type of editing operation. One crucial editor feature is the ability to correct (or minimize) lateral chromatic aberration, or color fringing. Some lenses really  need help with this fix, while others may not need it at all.   If you’re interested in finding out which of your editors works best to fix color fringing (at least for any particular lens), I’m going to show you a way to physically measure the results. I'll also show you how to know if you even need to bother fixing it.   I use the free MTFMapper  program to measure lateral chromatic aberration, or color fringing. This free program also offers files that can be used to print test charts. To measure color fringing, you first need to print, mount, and then photograph the test chart. In the MTFMapper  program, you need to go into its Settings | Preferences  dialog to make sure that “Chromatic Aberration” is selected.  I prefer to get measurements in units of “microns”, since that’s an absolute unit. You need to specify your camera sensor “ Pixel Size ” to get readings in microns, which is also set in the same Preferences dialog. My Nikon Z9 camera, for instance, has square pixels that are 4.35 microns.   To get meaningful measurements, you need to take your photographs in RAW format. You might need to convert your raw photos into DNG format (still a raw format) if the MTFMapper  program doesn’t accept your camera’s native raw format. The free Adobe DNG Converter  program can be used for this purpose.   Bear in mind that any color fringing measurements that are less than a camera pixel in size are basically invisible. For my Nikon Z9, this means that measurements less than around 4 or 5 microns indicate you won’t see any color fringing in the photo. Chromatic Aberration measurement of lens     The plot shown above shows the results of shooting a test chart at 28mm, f/4 using my 28-400mm zoom. Two different plots are created, showing red-versus-green pixel color shifts and blue-versus-green pixel color shifts. This plot was made from a raw-format photograph, which doesn’t contain any sort of modifications from an editor.   Since the color shifts are beyond 5 microns, which are bigger than a single sensor pixel, then repairing the color shifts with an editor will be worthwhile. Test chart used get measurements   The chart shown above was used to conduct the testing. This chart was printed big (40” X 56”) or (102cm X 142cm) to get more realistic results, but smaller charts can still work. I shot the chart in outdoor lighting conditions. Different lighting conditions can affect the measurement results. Capture One 2023  editor   I have shown above a pair of editor adjustments I made, while editing the raw-format photograph of the test chart in Capture One . Before I can measure how effective these edits are, I need to save the adjustments into a TIFF-format file. This format will have the changes embedded into the file. Export the Capture One  edits into a TIFF file Capture One  TIFF test chart plot   Shown above is the analysis of the exported TIFF file. The MTFMapper program understands TIFF format, too. This file has the color fringing edits embedded in it, so it can used to see how effective this editor is. Compared to the un-edited raw file, the color fringing has been reduced by about 50%.   Next, I’m going to try editing the raw-format file in another editor, to compare how well it can rid the color fringing. ON1 Photo RAW 2023  editor   I used the “Color Fringe” adjustment in the ON1 Photo RAW 2023 editor. I’m starting with the very same raw-format photo that I used in the previous Capture One  editor. Export the edits into a TIFF file from ON1 ON1 Photo Raw 2023  TIFF test chart plot   Compared to the un-edited raw file, the color fringing has only marginally been reduced. It will still be visible in some photographs. Lightroom  editor   I used the “ Remove Chromatic Aberration ” adjustment in the Lightroom editor. I’m starting with the very same raw-format photo that I used in the Capture One  editor. I also selected the Built-in  lens profile. Export the edited file as TIFF from Lightroom Lightroom TIFF test chart plot   Compared to the un-edited raw file, the color fringing was nearly eliminated. Any remaining fringing probably wouldn’t be visible in the photgraph. Zoner Photo Studio  editor   I used the “ Chromatic Aberration ”, Blue-yellow slider adjustment in the Zoner Photo Studio RAW editor. I’m starting with the very same raw-format photo that I used in the Capture One  editor. Save the edited file as TIFF from Zoner Photo Studio Zoner Photo Studio TIFF test chart plot   Compared to the un-edited raw file, the color fringing was nearly eliminated. Any remaining fringing wouldn’t be noticed in the photograph.     Summary   Note that different editors might work better with other lenses or even other focal lengths. You won’t know unless you try. The goal is to reduce lateral chromatic aberration below the pixel dimensions of your camera’s sensor, where it will no longer be noticed.

A ‘parfocal’ lens is a lens that doesn’t change focus as you zoom it. I have performed a very detailed analysis of this lens at focal lengths ranging from 400mm down to 50mm. I did a much less formal analysis all the way down to 28mm.   I will show you crops of photographs ranging from a distance of 6 feet out to 24 feet at various focal lengths to evaluate how focus is maintained. In each test, I would focus the lens at 400mm, and then take photos at 400mm, 200mm, 105mm, and 50mm without re-focusing at the other focal lengths. Minimum focus distance of this lens is a bit under 4 feet at 400mm.   I used a “Siemens Star” as the focus target. This subject is really excellent for showing the quality of focus. I used the Nikon Z8 camera for all testing, which was mounted on a tripod. I take the photos using a wired remote release to eliminate any vibrations.   As an aside, I have done an overall analysis of this lens here . This article is meant to provide some proof about the claims that I made in that overall analysis article. 400mm, 6 feet, Siemens Star. Set focus here. 200mm, 6 feet, Siemens Star: NO re-focus 105mm, 6 feet, Siemens Star: NO re-focus 50mm, 6 feet, Siemens Star: NO re-focus 400mm, 24 feet, Siemens Star. Set focus here. 200mm, 24 feet, Siemens Star NO re-focus 105mm, 24 feet, Siemens Star NO re-focus 50mm, 24 feet, Siemens Star NO re-focus   The Siemens target is really, really small in the frame at this distance for the 50mm focal length. Any sharpness loss here is due to the small target becoming insignificant in the overall frame. Full frame of 50mm at 24 feet. Target is tiny .     Summary   Focus remained unchanged as I zoomed this lens, making it essentially parfocal. I stopped tests at focal lengths below 50mm, because the target Siemens Star was too small in the field of view. This Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens has an enormous zoom range of 14.3X.   In case you were wondering, yes, it stays in focus all the way down to 28mm. I did separate testing outdoors of a tree at 400 feet, and the branches were sharp at 28mm after focusing at 400mm. The 28mm aperture was f/4, while the 400mm aperture was f/8.

