Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 vs Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3

Nikon Z photographers who desire a light-weight telephoto zoom have solely a handful of choices. Two of essentially the most attention-grabbing decisions are Nikon’z personal Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD – which is Tamron’s first official autofocus lens for the Z system. If you happen to’re on the fence, which certainly one of these lenses must you get? Right here’s what you’ll want to know.

Dimension and Weight

Probably the greatest elements of those two lenses is how small and light-weight they’re. Each lenses weigh about the identical: 545 grams for the Tamron lens (1.20 kilos) and 570 grams (1.25 kilos) for the Nikon-brand lens.

That mentioned, the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR is the smaller of the 2 lenses, measuring simply 114 mm (4.49 inches) at its shortest focal size of 24mm. By comparability, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 measures 148 mm lengthy (5.83 inches) at its shortest focal size of 70mm. That distinction might not matter to you, nevertheless it does make the Tamron a bit extra cumbersome for journey.

Construct and Dealing with

Neither of the 2 lenses I’m evaluating at this time are thought of high-end. That doesn’t make them unhealthy lenses optically, nevertheless it does imply that they’ve some construct high quality and dealing with compromises.

One of many greatest compromises is that each lenses have externally zooming designs, the place the lens barrel extends as you zoom in. Even some skilled lenses do that, and it’s not a dealbreaker, nevertheless it does name for some further warning when utilizing these lenses in dusty or wet environments. The Tamron lens has a single telescoping barrel, whereas the Nikon 24-200mm has a twin telescoping design.

Each lenses have primarily plastic exteriors, with just a few key areas of metallic (just like the lens mounts). Utilizing each lenses side-by-side, the plastic on the Nikon lens feels nicer to me. I haven’t skilled any main construct high quality points with both lens, regardless of months of utilizing them in troublesome environments.

As for dealing with options, each lenses are approach too sparse for my tastes. Neither lens even has an M-A swap! The Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 at the very least has a zoom locking swap, whereas the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 doesn’t have any buttons or switches in any respect. Each lenses have a zoom ring and a spotlight ring.

Briefly, I don’t assume both lens has a dramatic benefit in construct high quality, however I do lean towards preferring the Nikon lens barely.

Focal Size (and Associated Concerns)

Clearly, a 24-200mm superzoom is a special beast from a 70-300mm telephoto zoom. The variations in focal size alone are sufficient to make the “winner” of this comparability clear for lots of photographers. If you happen to want 24mm, go along with the Nikon; in the event you want 300mm, go along with the Tamron!

However possibly you have already got different lenses that cowl these focal lengths, otherwise you’re merely extra involved in in picture high quality issues. Even then, I nonetheless advocate stopping to consider the focal lengths of those two lenses – the one you decide could have cascading results on the remainder of the lenses you’ll carry alongside.

For instance, a preferred two-lens package for Nikon Z shooters is the Z 14-30mm f/4 and the Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. These two lenses make for a really compact package masking the whole lot from ultra-wide to telephoto.

In the meantime, to cowl the identical vary with the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3, you’d must throw a midrange lens in your bag, or else you’ll have a spot of focal lengths within the center. One thing just like the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4, Nikon Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3, or Nikon Z 50mm f/1.8 would work properly. Though this leads to a three-lens package quite than a two-lens package, you’ll be reaching 300mm as an alternative of 200mm, so it’s price contemplating.

Then there’s the query of f-stop. All through the shared focal lengths, the Tamron lens has a bonus right here, gathering about 1/3 cease to 1 cease extra gentle relying on the focal size. For low-light pictures, that may make a distinction… with one caveat. The Nikon 24-200mm f/4-6.3 has vibration discount, whereas the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 doesn’t!

Most of Nikon’s Z-series cameras have in-body picture stabilization, so it doesn’t actually matter in case your lens has VR or not. However in the event you shoot with a camera just like the Nikon Zfc or Z50 that has no in-body picture stabilization, the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR has an enormous benefit. Picture stabilization works wonders in the event you’re capturing handheld with a telephoto.

In spite of everything that, in the event you’re nonetheless undecided, learn on!

Picture High quality

Which lens performs higher optically between the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3? It relies upon the place you look! Let me undergo our findings beneath.

1. Distortion

You’d most likely count on a superzoom to have extra distortion than a devoted telephoto zoom… and also you’d be proper. Listed here are the 2 distortion graphs:

The Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 has the upper distortion numbers, with a whopping 5.82% barrel distortion at 24mm! Though that is usually corrected routinely in post-processing, it’s nonetheless concerningly excessive. Upon correcting such sturdy distortion, it’s possible you’ll lose sharpness because of stretching the picture into place.

