Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR Field Review

It’s been 5 lengthy years since Nikon debuted the Z system, and now the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR is lastly right here. Through the years, Nikon has steadily added to their supertelephoto lineup, with wonderful lenses just like the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 and f/2.8, 600mm f/4, 800mm f/6.3, and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6. However a inexpensive choice was lacking. That’s a giant cause why the Nikon Z 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 VR, with a launch value of $1700, was so extremely anticipated. At present, I’m desperate to share my first impressions of this lens with you.

Specs

• Full Title: NIKKOR Z 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 VR
• Focal Size: 180-600mm (3.3x zoom)
• Most Aperture: f/5.6 to f/6.3
• Minimal Aperture: f/32 to f/36
• Lens Components: 25
• Lens Ingredient Teams: 17
• Filter Thread Measurement: 95mm
• Angle of View (FX): 13° 40′ to 4° 10′
• Most Magnification: 0.25x (1:4)
• Minimal Focusing Distance: 1.3 meters (4.3 toes) at 180mm; 2.4 meters (7.9 toes) at 600mm
• Vibration Discount: Sure; regular and sport
• Aperture Blades: 9, rounded
• Fluorine Coating: Sure
• ED Glass Components: 6
• Aspherical Components: 1
• Focus Motor: STM
• Inside Focusing: Sure
• Inside Zooming: Sure
• Teleconverter Compatibility: Sure (with each Z teleconverters)
• Focus Limiting Swap: Sure (two positions: full, and ∞ to six meters)
• Operate Buttons: Sure, one (repeated 4 instances across the entrance of the lens)
• Dimensions (Size x Diameter): 316 x 110 mm (12.5 x 4.4 inches)
• Weight: 2140 g (4.72 lbs), consists of tripod ring
• MSRP: $1699.95

Earlier than I get to the lens itself, let me take you on slightly tour of its household tree. Don’t fear, there’s no must enterprise into distant historical past. The one lens that could possibly be thought-about a direct predecessor is the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6, which was launched in 2015. At the moment, nobody knew that Nikon would introduce the Z-mount three years later.

On Nikon DSLRs, the 200-500mm f/5.6 was a really profitable lens and a transparent breakthrough that opened up wildlife pictures to a wider vary of photographers, due to its value of $1400. I dare say that this lens alone gained Nikon (and stored Nikon) numerous clients amongst price range wildlife photographers. Particularly when paired with the Nikon D500 camera, it was really the final word price range wildlife combo.

Issues obtained slightly extra sophisticated in 2018, when Nikon launched the Z7, its first camera with a Z-mount. If you happen to had determined to make the swap from DSLR to mirrorless and needed to proceed utilizing this lens, you had no alternative however to seize the FTZ adapter. The picture high quality was positive, however the autofocus reliability and velocity had been left missing with this camera + lens mixture.

Actually, even on DSLRs, the autofocus efficiency of the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 was no miracle. It was on the gradual aspect in comparison with the higher-end alternate options. And despite the fact that it was a formidable lens for the worth, it wasn’t excellent. The 200-500mm had an exterior zoom development, common sharpness numbers, and reasonable weight that will nag at you over time.

In immediately’s subject assessment, I’ll let you know whether or not the brand new Nikon Z 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 has eradicated these complaints. If you happen to’re curious whether or not Nikon listened to the sighs of its clients, learn on.

Construct High quality and Development

One of many issues that actually bothered me in regards to the earlier technology Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 was the extending zoom design. When altering the focal size from 200mm to 500mm, the lens lengthened by about 8cm. This not solely felt much less safe in wet situations, but it surely additionally brought about the lens to develop imbalanced on a carefully-aligned gimbal tripod head.

And that is the place I’ve the primary piece of excellent information. The Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 has an inside zoom, which makes it a breeze to stability on a tripod. When you make an effort to stability it correctly, you gained’t must readjust the gimbal as you zoom, for the reason that lens’s middle of gravity modifications little or no.