As of this writing, Nikon’s longest super-zoom for their FX format is this bad boy. The 14.3X zoom range of the 28-400 lens is just extraordinary. You would expect this lens’ resolution would range from weak to weaker, but you’d be wrong. I have been shooting with this lens for months now. The more I use it, the better I like it. 28-400 f/4-8 VR Lens at 400mm with bayonet hood   This is my new do-everything lens. Nikon’s Z-mount lenses, with the exception of a couple of their mega-expensive F-mount super-telephotos, consistently out-perform their F-mount counterparts. This lens’ nearest F-mount counterpart would be the 28-300mm lens. This 28-400mm lens smokes it in all regards except the aperture brightness. 28-400 f/4-8 VR Lens at 28mm 28-400 f/4-8 VR Lens at 400mm     The 28-400 is remarkably small and light, when you consider that it can zoom to 400mm. I can hike all day with this lens without having to suffer; it fits neatly into a small daypack. The exterior is made of the same high-performance plastics that most of Nikon’s Z lenses have. It’s weather and dust resistant, too.   I measured the field of view at 28mm, and got 65.5 degrees versus ideal 65.35 degrees. Very good. I measure the field of view across the horizontal frame.   I measured the field of view at 400mm at 5.27 degrees versus ideal of 5.2 degrees. You’re getting a true 400mm.   Specifications ·      Weight: 1.6 lbs., 725g. Incredibly light for 400mm ·      Single stepping motor (STM)  for internal autofocus (nearly silent, but not particularly fast) ·      77mm filter threads ·      NO fluorine coating on the lens front. Doesn’t  repel dust and dirt. Excellent flare resistance ·      9 rounded blades, electronic aperture (circular out-of-focus lights, except frame edges) ·      4 ED glass, 3 aspherics ·      Total lens elements: 21, 15 groups ·      Variable-aperture f/4-8 ·      NO lens function buttons or function rings ·      VR: yes, but no external switch. Rated to 5.5 stops (verified 1/10s shutter at 400mm!) ·      Manual focus ring nearest camera ·      Zoom ring rotation range 90 degrees, short but smooth ·      Metal lens mount, high-quality plastic exterior ·      Moisture/Dust sealed ·      Minimum focus: 18.7cm/7.4" at 28mm: (0.37X), 1.2m/3.9 ft. at 400mm  (0.32X) near-macro! ·      Length: 14cm (5.6") at 28mm, 24cm (9.4") at 400mm, diameter 85mm ·      HB-114 plastic rectangular bayonet lens hood ·      Cheap lens pouch without any drawstring: insulting ·      Zoom lock switch at 28mm     Nikon’s Lens Design   This is the official lens element design, taken from the Nikon website. Lots of glass. Macro 400mm f/8 1/1600s ISO 640   You can pretty much use this lens for macro! Huge working distance at 400mm focus down to 1.2m/3.9 feet, providing 0.32X magnification, or 112mm horizontal field of view. Depth of focus is narrow at 400mm, however.   Although you get up to 0.37X magnification at 28mm, the working distance between the lens hood and subject is only about ¼ inch (6mm)! I measured 97mm horizontal field of view at 28mm. Nearly useless for close-ups at this focal length. Focus Speed I measured 0.72 seconds in bright light to focus from 4.2 feet to infinity. The Nikon Z8 was used for speed testing. This is good enough for most moving subjects. It’s much slower in dim lighting, of course.   In dim light, I encountered slight inconsistent critical focus. The net result was that the resolution would often drop slightly in deep shade or indoors. Aperture Ranges 28mm f/4 to f/22 35mm f/4.5 50mm f/5.6 70mm f/6.0 105mm f/6.3 200mm – 400mm f/8 to f/45 Parfocal   Parfocal means that the focus doesn’t change while zooming. This lens was verified to be essentially parfocal all the way from 28mm through 400mm! I’m working on a separate article on this subject, where I will go into much more detail.   Field Curvature   Based upon observing focus peaking of subjects like flat lawns  with fresh-cut grass, I’m not seeing any appreciable curvature of field at any focal length.     Chromatic Aberration   Refer to this article  for a detailed analysis of both lateral chromatic aberration (CA) and longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCA). Most photo editors can readily remove the CA, even though this lens definitely has lateral chromatic aberration. Vibration Reduction I was able to actually get a sharp photo at 1/10 second at 400mm hand-held, which is 5.5 stops.  I used the Nikon Z8 with ‘Normal’ VR setting. Set VR via the “Photo Shooting”, “Vibration Reduction” menu, since there’s no lens switch. Your results will vary, depending upon how steady you are. I photographed a Siemen’s star, which readily shows any subject motion or focus problems. 400mm 1/10s f/8 ISO 400 VR: ‘Normal’ Nikon Z8     Distortion Normally, your photo editor will automatically use the embedded lens-correction information and eliminate both distortion and vignetting.   