Conclusion
Pros
- Extremely compact and light weight for a fast-ish 400mm prime
- Outstanding build quality
- Very quick and accurate autofocus
- Excellent image stabilization
- Excellent sharpness from wide open
- Very pleasing bokeh
- Good color and contrast
- Low Chromatic Aberration
- Minimal Distortion
- Reasonably priced for its length and aperture
- Takes teleconverters very well
Cons
- Fairly poor flare and ghosting when sun is in frame
That’s a pretty unbalanced list above, and that’s because the Nikkor Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S is an outstanding lens. It’s very sharp, with beautiful rendering characteristics, and it has wonderful optical performance in a very compact and light weight body. Autofocus and image stabilization are both excellent, and even the price is quite good. It’s not a cheap lens, that’s for sure, but similar lenses from other manufacturers have typically come in at significantly higher price points.
About the only real down side is some worse than average flare performance. The other thing worth talking about is simply the general usefulness of this focal length. If you need a 400mm prime, and don’t want to carry or pay for a giant 400mm f/2.8, this lens will serve you extremely well. However, for me, the 400mm length a little awkward for what I tended to use it for. I used the lens predominantly for wildlife and birds, and while you can certainly use the lens for that, it’s a little short for a lot of birding. As such, I used it with the 1.4x TC most of the time. It’s also too long for general purpose telephoto work like a 100-400mm lens can do. I think if you want to use it for birds, something like the Nikon 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, the 600mm f/6.3 or the 800mm f/6.3 will all serve you a little better. However, if the 400mm focal length suits your needs, it’s a gem of an optic and an easy recommendation.
Image Samples
Click on an image to enlarge.
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