Nikon Announces Z-Mount 14-30mm/f4 S ($1300) and Z6 Filmmaker's Kit

The 14-30mm/f4 S Z-mount mirrorless lens has been on Nikon's roadmap since day 1 (23 August, 2018), and some prototype has been displayed behind glass cases. Today, Nikon formally announces this lens with a suggested retail price of US$1299.95. According to Nikon, for the FX format, this is the first 14mm lens that can accept a conventional front screw-on filter, in this case 82mm.

• 14 elements in 12 groups, among them 4 ED elements and 4 aspherical elements, nano-crystal coating and fluorine coating
  
• aperture f4 to f22
  
• AF motor is a stepping motor
  
• 82mm front screw-on filter (same size as the F-mount 24-70mm/f2.8 E AF-S VR)
  
• length 3.5 inches in the storage mode, weight 17.1 ounces/485 grams
  

The 14-30mm/f4's construction is similar to that for the 24-70mm/f4 S. The lens is in its shortest in the storage mode, and you need to extend it go reach 14mm and then extend further towards 30mm. See my attempt to superimpose the two positions in the image below:

Nikon is also introducing a Z6 Filmmaker's kit with the following components, for $3999.95:

• Nikon Z 6 camera body
  
• NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens
  
• Mount Adapter FTZ
  
• Atomos Ninja V 4K HDR 5” Monitor Recorder3
  
• Rode VideoMic Pro+,
  
• MOZA Air 2 3-Axis Hand-Held Gimbal Stabilizer
  
• One additional EN-EL15b battery (for a total of two EN-EL15b with the one that comes standard with the Z6)
  
• A coiled HDMI cable
  
• 12-month Vimeo Pro membership
  
• The Art of Making Music Videos Nikon School online course featuring Nikon Ambassador Chris Hershman.
  

The lens announcement is also on Nikon Japan's corporate web site, with more details:

Nikon | News | Nikon releases the ultra-wide-angle NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S zoom lens compatible with the Nikon Z mount system

Interesting that Nikon chose a relatively big 6mm overlap in FL between the two f4 zooms.

Actually I would prefer a bigger overlap, e.g. a 16-35mm zoom rather than 14-30. The 24-35mm range is highly useful and I would rather have that in two lenses instead of having to change lenses frequently.

14mm is really wide and I don’t find it that useful unless you shoot a lot indoors in tight corners. But hopefully that also means the quality at 17, 18mm, away from the extreme end, is very high.

The ability to use conventional filters is a plus. I am concerned about the bulging front element on my 14-24mm f2.8 AF-S. No such issue here.

The MTF of the 14-30 at wide end is strikingly good, especially when compared with the F mount 16-35 VR. This together with the compact size probably make it very attractive to landscape and architectural interior photographers. I'm not really a regular user of superwide angle lenses, but I can't deny the attraction of this lens given that my main complaint of the 14-24/2.8 was its large size and heavy weight. However, in Finland the price shown in the first store I found to list it is 1499 EUR which is only 200 EUR less than they ask for the 14-24/2.8. That's quite a premium for a more compact lens.

But on the other hand, the 14-30 takes filters, packs small and can take advantage of in-body VR.

I am not a lens designer, but Nikon's press release suggests the new Z mount (with its wide diameter and short flange distance) makes it possible to create a 14-30mm/f4 zoom that is high quality and have a front element flat enough to take a conventional filter. Additionally, there are four aspherical elements inside this new lens. It is these new technologies that were not available 2, 3 decades ago that make these wide zooms possible. Nikon also has a 14-24mm/f2.8 on their Z-mount roadmap; not sure that lens can accept regular filters or not.

Additionally, Nikon also announced at the CES that they are updating the Z6 and Z7 firmware to add new features. Compatibility with CFexpress cards is already known. They will also be adding Eye AF to the existing two Z bodies via new firmware. Below is their press release:

• CFexpress -
  Coming soon to the Nikon Z 7 and Z 6 cameras is support for CFexpress, which is compatible with the XQD memory card form-factor.
  
  
• Eye AF -
  Under development is an Eye AF function, which will automatically detect the subject’s eyes. This will allow users to capture photos in which focus has been clearly acquired on the subject's eye, which is useful for portrait, event and street photography scenarios.
  
  
• RAW Video Support -
  Nikon is currently developing a feature that works with the ATOMOS Ninja V to output video in RAW format, using the ProRes RAW codec.
  
  

That's quite a premium for a more compact lens.

...and a stop slower!

Someone has moved the goal-posts on the lens designers.

I suspect they could have made an f4 version of the 14-24mm 2.8 with the same 'nice' properties.

That extra stop has always been a real hard and expensive thing to save.

So why bother?, it's OK to make slow(er) lenses now...;)

Admittedly, subject isolation with wide/ultrawides has always been a bit of a non starter.

Nice lens - too bad the (minimum) price of admission for me is not $1297 but a minimum of $4694 (lens and a Z7).

I am not lens designer, but Nikon's press release suggests the new Z mount (with its wide diameter and short flange distance) makes it possible to create a 14-30mm/f4 zoom that is high quality and have a front element flat enough to take a conventional filter.