Distortion is only noticeable at short focal lengths, and it is worst at 28mm, assuming you don’t allow your editor to fix it. Un-corrected distortion and vignetting at 28mm. MTF50 chart.   If you check out the MTF50 lp/mm measurements in the test chart shot above, you will see that the resolution is quite impressive. The barrel distortion (worst at 28mm) disappears with most editors using the embedded file distortion correction data. This 28mm f/4 shot demonstrates the worst-case uncorrected vignetting, too. Flare and Ghosting    There are minimal problems with in-frame lights or the sun messing up the shots. The very small amount of flare it shows is nearly ignorable.   Coma   Shooting stars at 28mm, I couldn’t see any coma at all. Stars in the frame corners underscored the need to use an editor to rid lateral chromatic aberration, however. 28mm f/4 15s: right side shows frame corner at pixel-level Infrared 850nm Infrared 28mm f/4   I was amazed to see that I could shoot infrared without a blazing hot spot in the center of the image. I thought that 21 elements in the lens would be a disaster for infrared. I tested at very long-wavelength infrared, which always shows more issues than shorter wavelengths. 14.3X Zoom 28mm left, 400mm right. 14.3X zoom is outrageous!    Despite the huge zoom and double-telescoping design, this lens has sucked in zero dust. They must have really good internal air filters. The red rectangle in the 28mm shot, showing what the 400mm view contains, doesn't look like there's anything there besides some vegetation. Resolution   Refer to this article  for detailed resolution information. It’s not quite as good as their ‘S’ line of lenses, but I think that the results are quite impressive for a super-zoom.   Here’s a quick summary of the peak MTF50 measured sharpness for the center ( C ) and edge ( E ) at the widest aperture:   28mm C : 73.3 lp/mm, 3504 l/ph. E : 65.4 lp/mm, 3126 l/ph 35mm   C : 69.3 lp/mm, 3313 l/ph.   E : 43.1 lp/mm, 2060 l/ph 50mm   C : 61.5 lp/mm, 2940 l/ph.   E : 35.5 lp/mm, 1697 l/ph 70mm   C : 63.5 lp/mm, 3035 l/ph.   E : 34.8 lp/mm, 1663 l/ph 105mm C : 58.8 lp/mm, 3504 l/ph. E : 39.1 lp/mm, 1869 l/ph 200mm C : 52.9 lp/mm, 3504 l/ph. E : 46.9 lp/mm, 2242 l/ph 300mm C : 52.0 lp/mm, 3504 l/ph. E : 46.1 lp/mm, 2204 l/ph 400mm C : 53.7 lp/mm, 3504 l/ph. E : 47.2 lp/mm, 2256 l/ph   The edges, at focal lengths beyond 28mm, are a bit weak. They’re still acceptable, though. My own benchmark of “unacceptable” is an MTF50 below 30 lp/mm.     Bokeh and Focus Depth 28mm f/4, 180mm f/7.6, 400mm f/8     You do need to get closer to your subject to get those out-of-focus backgrounds, due to the narrow aperture. The quality of the bokeh is “medium”, in my opinion. The bokeh is not objectionable, but most pro glass will do better.   Samples 400mm f/8 ISO 1000 1/3200s 62mm f/6.0, focus stack with Helicon Focus 400mm f/8 1/1600s ISO 4500 400mm f/8 1/1600s ISO 1800     Summary This is as close to a “do everything” lens as you can find. I’ve lost count of how many times I had the wrong lens on my camera when I spotted an unexpected subject, but this lens cures that issue.   When I’m on a long hike, weight and size are a big issue. This lens solves those problems. I really hate changing lenses out in the dusty wilderness or when it’s windy anywhere; this lens enables me to leave it on the camera full-time.   The loss in resolution, compared to my ‘pro’ lenses, is so slight that I rarely give it a thought. In controlled conditions, I will still go for my professional glass, but for long trips where luggage space is at a premium or going on challenging hikes this lens is what I will pack. It’s better than I had anticipated how it would perform. I’d recommend that you use a product like my favorite ‘ Topaz DeNoise ’ to handle the slight sharpness loss and extra image noise from needing higher ISO’s. Brighter apertures would be nice, but that directly correlates with weight and size.   Due to the dual-telescoping design, I’d recommend that you be careful about too much rough handling of this lens. I haven’t had any problems with the minor abuse this lens has seen, but I think it is probably more vulnerable than most lenses.   Before Nikon made its current generation of mirrorless cameras, this lens would have been a no-go. Using f/8 at longer focal lengths used to be too frustrating for autofocus, but that’s no longer a problem in most conditions. Less subject isolation isn’t ideal, but it isn’t a problem for most of my shots.   My Nikkor Z 24-120 f/4S is better than this 28-400 lens in every category EXCEPT the ability to zoom out to 400mm and VR. For me, 400mm versus 120mm happens to be a huge exception and is the reason I got the 28-400. Everybody has their own photographic priorities, and I just hate it when I don’t have the option of having a long focal length available.   I sure wish this lens had a fluorine-coated front element, but Nikon decided to save the money. They sure saved money on the lens case. But I suppose I’m just nit-picking. Life is all about compromises.

