NIKON Z 24200MM F/4-6.3 VR
A lightweight in construction but not in performance, the Nikon is a formidable all-in-one lens
With the same wide-angle potential as the Canon lens on test, this Nikon doesn’t stretch quite as far in telephoto reach, but there’s not a whole lot in it. The plus points of the more modest zoom range are that the Nikon has a smaller, more lightweight build. It’s the lightest lens in the group and only a little over two-thirds the weight of the Canon.
Build quality and the precision of the controls feel similar to those of the Canon lens, but the Nikon adds multiple weatherseals and comes complete with a hood and pouch, rather than these items being sold separately as ‘optional extras’.
High-tech glass and coatings include two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, one aspherical ED element, two further aspherical elements and the application of Nikon’s highperformance ARNEO Coat and Nano Crystal Coat, as well as the more conventional Super Integrated Coating. A fluorine coating is also featured on the front element to repel moisture and grease and to ease cleaning.
Based on a linear stepping motor, autofocus is quick and practically silent, delivering good tracking performance along with smooth autofocus transitions for video capture. The 4.5-stop VR (Vibration Correction) is on a par with the Canon lens’s optical stabiliser and performance is effectively boosted with Nikon’s Z-series cameras that feature in-body stabilisation.
It’s even more of a ‘must-have’ feature when using the lens on an APS-C format body, such as the Z 50 and Z fc, which lack IBIS. The lens gives a useful ‘effective’ zoom range on these cameras, equating to 36300mm in full-frame terms.
There’s little to choose in the lab scores for sharpness between the Canon and Nikon lenses, although the Nikon proved sharper towards the edges and corners of the frame in our real-world tests. Again, the lens relies on automatic corrections in-camera or when processing raw files to take care of distortions and colour fringing.