The lens schematics https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/z-mount/z_14-30mmf4s/img/lensconstruction.png seems to indicate that the large throat diameter doesn't play a role in the design of this lens.

Actually I would prefer a bigger overlap, e.g. a 16-35mm zoom rather than 14-30.

The performance of the 16-35/4 VR drops off when used past 28mm - it's effectively a 16-28. I have the Sony 12-24/4 - which doesn't have a flat front element that would allow the use of a conventional filter - but at least the front element is not as large and bulbous as the one from the 14-24/2.8.

Nice lens - too bad the (minimum) price of admission for me is not $1297 but a minimum of $4694 (lens and a Z7).

 

 

The lens schematics https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/lens/z-mount/z_14-30mmf4s/img/lensconstruction.png seems to indicate that the large throat diameter doesn't play a role in the design of this lens.

There is no need to be the first to own all of those. I resisted the Z7 because I think its value could drop rather quickly, especially towards the latter part of 2019 and if a new pro model with dual memory card slots is available. I also feel that 24MP is plenty. There could be $100 to $200 rebates on the lenses later on too.

I am aware that the F-mount 16-35mm/f4 AF-S VR is poor at 16, 17mm, but it should be better from 18mm on. I am surprised to learn that it is poor on the long end too. Usually it is the extreme end that is challenging for zooms; i.e. long end is poor for tele zooms and wide end is challenging for wide zooms.

I am aware that the F-mount 16-35mm/f4 AF-S VR is poor at 16, 17mm, but it should be better from 18mm on. I am surprised to learn that it is poor on the long end too. Usually it is the extreme end that is challenging for zooms; i.e. long end is poor for tele zooms and wide end is challenging for wide zooms.

The general consensus of the lens reviews for the 16-35 seems to be that wide open the shorter end is actually better than the longer end and that the best performance is from 20 to 24 mm; stopped down to f/8 or f/11 the longer end catches and eventually betters the performance of the shorter end with corners remaining weaker at 16 and 17 as well as above 30mm or so.

I resisted the Z7 because I think its value could drop rather quickly, especially towards the latter part of 2019 and if a new pro model with dual memory card slots is available.

I resisted in part because I think the Z7 is poor value compared to the D850; for me, both aren't worth the monetary outlay to upgrade from the D810. The other part of the resistance comes from owning the A7RII (again no need to upgrade to the A7RIII) and the Sony 12-24/4.

I also feel that 24MP is plenty.

I have grown to like the 36MP of the D810 (and the 42MP of the A7RII) :D

If they only made fast lenses, the potential for compactness and light weight is lost. I believe it is the primary driver behind consumer demand for mirrorless.

They will also make fast lenses, time will tell how well those do in the market.

Fast lenses are also expensive, and most can't afford them. Primes with a max aperture of f/1.8 are more than fast enough for most purposes - I'd be happy with f/2 in exchange for slightly smaller/cheaper/better. Plus I like round numbers/whole stop values better :)

Most lenses need stopping down a bit for edge-to-edge sharpness, but the new S lenses seem to be really good even wide open. Unless you are shooting subjects where corner sharpness isn't important (portraiture etc), these lenses have a wider shooting envelope than most other lenses with the same maximum aperture. In that respect, they really are quite "fast".

Regarding the 14-30 zoom, if you are going to use front filters they better be good. At 14mm the angle of view is 114°, so light coming into the far corners of the image will be going through the filter at a very shallow angle of just 33°. If the front/back surfaces are not perfectly flat and parallel, the light will be distorted as it passes through, resulting in soft corners. At shallow angles, a lot of light will be reflected, which would increase vignetting. Also, dispersion will be worse than light passing through the filter at nearly perpendicular angles resulting in greater CA. I'm a little surprised that the lens wasn't designed to accept internal or rear mounted filters, where the light would pass through nearly perpendicular and avoid these issues, but it would make operation of polarisers difficult.

Most likely I'll get the 14-30mm/f4 and probably also a 82mm polarizer for it, as it also fits the 24-70mm/f2.8 E AF-S VR, but I doubt that I'll ever use a polarizer at wider than 20mm, because the sky can look weird due to uneven polarization. A polarizer is mostly for the longer end of the zoom range or maybe if I need to remove glare and reflection indoors. However, it is good to have that option.

I would assume the subsequent 14-24mm/f2.8 S in the Z mount will have a bulging front element, but I haven't seen any prototype yet.

Most lenses need stopping down a bit for edge-to-edge sharpness but the new S lenses seem to be really good even wide open

Absolutely, there's been something of a modern trend, in primes particularly, towards making lenses sharpest at max aperture, so the resolution v aperture graph doesn't look so-much as a molehill, more a ski slope or a plateau. The Nikon 500mm PF is a perfect example of the later. The only reason you'd close it down is DoF.

Old 60mm macro .... mole hill.

Nikon Nikkor AF Micro 60 mm f/2.8D review - Image resolution - LensTip.com

New 500mm PF.. ski slope

Nikon Nikkor AF-S 500 mm f/5.6E PF ED VR review - Image resolution - LensTip.com

New 104mm 1.4 'moley' plateau

Nikon Nikkor AF-S 105 mm f/1.4E ED review - Image resolution - LensTip.com

Not Apples to Apples, but you get the idea!!