This is a very detailed chromatic aberration analysis of Nikon’s 28-400 Z-mount zoom lens. I will show how this lens responds to both the lateral and longitudinal directions. I will also show you a comparison of a few different photo editors for fixing it.   I use the MTFMapper program to analyze lenses. It can provide resolution, focus, and chromatic aberration information. There are different test charts that must be used for analysis, according to the measurements being taken.   Lateral chromatic aberration ( CA ) is the phenomenon of how different colors of light get spread out parallel to the camera sensor. This aberration is often referred to as “purple fringing”. The effects of this problem are most easily seen at the edges of photographs. Most photo editors are quite good at minimizing this lens defect, but be aware that some editors are better than others.   Longitudinal chromatic aberration ( LoCA ) is the phenomenon of how different colors of light get focused at different distances from the plane of the camera sensor. This defect is perpendicular to lateral chromatic aberration. LoCA effects are seen equally all across the photograph. Photo editors have a much harder time correcting this defect. Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens on Nikon Z8 camera Lateral chromatic aberration Longitudinal chromatic aberration   Lateral Chromatic Aberration   Lateral chromatic aberration values that are less than a single camera sensor pixel in width are essentially invisible. The Nikon Z8 and Z9 cameras used in this article have pixels that are 4.35 microns.   I use ‘microns’ in the following measurements, in order to make a generic result. The micron measurements need to be divided by the camera sensor pixel width (or height) to convert the measurement into ‘pixels’.   The aberration values don’t change much at different apertures, but tend to be a bit worse at the maximum aperture (minimum numeric aperture). My testing was done at the maximum aperture. 28mm, 35mm, 50mm lateral chromatic aberration   The 28mm worst result (Blue/Green) is 10 microns, or about 2.3 pixels. This was measured at f/4.0 (wide open), which yields the most severe shift.   The 35mm f/4.5 (wide open) (Blue/Green) maximum is 16 microns, or 3.7 pixels.   The 50mm f/5.6 (wide open) (Blue/Green) result is 15 microns, or 3.4 pixels. 70mm, 105mm, 200mm lateral chromatic aberration   The 70mm worst result (Blue/Green) is 11 microns, or about 2.5 pixels. This was measured at f/6.0 (wide open), which yields the most severe shift.   The 105mm f/6.3 (wide open) (Blue/Green) maximum is 6.5 microns, or 1.5 pixels.   The 200mm f/8.0 (wide open) (Red/Green) result is 5.5 microns, or 1.3 pixels. 300mm, 400mm lateral chromatic aberration   The 300mm worst result (Red/Green) is 6.5 microns, or about 1.5 pixels. This was measured at f/8.0 (wide open), which yields the most severe shift.   The 400mm f/8 (wide open) (Red/Green) maximum is 10 microns, or 2.3 pixels.        Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration   A special focus chart that is rotated 45 degrees about the vertical is used to get LoCA information.  The right-hand side of the chart is nearest the camera. The chart itself is distorted, with the left side being taller than the right side. When photographed, the lens distortion tends to make the rotated chart details appear more equal in height across its width. 33mm f/4.2 Red, Green, Blue (left, center, right) focus shift   The chart center is 66cm from the camera sensor. The red and green channels are almost perfectly aligned, while the blue channel focused farther away.   Red-to-Green shift = 1.2mm Green-to-Blue shift = 10.8mm 89mm f/6.3 Red, Green, Blue (left, center, right) focus shift   The chart center is 122cm from the camera sensor. The red and green channels are almost perfectly aligned, while the blue channel focused farther away.   Red-to-Green shift = 0.5mm Green-to-Blue shift = 6.6mm 105mm f/6.7 Red, Green, Blue (left, center, right) focus shift   The chart center is 147cm from the camera sensor. The red and green channels are almost perfectly aligned, while the blue channel focused just slightly farther away.   Red-to-Green shift = 0.3mm Green-to-Blue shift = 4.0mm 200mm f/8 Red, Green, Blue (left, center, right) focus shift   The chart center is 274cm from the camera sensor. The red channel focused closest, then green in the middle, while the blue channel focused farthest away. All channels are pretty close together, showing minimal LoCA.   Red-to-Green shift = 3.9mm Green-to-Blue shift = 3.7mm 400mm f/8 Red, Green, Blue (left, center, right) focus shift   The chart center is 437cm from the camera sensor. The LoCA characteristics have flipped ! The red channel focused farthest, then green in the middle, while the blue channel focused nearest. All channels are pretty close together, showing minimal LoCA.   Red-to-Green shift = 2.2mm Green-to-Blue shift = 6.6mm   The absolute magnitude of the focus shift values isn’t important; it depends upon the size of the test chart being used. The relative change in focus shift versus color is what counts. The focus shifts between the colors demonstrate how to evaluate the severity of the LoCA. 400mm f/8 High-contrast shot to show worst-case CA       Results   So are these measurement results good or bad? It depends on your photo editor. If you’re using the Capture One  editor, then this lens shows minor issues with lateral chromatic aberration (CA). My Lightroom  and ON1 Photo Raw editors make the CA virtually disappear.   Yes, you’ll lose a slight bit of resolution when your editor fixes significant CA, but that loss is pretty trivial for this lens.   The following photos show how the three different editors handle a shot that has a bad case of CA. In two of the editors, you wouldn’t know CA is even there. In the third editor, it’s barely noticeable. Capture One : ‘Manufacturer Profile’ provides reasonable CA correction   Trying the “ Analyze ” CA feature in Capture One , compared to the ‘ Default ’ Manufacturer Profile feature  didn’t seem to be any better. Still slight purple fringing around the feather tufts and the front of the thighs. The ‘ Chromatic Aberration ’ tool is under the “ SHAPE ” area in Capture One , for some reason.   I also used the “ Purple Fringing ” tool at 100%. This tool is located under the “ REFINE ” tool, but you can R ight- M ouse- B utton under the “ SHAPE ” area and then add it right below the “ Lens Correction ” tool, which has the Chromatic Aberration option. Similarly, you can RMB  under the REFINE tool to add the “ Lens Correction ” tool there, which makes a lot more sense to me.   The Purple Fringing option didn’t seem to make much of a difference. ON1 Photo Raw  corrected CA better than Capture One   There’s the barest hint of purple in some of the feather tufts, but most people would never notice it. ON1 Photo Raw  does an excellent job of CA removal. Lightroom  built-in lens profile eliminated  the CA!   I’m pronouncing that Lightroom , using the lens manufacturer’s embedded information, is the winner here.   With the right photo editor processing, chromatic aberration is a non-issue with this lens.

