I spent 3 years waiting to get my hands on this lens! Ever since Nikon listed it on the mirrorless lens roadmap back in 2019. Once released, it was sold out across the globe with many lenses on backorder. Finally, in August 2022, mine arrived! The Nikon Z 100-400mm VR is my second favorite Nikon Z lens (My favourite lens is the Nikon Z 14-24 F2.8, you can read my review here).
The Nikon Z 100-400mm Lens covers a much more useful zoom range than any other lenses in the current lineup, it focuses super close and has superb optics. It is really well built and is an absolute pleasure to shoot with due to it being compact and lightweight (For a 400mm lens).
Image courtesy of Nikon
Prior to this lens, I had shot with both the Nikon 300mm F4 Prime and the Nikon 70-200 F2.8 and F4). The Nikon 100-400mm VR focuses just as close as the 70-200mm lenses.
Since I almost always work on a tripod, I don't need particularly fast apertures at this focal length range, in fact I generally shoot at F8 or F11.
When used on DX cameras, it sees the same angle of view as a 150 - 600mm lens sees when used on an FX or 35mm camera.
Above: 400mm at 1S at F11 and ISO100 (Left = Uncropped / Right = 100% Crop)
Technologies in this lens
Vibration Reduction
A Nikon in-lens technology that improves image stability by automatically compensating for camera shake. Lenses that offer VR will feature the abbreviation VR on the lens barrel.
ED (Extra-Low Dispersion) Glass
An optical glass developed by Nikon that is used with normal optical glass in telephoto lenses to obtain optimum correction of chromatic aberrations.
Super ED Glass
Nikon has also developed Super ED glass featuring even lower dispersion properties and extremely high performance in reducing the secondary spectrum, to minimize chromatic aberration even further, as well as other lens aberrations.
ARNEO Coat
An anti-reflective coating developed by Nikon and used in conjunction with Nano Crystal Coat to further reduce ghost and flare effects caused by incident light entering the lens vertically. This allows for the outstandingly clear capture of images even when a light source is located within the frame.
Fluorine Coat
Photographers need gear that can withstand the elements. Nikon’s fluorine coat effectively repels dust, water droplets, grease or dirt, ensuring easy removal even when they adhere to the lens surface. Nikon’s fluorine coat endures a high frequency of lens surface wiping and its anti-reflective effect also contributes to the capture of clear images.
Nano Crystal Coat
An anti-reflective coating developed by Nikon that virtually eliminates internal lens element reflections across a wide range of wavelengths. Nano Crystal Coat solves ghost effects caused by red light and effectively reduces ghost and flare caused by light entering the lens diagonally.
Stepping Motor
NIKKOR Z lenses use a stepping motor for fast, accurate, smooth, quiet autofocus with reduced wobbling. This quiet drive system makes the lenses ideal for use when shooting video.
IF Lens
A NIKKOR lens in which only the internal lens group shifts during focusing. Thus, IF NIKKORS do not change in size during AF operation, allowing for compact, lightweight lenses capable of closer focusing distances. These lenses will be designated with the abbreviation IF on the lens barrel.
400mm at 1S at F11 and ISO100 (Left = Uncropped / Right = 100% Crop)
Image Quality
Spoiler Alert - The Image quality is fantastic!
My Nikon Z 100-400mm has been in my F-Stop Tilopa camera bag since the day it arrived. I have used it in Malta, Slovenia, the Dolomites, and in Iceland.
Over the past couple of months, I have not seen any evident color fringing or aberrations and was also impressed by how the coated glass controls lens flares in harsh backlit situations. The Nikon Z 100-400mm captures contrast perfectly with minimal ghosting.
Image courtesy of Nikon
The Nikon 100-400 is a variable aperture lens, with the widest aperture of F4.5 at 100mm and the widest aperture of F5.6 at 400mm. The maximum aperture (Wide open) varies according to the focal range as follows:
F4.5 from 100mm to 124mm
F4.8 from 125mm to 184mm
F5.0 from 185mm to 269mm
F5.3 from 270mm to 359mm
F5.6 from 360mm to 400mm
The lens has a minimum aperture of F32 at 100mm and F40 at 400mm.