One other good thing about the inner zoom on the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 is that it’s extra proof against mud and moisture. Since there is no such thing as a vacuum created when zooming, ambient air flows in, and with it, potential mud. This could trigger issues with each the lens and the camera sensor. When retracting the zoom lens in rain or snow, there’s additionally a threat of water being pushed into the lens alongside the barrel. It’s not that I had main points with the 200-500mm, but it surely required extra care in wet and dusty situations.

I’m very joyful that I can now put these considerations utterly to relaxation. The Nikon Z 180-600mm, though not an S-class lens, is sealed extensively towards moisture. Furthermore, due to its fixed size, it’s be a lot simpler to equip the lens with extra safety, for instance from LensCoat.

A smaller criticism I had with the older 200-500mm f/5.6 additionally concerned the zoom perform. With that lens, you needed to flip the zoom ring greater than 150 levels to go from the 200mm to the 500mm. This meant that zooming between the acute positions was tougher to do rapidly. Zooming on the Nikon Z 180-600mm is way steeper (just a bit over 70 levels), and you’ll flip from 180mm to 600mm with a single hand motion.

The tripod collar of the Nikon 200-500mm was additionally designed in a reasonably unlucky approach. Sure, there’s the same old incontrovertible fact that it was incompatible with the Arca Swiss commonplace. Nonetheless, the attachment of the tripod plate was additionally an issue, for the reason that 200-500mm’s tripod foot solely had one thread. Due to this fact, it was obligatory to use numerous drive to forestall the plate from rotating. One other bit of excellent information is that the Nikon Z 180-600mm has two threads on the tripod foot! That mentioned, it’s nonetheless not Arca-Swiss suitable.

Let’s transfer to the opposite finish of the lens. Who right here has a 200-500mm with an ideal lens hood? Nicely, I positive didn’t. The fragile hood locking mechanism on this lens was infamous for breaking after some time. As for the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, the lock on the hood is significantly better designed and may final quite a bit longer. It’s mainly the identical mechanism as on the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5, for instance – simply push the lock button and twist.

In brief, all of my main dealing with and construct high quality complaints from the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 have been improved on the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. It’s additionally a lighter lens at 1.95 kilos reasonably than 2.3 kilos (4.3 kilos versus 5.1 kilos). All of this provides as much as a lens that’s smoother and extra fulfilling to make use of.

Autofocus Efficiency

I began my sequence of complaints in regards to the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 with the autofocus velocity. And if I’m guessing appropriately, you’re questioning which approach the 180-600mm has moved on this regard.

In brief, it’s undoubtedly gone in the suitable course. The AF reliability and velocity are quite a bit sooner now – not on the degree of Nikon’s highest-end supertelephotos with the Silky Swift VCM, however significantly better than earlier than. I’ll want slightly longer subject expertise to make a last judgment and offer you measurements of focus speeds and instances, although.

Paired with the Nikon Z8 and Nikon Z9, the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 reliably centered on hen eyes with most species – particularly, those that seem like “commonplace birds.” Chook eye autofocus nonetheless struggled to seek out the eyes of some unusual-looking birds, as documented in our Nikon Z9 assessment.

Right here’s a selected instance of once I observed this mixture struggling – photographing the Little Bittern (proven under). So long as the Bittern was sitting close to the water with its neck bent and its head near its physique, there was no drawback. At that time, it regarded like a traditional hen, and the camera’s algorithms clearly positioned its eye.

However as soon as the Bittern changed into a “harpoon,” with its physique stretched out and its head pointing down into the water, the enjoyable was over. At that time, I needed to activate the unintelligent Dynamic Space AF (Fn1) with my center finger and focus like within the days of DSLRs. However that’s the fault of the camera, not the lens. Again to high school, Nikon Z8/9, and examine up on herons, cotingas, and some different species! You may look over the shoulder of a Canon classmate.

Different Options (and What’s Lacking)

The Nikon 180-600mm is undoubtedly priced to be inexpensive. Nonetheless, this affordability comes with some compromises. From the 200-500mm it inherited, or reasonably didn’t inherit, the “Reminiscence Set” button. This button can be utilized to retailer a spotlight distance within the lens’s reminiscence, then recollect it in a break up second with the lens perform button (L-Fn). That is very helpful when the autofocus misses the goal and focuses on the background, for instance.