What follows is a comprehensive resolution analysis of Nikon’s 28-400 Z-mount zoom lens. Lens resolution is quite a nuanced subject. There is no such thing as “center resolution” or “edge resolution” reduced to a single number. You can’t even define ‘the’ resolution at a single point.   Resolution of optics is a three-dimensional topic, but even three dimensions aren’t sufficient to fully define resolution. To really understand how sharp a lens is, resolution measurements are divided into both sagittal and meridional directions. The sagittal direction can be described like wheel spokes, while the meridional direction is similar to the rim of a wheel. Lens resolution can also affected by the focus distance.   I use the free MTFMapper program for resolution analysis, which enables a level of thoroughness that really lets you understand the resolution characteristics of a lens. I photograph a special chart that has the fairly large dimensions of 40” X 56” (102cm X 142cm). A large chart like this enables photographing at much more realistic distances, while still providing information across the entire field of view.   My resolution photographs are made using ‘raw’ format, with no sharpening applied to them. Don’t trust any web sites that use jpeg, tiff, etc. for their resolution tests, since these formats all have some level of sharpening applied. Sharpening a photo ruins any resolution analysis of it; the measurement results become meaningless.   If you want to use the Nikon ‘high efficiency’ compressed raw formats, called ‘HE Raw’ and ‘HE* Raw’, then they will need to be converted into the DNG raw format before using MTFMapper . The Adobe DNG Converter  program used to convert raw formats into the DNG format is free and can be downloaded from the Adobe web site. DNG is an abbreviation for “digital negative”.   Beyond the lens resolution characteristics, you also have to know which camera the lens is attached to. This is because you have to know about the dimensions and pixel size of the camera sensor. For the test results that follow, I used both the Nikon Z9 and Z8 cameras which have identical sensors. The Z8/Z9 sensor is 35.9mm X 23.9mm. The number of useful pixels is 8280 X 5520 or 45.7 MP. Each pixel is 4.35 microns. This information is provided to the MTFMapper software for the resolution calculations, which I will provide in units of MTF50 lp/mm.   I like to report resolution units of MTF50 lp/mm (line pairs per millimeter), in order for people with different camera sensors to compare the results. Web sites that give resolution numbers in units such as “lines per picture height” are meaningless if you don’t know the size of the camera sensor and its pixel dimensions used to take the photographs.   I skip any measurements beyond f/16, because diffraction ruins the resolution. Use f/22 and beyond only when you don’t care about sharpness. Even f/16 is pretty bad for resolution.   Finally, I use the best results from typically10 photographs of my resolution chart at a given focal length and distance. I re-focus the lens before each chart photograph. I use a wired remote release to minimize any vibrations. No two chart photographs give exactly the same results. Additionally, I will provide the ‘peak’ resolution measurement around the frame center and edges, which could be in either the sagittal or meridional direction. For this lens, the sagittal direction is much stronger than the meridional direction.   Please bear all of these facts in mind when you review my lens resolution results. Other web sites use a different chart size, lighting, distance, camera, etc. in their resolution analysis. No two copies of a lens will yield the same results, either. Life is complicated… Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR on a Nikon Z8 camera   Note that this lens is a “double-telescoping” zoom design. It doesn’t have any ‘wiggle’ to it unless you torque on it with a fair amount of force. This design keeps the lens amazingly compact at the 28mm zoom setting. Minimum zoom setting with the bayonet lens hood attached Target chart: edges are sagittal or meridional orientation   The MTFMapper  program that I use performs resolution measurements at every single edge of every trapezoid in the chart shown above. This provides ample data for the entire field of view. The resolution mathematics doesn’t like 0, 45, or 90 degree edge orientation, which is why the chart trapezoids are oriented as they are.     Resolution Measurement Plots 28mm f/4.0 and f/5.6 MTF50   The peak 28mm f/4 center MTF50 reading is 73.3 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 65.4 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 3504 l/ph and edge 3126 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z9.   The peak 28mm f/5.6 center reading is 71.0 lp/mm (3394 l/ph), and the peak edge is 65.2 lp/mm (3117 l/ph). 28mm f/8.0 and f/11 MTF50   The peak 28mm f/8 center MTF50 reading is 62.7 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 63.2 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2997 l/ph and edge 3021 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z9.   The peak 28mm f/11.0 center reading is 53.5 lp/mm (2557 l/ph), and the peak edge is 52.2 lp/mm (2495 l/ph). 28mm f/16 MTF50   The peak 28mm f/16 center MTF50 reading is 41.5 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 40.8 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 1983 l/ph and edge 1950 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z9. 