Above: 125mm at 1/20S at F8 and ISO400 (Left = Uncropped / Right = 100% Crop)
The lens has a rounded nine-bladed diaphragm that produces smooth bokeh at the center of the frame. Towards the edges of the frame, the bokeh tends to become more oval. Out-of-focus areas are able to cleanly melt away and do not contain busy harsh edges.
I don’t test for sharpness using scientific methods, I generally find a subject with intricate detail and take a shot of that to judge the sharpness of a lens. In all examples, sharpness at the center sharpness at 100mm, F4.5 was good (Considering the lens was wide open). By F5.6 at 100mm the lens is tack sharp, this is true all the way down to F11.
The corner sharpness at 100mm gets considerably better at F6.3 and is at its best at F11.
Sharpness in the centre whilst wide open at 400mm is also pretty good. I found that the lens is sharpest at F8. Sharpness in the corners at 400mm was also best at F11.
Above: 400mm at 1/25S at F8 and ISO200
Build Quality
The Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S is a very complex lens, inside, there are 25 elements in 20 groups including six Super ED and two ED elements. These special elements help correct for chromatic aberrations, and Nikon’s ARNEO and Nano Crystal Coatings work to reduce flaring and ghosting.
Weighing in at 1.35kg, the lens’s mostly plastic construction helps to keep the weight down (Considering how much glass there is in this lens, the weight is pretty impressive!). The Nikon Z 100-400mm is light enough to use handheld, although I mostly use it on a tripod for ultimate sharpness. A tripod foot is included in the box, which can be removed if you want to keep size and weight down, however, I use this to mount the lens to my tripod and maintain balance/reduce stress on the mount. A good quality plastic lens is hood also included, which can be reversed when not in use for easier transporting.
Above: 310mm at 1/100S at F8 and ISO200
The lens barrel has plenty of goodies on it, such as switches and a little digital display.
Three different rings are found on the lens. The narrowest, which is closest to the mount, can be set to control a limited number of functions, including aperture, exposure compensation, or ISO. Alternatively, it can be set to do nothing at all – handy if you find yourself turning it accidentally (This is what I did). In the middle, you’ll find the focusing ring, while the zoom ring is found towards the front. It is marked in focal lengths of 100, 135, 200, 300, and 400mm, which is useful for quickly adjusting the lens.
Both the zoom ring and the manual focus ring are ridged, which gives a good grip. It’s very easy to tell which is which through feeling alone thanks to the difference in size. The control ring has a dotted texture, which is another helpful cue to spot the difference when shooting through the viewfinder. Although the manual focus ring doesn’t have hard stops, a distance scale appears in the viewfinder to guide the direction of movement. Focus peaking or magnified view can also help to keep manual focusing as accurate as possible.
Above: 400mm at 1/250S at F5.6 and ISO400 (Left = Uncropped / Right = 100% Crop)
A small zoom ring rotation of just 80 degrees means you can go from the wide-angle end to full zoom extremely quickly, and without changing your grip. That’s very useful when you’re tracking fast-moving subjects and need to quickly change your composition. On top of that, there’s no zoom creep, even when holding the lens pointing upwards or downwards, so you can be reassured that it’ll always be in the place you left it.
The 100-400mm is not exactly small, but it is roughly the same size as the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. If you’re intending to travel relatively light, say while on a safari or similar, pairing this lens with something such as a 24-70mm or 24-120mm lens would be a good idea. Thanks to its size and weight, the 100-400mm lens balances best with full-frame models in Nikon’s Z line-up. It works particularly well with my Nikon Z7II and Nikon Z6II bodies.