With lenses just like the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 or 500mm f/5.6, I exploit this function quite a bit, and it has saved me loads of pictures. The Nikon 180-600mm does have 4 programmable perform buttons, which is nice. Sadly, in the event you program them for Reminiscence Recall, there is no such thing as a button left for Reminiscence Set (and vice versa). Too dangerous, I’d gladly pay just a few hundred {dollars} extra for such a button. It might elevate the lens to a better class. Though, that’s most likely why Nikon didn’t put it there – the purpose of this lens is to be a price range choice, not one other $3000+ beast.

The group of switches on the left aspect of the lens can also be extra modest than on its predecessor. On this respect, nevertheless, it’s in keeping with different lenses, together with these of the S-class. The 2 switches accessible will let you toggle between Auto and Handbook focus, after which there’s a helpful AF limiter with two positions (Full, and Infinity-6m). The picture stabilization settings have to be set within the camera’s menu.

You could ask, is there any cause to disable picture stabilization? Nicely, as I discovered, there’s. It was simply after sundown once I photographed the European Pond Turtle basking on a log protruding of the water. I put the camera on a tripod, centered on the attention, set the shutter velocity to about two seconds, and used the self-timer to take a sequence of three photographs. All had been visibly blurred. Pondering that perhaps I had misfocused, I took one other sequence of three photographs, however with the identical outcome. The sharpness out of the blue improved solely once I disabled the picture stabilization.

I’ve to confess that I’ve by no means observed a lack of sharpness with Nikon lenses with VR on when taking pictures from a tripod at a protracted shutter velocity. I simply left the stabilization on on a regular basis. So I replicated the state of affairs with a 200-500mm lens to examine. In a direct comparability, the pictures with VR off had been certainly a bit sharper. However the distinction was nowhere close to as dramatic as with the 180-600mm. Preserve this in thoughts when taking pictures landscapes on a tripod, for instance.

The actual fact is that picture stabilization is primarily designed for handheld pictures. Nikon guarantees an effectiveness of as much as 5.5 stops. I used to be capable of take acceptably sharp pictures with the zoom set to 600mm and a shutter velocity of 1/30s. That’s about 4 stops higher than with an unstabilized lens. Nonetheless, I achieved this outcome with the Sport mode, which is theoretically much less environment friendly. With Regular mode, I may most likely get the claimed 5.5 stops, however in observe, I might reasonably use a tripod for higher outcomes. In abstract, the picture stabilization works very effectively when used for the suitable function.

Optical High quality

Now let’s take a look at maybe an important factor, the optical qualities of the lens. The important thing parameter, virtually the holy grail of each wildlife photographer, is the utmost focal size.

Within the days of Nikon’s 200-500mm, the competitors from Sigma and Tamron included lenses which zoomed to 600mm. With this new lens, Nikon reaches that focus on as effectively. The lens has gained the additional 100mm on the lengthy finish, in change for 1/3 EV of sunshine.

A basic tradeoff. Is it a achieve or a loss? In my view, undoubtedly a achieve.

Right here’s the complete zoom vary as proven from 180mm to 600mm for context:

To me, that final bounce to 600mm could make a giant distinction for distant wildlife pictures and will let you crop quite a bit much less.

Granted, the Nikon 180-600mm doesn’t have a continuing aperture over the entire vary, however I can dwell with that. Particularly, it retains its most aperture of f/5.6 within the 180-300mm vary. Beginning at 300mm, the aperture modifications to f/6.0 and stays that approach till 500mm. It’s solely within the 500-600mm vary that the aperture drops to f/6.3. In order for you a 600mm lens with a brighter aperture, Nikon’s Z 600mm f/4 is the obvious reply, but it surely additionally prices greater than 9 instances as a lot.

I used to be additionally impressed by the minimal focusing distance of the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3. It’s barely higher than the 200-500mm, which already did a great job on this regard. Particularly, the Nikon 180-600mm can focus all the way down to 1.3m on the vast finish and simply over 2m on the lengthy finish, for a most magnification of 0.25x. (That mentioned, if you wish to do near-macro pictures, contemplate the Nikon Z 100-400mm as a substitute – it has a most magnification of 0.38x.)