35mm f/4.5 and f/5.6 MTF50   The peak 35mm f/4.5 center MTF50 reading is 69.3 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 43.1 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 3313 l/ph and edge 2060 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z9.   The peak 35mm f/5.6 center reading is 68.9 lp/mm (3293 l/ph), and the peak edge is 52.8 lp/mm (2524 l/ph). 35mm f/8 and f/11 MTF50   The peak 35mm f/8 center MTF50 reading is 60.7 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 57.3 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2902 l/ph and edge 2739 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z9.   The peak 35mm f/11 center reading is 51.9 lp/mm (2481 l/ph), and the peak edge is 50.6 lp/mm (2419 l/ph). 35mm f/16 MTF50   The peak 35mm f/16 center MTF50 reading is 39.6 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 38.8 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 1893 l/ph and edge 1855 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z9. 50mm f/5.6 and f/8  MTF50     The peak 50mm f/5.6 center MTF50 reading is 64.8 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 38.6 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 3097 l/ph and edge 1845 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z9.   The peak 50mm f/8 center reading is 62.9 lp/mm (3007 l/ph), and the peak edge is 51.0 lp/mm (2438 l/ph). 50mm f/11 and f/16 MTF50     The peak 50mm f/11 center MTF50 reading is 53.0 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 51.0 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2533 l/ph and edge 2438 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z9.   The peak 50mm f/16 center reading is 40.8 lp/mm (1950 l/ph), and the peak edge is 40.6 lp/mm (1941 l/ph). 70mm f/6.0 and f/8 MTF50     The peak 70mm f/6.0 center MTF50 reading is 63.5 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 34.8 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 3035 l/ph and edge 1663 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z8.   The peak 70mm f/8 center reading is 62.3 lp/mm (2978 l/ph), and the peak edge is 46.9 lp/mm (2242 l/ph). 70mm f/11 and f/16 MTF50     The peak 70mm f/11 center MTF50 reading is 51.7 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 49.9 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2471 l/ph and edge 2385 l/ph resolution on the Nikon  Z8.   The peak 70mm f/16 center reading is 40.8 lp/mm (1950 l/ph), and the peak edge is 41.2 lp/mm (1969 l/ph). 105mm f/6.3 and f/8  MTF50     The peak 105mm f/6.0 center MTF50 reading is 58.8 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 39.1 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2811 l/ph and edge 1869 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z8.   The peak 105mm f/8 center reading is 59.8 lp/mm (2858 l/ph), and the peak edge is 52.5 lp/mm (2510 l/ph). 105mm f/11 and f/16  MTF50     The peak 105mm f/11 center MTF50 reading is 52.9 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 51.4 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2514 l/ph and edge 2457 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z8.   The peak 105mm f/16 center reading is 40.8 lp/mm (1950 l/ph), and the peak edge is 40.7 lp/mm (1946 l/ph). 200mm f/8 and f/11  MTF50     The peak 200mm f/8 center MTF50 reading is 52.9 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 46.9 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2529 l/ph and edge 2242 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z8.   The peak 200mm f/11 center reading is 50.5 lp/mm (2414 l/ph), and the peak edge is 51.2 lp/mm (2447 l/ph). 200mm f/16 MTF50     The peak 200mm f/16 center reading is 40.7 lp/mm (1946 l/ph), and the peak edge is 41.5 lp/mm (1984 l/ph). 300mm f/8 and f/11 MTF50     The peak 300mm f/8 center MTF50 reading is 52.0 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 46.1 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2486 l/ph and edge 2204 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z8.   The peak 300mm f/11 center reading is 47.6 lp/mm (2275 l/ph), and the peak edge is 47.2 lp/mm (2256 l/ph). 300mm f/16 MTF50     The peak 300mm f/16 center reading is 38.8 lp/mm (1855 l/ph), and the peak edge is 38.0 lp/mm (1816 l/ph). 400mm f/8 and f/11 MTF50     The peak 400mm f/8 center MTF50 reading is 53.7 lp/mm, while its peak edge reading is 47.2 lp/mm. This is equivalent to a center 2567 l/ph and edge 2256 l/ph resolution on the Nikon Z8.   The peak 400mm f/11 center reading is 48.9 lp/mm (2337 l/ph), and the peak edge is 44.2 lp/mm (2113 l/ph). 400mm f/16 MTF50     The peak 400mm f/16 center reading is 39.3 lp/mm (1879 l/ph), and the peak edge is 37.8 lp/mm (1807 l/ph). Resolution chart with overlaid resolution measurements       MTF Contrast Plots   The plots below are probably the most familiar kind of resolution-related data, although these are made from real data instead of ‘design data’. Each of these plots were made at maximum aperture. 28mm f/4.0 contrast 35mm f/4.5 contrast 50mm f/5.6 contrast 70mm f/6.0 contrast 105mm f/6.3 contrast 200mm f/8.0 contrast 300mm f/8.0 contrast 400mm f/8.0 contrast     Summary   For a ’14.3x super zoom’, these central resolutions are very, very good. The edge resolution is a bit weak. The main reason you might want to stop down the aperture is to enhance the edge resolution. Nikkor Z 28-400mm at 400mm f/8 (cropped) Sharp indeed.