As for the shared focal size vary, the 24-200mm nonetheless has extra distortion, though it’s a more in-depth comparability now. The principle distinction is that the Tamron lens has virtually zero distortion at 70mm, whereas the Nikon lens has a really excessive 3.24% pincushion distortion on the similar focal size. After 70mm, distortion efficiency turns into very related on each lenses, hovering round 2.5-3%.

2. Vignetting

Like with distortion, I’d often count on a superzoom to have extra vignetting than a devoted telephoto zoom. On this case, nevertheless, the other is true. Listed here are the graphs:

That’s a number of knowledge to digest, so enable me to simplify issues a bit. The best measurement we recorded was certainly on the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3, with 2.47 stops of vignetting wide-open at 24mm. Nonetheless, within the shared zoom vary, the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 outperforms the Tamron lens at each focal size. It by no means will get above 1.16 stops of vignetting from 70mm to 200mm, whereas the Tamron lens reaches 1.72 stops in the identical vary.

3. Lateral Chromatic Aberration

Lenses can behave unpredictably on the subject of chromatic aberration, so I used to be actually to check which certainly one of these two would win right here. It seems to be the Tamron, at the very least within the shared vary of focal lengths. Listed here are the total charts:

Trying on the vary from 70mm to 200mm, the Tamron lens considerably outperforms the Nikon Z lens in chromatic aberration. That mentioned, when you zoom all the best way into 300mm with the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3, it has simply as a lot CA because the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. Fortunately, lateral chromatic aberration is fairly simple to repair in post-processing with minimal unwanted side effects, however each lenses have some iffy efficiency right here, relying on the focal size.

4. Sharpness

Now the second you’ve been ready for – sharpness! I’ll concentrate on evaluating the 2 lenses of their shared zoom vary (70-200mm), since you already know which lens is sharper at 24mm, and which lens is sharper at 300mm 🙂

We’ll begin with 70mm:

As you’ll be able to see from the graph above, it’s a fairly shut comparability – though, just remember to’re evaluating the proper apertures in opposition to each other! The Nikon lens is already at f/6 at this level, whereas the Tamron lens is at its most aperture of f/4.5. On steadiness, the Nikon lens is a bit sharper at 70mm, particularly within the corners. Nonetheless, the variations slender at f/11 and f/16, and so they weren’t enormous within the first place.

Now for 105mm / 100mm:

This time, central and midframe efficiency are barely higher on the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 general. Nonetheless, the corners of the body considerably favor the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR. For no matter motive, the Tamron lens goes by means of a little bit of a weak spot within the corners round 100mm. Nikon is unquestionably the winner right here.

Lastly, right here’s 200mm:

This time, central sharpness is extraordinarily related, however the Tamron lens is a lot better in each the midframes and corners. That makes for a extremely attention-grabbing scenario! The sharper lens of those two is 100% dependent upon your focal size. On the wider focal lengths from 70mm to 100mm, I a lot choose the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3. Nonetheless, at 200mm, the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 is the clear winner. On the finish of the day, the sharper lens for you comes all the way down to which focal lengths you count on to make use of extra usually.

Worth

Each of those lenses are price range choices, with the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR promoting for $900 and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 for $700. (Nonetheless, these costs don’t account for gross sales, that are fairly frequent on each lenses.)

I believe that each of those lenses are barely overpriced in the event you purchase them at MSRP, however they grow to be good values throughout any typical sale. Additionally, I wouldn’t say that one lens is clearly a greater worth than the opposite. Though the Nikon Z lens is $200 costlier, that’s often what you’ll get with a Nikon-brand lens in comparison with a Tamron-brand lens – particularly because it has vibration discount.

You possibly can test the present costs, and assist my testing efforts at Photography Life, on the following B&H affiliate hyperlinks:

Conclusion

In a lot of the areas that matter, it’s a toss-up as to which lens is healthier between the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3. The principle distinction isn’t in construct high quality, worth, and even picture high quality; it’s merely focal size. And the “higher” lens in that regard will differ from photographer to photographer.

Personally, I ended up getting the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR for my very own pictures, because it allowed me to exchange my Z 24-70mm f/4 S and preserve my bag extraordinarily gentle for journey pictures. Nonetheless, I additionally don’t run into many conditions the place 300mm can be helpful to my pictures. If you happen to count on that you’ll encounter such conditions, even often, I’d lean towards the Tamron lens. It’s simple to seek out light-weight zooms and primes within the midrange of focal lengths, however there aren’t a number of 300mm lenses which might be almost as gentle because the Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3.

I hope this helps! Be happy to ask me something about these two lenses within the remark part beneath, and I’ll do my greatest to reply.