How sharp is the 180-600mm? About as sharp as a razor blade after a second shave. I imply, it doesn’t attain the eye-stinging, slicing sharpness of the Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8, but it surely nonetheless does a fantastic job. The quantity of element the lens can render on a 45MP sensor may be very spectacular.

Staying with the unfair comparability with the aforementioned 400mm f/2.8 for a second, the sensation of comparatively much less sharpness at 180-600mm is because of the barely decrease distinction. In fact, I’m evaluating an inexpensive zoom with maybe one of the best prime lens in the marketplace. The $12,300 value distinction has to indicate up someplace.

Chromatic aberration isn’t be one thing to lift an eyebrow about in observe with the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3. I struggled to seek out even one instance in my pattern photographs, however no luck. Nikon has executed an excellent job right here.

Equally, there is no such thing as a want to fret about taking pictures in backlight. I didn’t attempt to get the solar immediately within the body, however I took numerous pictures with backlighting below harsh afternoon solar. And the outcome? No undesirable ghosts or flares, no noticeable discount in distinction. So, despite the fact that Nikon didn’t use one of the best coatings in its arsenal (like Meso Amorphous and ARNEO coatings), sturdy backlighting is not going to restrict your creative freedom with this lens.

What about bokeh? Telephoto lenses have the flexibility to fantastically simplify backgrounds right into a veil of blur. However not all telephoto lenses are equally good at rendering out-of-focus areas. How does the 180-600mm fare on this regard?

Though the lens accommodates an aspherical aspect (a standard reason behind disagreeable bokeh), I didn’t encounter any ugly onion-shaped highlights. Quite the opposite, when there are level gentle sources within the picture, such because the solar shining by means of the vegetation, these out-of-focus areas are rendered very properly. Nonetheless, grading bokeh is a bit like grading determine skating. The easiest way to evaluate its high quality is to see some pattern pictures.

Conclusion and Suggestions

The brand new Nikon Z 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 VR retains all the nice issues I preferred about its predecessor. And whereas it’s launching for just a few hundred {dollars} extra, the enhancements undoubtedly justify the upper value (and it’s nonetheless a extra cheap value than a lot of the alternate options).

Specifically, the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR manages to repair lots of the illnesses of its F-mount sibling. Particularly, the autofocus has been given a brand new life. The zoom mechanism is inside and due to this fact extra sturdy and gimbal head pleasant. The lens is lighter and extra thoughtfully designed. It’s sharper and total higher optically, whereas reaching 600mm reasonably than 500mm (and 180mm reasonably than 200mm). That’s no small feat.

However nothing human is ideal, and the Nikon Z 180-600mm is not any exception. The f/6.3 most aperture signifies that low-light pictures might be harder, and despite the fact that the lens is excellent optically, some primes nonetheless have the sting (just like the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 and, unsurprisingly, Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8). I additionally remorse that Nikon “forgot” to incorporate a Reminiscence Set button. And in contrast to earlier Nikon lenses I’ve used, I’ll must be extra cautious about disabling picture stabilization when taking pictures on a tripod.

Nonetheless, once I sum it up and double underline the outcome, the positives of the brand new lens clearly outweigh the negatives. I needed to return the examined lens just a few days in the past. Any day, nevertheless, I anticipate the postman to ring my doorbell with a black-and-yellow field in his hand with a daring 180-600mm signal on it. For $1,697, this lens provides actually nice worth, and I’m glad I added it to my arsenal.

If you happen to haven’t ordered the lens but, it’s greatest to order sooner reasonably than later. There has already been numerous curiosity, and the provision might be restricted – Nikon continues to be fulfilling purchases made the second of the lens’s pre-order. We thanks prematurely for supporting Photography Life by utilizing this this B&H link to the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR to make your buy. And as all the time, I’d love to listen to your questions and ideas within the feedback under the article.

Extra Pattern Photos