The following is a compendium of all articles published at this website since its inception. This list should make it easier to locate articles of interest. The “search” widget provided by my website provider is pretty lame, in my opinion. I think that a simple list of all article titles and their links will make it much easier to locate website content of interest. Most browsers should let you use “Control-F” within this article to find specific text. The article list below is sorted by oldest first. The bottom of this website’s home page has a horizontal list of numbers to let you step through the article links sorted from newest to oldest. Options are good. 9-3-2015 Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM C Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015-9-3-sigma-150600-f563-dg-os-hsm-c-review 9-4-2015 Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AF-S Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015-9-4-nikkor-85mm-f14-afs 9-4-2015 MTF Mapper  Cliffs Notes https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015-9-5-mtf-mapper-cliffs-notes  9-5-2015 Sigma Optimization Pro  Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/09/05/sigma-optimization-pro-review 9-5-2015 Using the Exif Tool  Program https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/09/05/using-the-exiftool-program 9-5-2015 Use “FP” Mode with your Nikon Flash https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/09/05/use-fp-mode-with-your-nikon-flash 12-11-2015 Camera Upgrade Resolution Expectations https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/12/12/camera-upgrade-resolution-expectations 12-13-2015 Micro Nikkor 60mm AF-D Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/12/13/micro-nikkor-60mm-afd-review 12-18-2015 Turn off VR with high shutter speeds? https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/12/19/turn-off-vr-with-high-shutter-speeds 12-27-2015 Use your phone for a camera remote https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/12/28/use-your-phone-for-a-camera-remote 12-31-2015 Manual Exposure with External Flash https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2015/12/31/manual-exposure-with-external-flash 1-9-2016 Nikkor 18-140 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016-1-9-nikkor-18140-f3556g-ed-vr-review 1-13-2016 Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm f/2.8G Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016-1-13-nikkor-afs-micro-105-mm-f28g-review 1-23-2016 Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 AF-S G DX Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016-1-23-nikkor-35mm-f18-afs-g-dx-review 1-28-2016  Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X116 Pro DX Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016-1-28-tokina-1116mm-f28-atx116-pro-dx 2-6-2016 Rokinon Aspherical IF MC 8mm f/3.5 Fisheye Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/02/06/rokinon-aspherical-if-mc-8mm-f35-fisheye 2-29-2016 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D FX Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/02/29/nikkor-50mm-f18-afd-fx-review 3-9-2016 Does Focus Calibration Make a Difference? https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/03/09/does-focus-calibration-make-a-difference 3-26-2016 Nikkor 55-200 f/4.0-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/03/26/nikkor-55200-f4056g-ed-if-afs-dx-vr-review 3-29-2016 Nikkor 18-55 f/3.5-5.6G AF-S VR DX Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/03/29/nikkor-1855-f3556g-afs-vr-dx-review 4-5-2015 Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/04/05/micronikkor-55mm-f35-review 4-6-2016 Nikkor-PC 105mm f/2.5 Review https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/04/06/nikkorp-c-105mm-f25-review 4-22-2016 Why is My Full-Frame Worse Than My APS-C MTF50 Measurement? https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/04/22/why-is-my-fullframe-worse-than-my-apsc-mtf50-measurement 4-24-2016 Lens Centering Tests https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/04/24/lens-centering-tests 5-21-2016 Use the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX Lens on FX? https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/05/21/use-nikkor-35mm-f18-afs-dx-lens-on-fx 5-24-2016 Using the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX Lens on an FX Camera https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/05/24/using-the-tokina-1116mm-f28-dx-lens-on-an-fx-camera 6-12-2016 When is Manual Mode Not Manual? https://www.photoartfromscience.com/single-post/2016/06/12/when-is-manual-mode-not-manual 6-26-2016 D610 VS D7100 VS D7000 Infrared Comparisons 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Nikon claims that there is virtually zero lag between live action and what is seen through the viewfinder or the rear monitor of the Z9 and Z8 cameras. Since I’ve seen too many disconnects between claims and reality, I decided to verify the assertion that the monitor is actually real-time.   I used a variety of stopwatches, including an app on my cell phone to act as the time reference. Each timer has a resolution of 0.01 seconds, which is good enough for what I wanted. The wristwatch stopwatches are more difficult to use, because their displays are a bit harder to read and the digits are smaller. I ended up resorting to use of my "tilt" lens to get a focus plane that could manage focus on the stopwatch and camera monitor at the same time.   I thought I’d also measure an older camera, the Nikon D7100, and my best DSLR, the Nikon D850. These cameras are known to have a time lag with their monitors.   In each test, I activated the stopwatch and then took several photos with both the stopwatch and the camera rear LCD monitor in the shot. The time lag of the camera viewfinder is rumored to be better than the monitor, but I couldn’t devise a good way to capture the viewfinder image. Since it’s a lot easier to photograph the camera monitor than its viewfinder, I stuck with the monitor. I have my viewfinder configured with “ High fps viewfinder display ” ON to get 120Hz viewfinder refresh, but there isn’t any such setting for the LCD rear monitor. The default viewfinder refresh rate on the Z9 and Z8 is 60Hz, which uses slightly less battery power.   Lots of test shots were thrown out, because the phone screen refresh would place a black rectangle where the stopwatch digits were located. My phone has a screen refresh rate of 120Hz. The wristwatch stopwatches were often unreadable, because the display was in-between activating all of the segments making up each digit. Nikon Z8 viewing a stopwatch: no lag about half of the time Nikon Z9 looking at a phone stopwatch: no lag Z9 monitor lagging behind the stopwatch by 0.07 seconds       After taking many photos of the stopwatch and the Nikon Z9 monitor, I took the data and plotted it in Excel. Nikon Z9 LCD monitor time lag measurements   About half of the time, the camera monitor shows zero time lag. It’s interesting to note that the non-zero time lag data was consistently either 0.06 or 0.07 seconds. Even the 0.07 second time lag would be imperceptible to the photographer. Nikon Z8 using a different wristwatch with stopwatch   I used a few different timing mechanisms with the Nikon Z8 for comparison. Just like the Z9, about half of the Z8 tests showed no measureable lag on the monitor, within 1/100 second. The wristwatches have an accuracy of 1/100 second.   When I tried the same experiment with both the D7100 and D850 cameras, their monitor time lags were always either 0.06, 0.07, or 0.13 seconds. Neither DSLR seemed better or worse in their monitor response times. These cameras can’t keep up with the Nikon Z9 (or Z8); they never displayed a zero-lag result.   Summary   Although I have shown that there is often a time lag between live action and the Nikon Z9/Z8 monitor image, it’s truly minimal. The viewfinder update specifications are at least as good as the rear LCD monitor for both the Nikon Z8 and Z9.   Nikon’s claims are accurate: you won’t notice any lag between real-life and the electronic display. All bets are off when you get into slow shutter speeds, however.