Above: 290mm at 1/100S at F8 and ISO100
The Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 is part of the Nikon’s “S” series of higher-quality lenses which in part means it has a weather-sealed design and Fluorine coating on the front element for easy cleaning. Luckily, I have not had to test the durability of this lens, but Nikon has a long history of lenses that are built to last and when they say a lens is weatherproofed, they really mean it. This lens has worked perfectly in the pouring rain (Lens hoods are great for the rain) without any issues at all.
Image courtesy of Nikon
Focus
Most photographers are likely to use this lens with autofocus, especially if shooting wildlife or sports. I took a few test shots with autofocus in the field, but the majority of my shots are manually focused as I prefer to be 100% confident that I have nailed the focus.
The focus ring is incredibly smooth, allowing you to be super accurate when focussing manually.
Above: Comparison showing Focal Lengths - Left to Right - 100mm, 200mm, 400mm
The Images
Judging the Nikon Z 100-400mm on optics alone, it is an impressive piece of glass that can produce high-quality images in any lighting situation. Due to its modern image stabilization and superb balance, it is easy to get great-quality images using this lens. The Autofocus is quick and accurate and images are incredibly sharp. The close focusing ability and potential of adding 1.4x and 2x teleconverters make it a versatile addition to anyone’s kit.
Above: 400mm at 1/400S at F8 and ISO800
Are there any similar alternatives?
The Nikon Z-mount is still relatively new, there haven’t been any true alternatives produced yet that match Z 100-400mm with price, quality, and focal range. Nikon was a little late to the party with releasing this lens though, as both Canon and Sony have their own iteration of this lens.
You could of course consider the Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S, which is a significant improvement over the Z100-400, but costs 5 and a half times as much, coming in at an eye-watering 14,000 EUR.
Up until 2013, Nikon produced the 80-400mm FX AF-D f/4.5-5.6. This lens performed well at the time. It is smaller than the 100-400 and significantly cheaper, however, it is also very old technology, with a manual aperture ring near the bayonet mount and optics which are likely pushed past their limit on today’s modern high-resolution cameras.
There is also the original Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (F Mount), this lens is much cheaper than the 100-400, however it is also physically larger, weighs significantly more (Over 1 Kilogram heavier when including the weight of the FTZ Adapter).
Above: 400mm at 1/30S at F8 and ISO200
Pros:
Ultra sharp at every setting
Smooth bokeh
No zoom creep
Great optical Image Stabilization
Super close focus and macro
Same center-of-gravity irrespective of focal length
No zoom creep
Zooms just as easily when pointed straight up or down
No focus breathing
Stops down to f/32 ~ f/40
Programmable L-fn buttons
AF/MF switch
Focus limiter switch
Hood and protective lens pouch included
Compatible with both the Nikon TC-1.4× and TC-2× teleconverters
Focuses twice as close as the old AF-S 80-400mm VR
Bad
Plastic filter threads
Mostly plastic exterior
Its a big / heavy lens to carry on multiday hiking / climbing expeditions
Expensive
Above: 100mm at 2S at F4.5 and ISO6400
Nikon Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S Verdict
Nikon's Z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 VR S is a worthy successor to the aging AF-S 80-400mm f4.5-5.6G ED VR. The Nikon Z 100-400mm lens surpasses the older lens in every aspect. It produces superbly sharp images with minimal distortion or aberrations and is easy to shoot handheld thanks to 5.5 stops of image stabilization.
Professional sports and wildlife photographers will most likely prefer a better-performing (And significantly more expensive) prime lens such as the new Nikon 400mm F2.8, but for those of us with more modest budgets, lenses such as this offer a good compromise between performance, affordability, and transportability.
As a landscape photographer, this lens is absolutely perfect for my needs, I will rarely ever need to shoot at focal lengths longer than 400mm, but if I need to, I can always crop the image slightly in post-processing since the files from my Nikon Z7II are a whopping 45.7 Megapixels.
Overall, the lens exceeds expectations and delivers some fantastic results. I would recommend it to anyone looking for more reach from their existing lens lineup.