Finding out how fast your mirrorless Nikon Z lens can auto-focus isn’t as simple as you might think. I use super slo-motion video, typically 120 frames per second, to observe the details of lens focusing. Most lenses that Nikon made in the past had exterior focus scales on them, which could be monitored (and filmed) to evaluate auto-focus behavior. That’s no longer the case.   Nikon has a feature in their Z cameras to display a ‘focus distance indicator’ while using the manual-focus ring on their Z lenses. You won’t see this feature when using adapted F-mount lenses, unfortunately. This distance indicator is the key to accurately measuring focus speed. The focus distance scale will appear through the viewfinder and also on the rear LCD screen, assuming you have configured your camera to have both the viewfinder and the monitor active. My cameras are configured to switch between the viewfinder display and the monitor display by detecting my eye at the viewfinder.   I like to (manually) set my lens under test to its minimum focus distance, and then let the camera auto-focus on a subject that’s far enough away to force the lens to focus on infinity. When I test a zoom lens, I will zoom in to use the maximum focal length, too. This will force a worst-case focus scenario for the given lighting conditions.   Since I use a DLSR or another mirrorless camera to take the slow-motion video, I use two tripods while testing: one will support the camera under test and the other tripod supports the camera taking the video. I pre-focus the video camera on the rear LCD of the camera/lens being tested (a macro lens is helpful here).   You can use any video device that you prefer to take the video, but it needs to support a way to review the video footage by stepping one frame at a time. The focus measurement timing will be within about a single-frame time duration, which at 120fps becomes 1/120 second, or 0.0083 seconds.   To perform the timing test, you need to first set up the mirrorless Nikon to point it at a distant object. Next, manually focus the lens up close with the rear LCD monitor activated. The rear LCD should display a focus distance scale, showing the focused distance. The ‘Setup’ (wrench) menu of my Z8 lets me select distance units of meters or feet. Reviewing the video of a Nikon Z8 LCD monitor   In the shot above, I’m looking at a video that was shot looking at the rear LCD of a Nikon Z8.  There are two things of note in the shot shown above. The first thing to notice is the distance scale showing “4.27 ft”, which is the currently-focused distance for the lens under test. The second thing to notice is the square focus indicator, which is colored red . The LCD screen (and the viewfinder) displays the focus indicator in red until the subject gets into focus. After proper focus is achieved, the focus indicator will turn green . Different focus-modes will have different versions of the final focus indicator, but the color will be green.   You might see the in-focus indicator turn from dim to brighter green for a few frames. Use the first frame that you see the green in-focus indicator as the ‘done’ frame.   Perform the focus video-capture a few times to get an idea of the ‘typical’ focus time, and take note of the lighting level, too.   To capture the video of the focus action, you need to begin by pressing the ‘Record’ button of the video (I use my right hand for this). Next, you need to press the focus button on the camera/lens under test (I use my left hand for this operation). After the subject is in focus, you can let go of the camera focus button. Finally, hit the ‘Record’ button again to stop capturing video.   Now, it’s time to review the captured slow-mo video of the focus operation. After starting to play the video, I can use the ‘down’ arrow to pause, and the ‘right’/’left’ arrows to advance or reverse the video frames.   In order to know which video frame indicates the beginning of the focus action, pay attention to the white ‘focus distance’ scale. As soon as the auto-focus action starts, this scale will start to disappear from the monitor. This is the ‘zero’ marker in the video, where you can start counting frames. It takes a few frames for this scale to fully disappear from view, but the first frame where it starts to fade is the actual start of the auto-focus action.   Next, single-step through the video frames and begin counting. When the subject is in focus, notice that the focus indicator will turn green. This the end frame that indicates focusing has completed. The ‘in focus’ indicator has turned green. Focus is done.   You now have the information to calculate how long the lens takes to complete the auto-focus operation. Just count the number of video frames and multiply it by the frame duration number (0.0083 seconds for 120fps).   In the video for this example, I counted 90 frames for my Nikkor 28-400mm zoom at 400mm to focus from the minimum distance to infinity. (90 X .0083) = 0.75 seconds.   Summary   I wish Nikon included external focus distance markers on every Nikkor lens barrel for tests like these, because you could also evaluate focus-hunting and focus-chatter behavior. At least it’s still possible to get accurate start-to-finish timing measurements using the procedures shown above for the Z-mount lenses.