Our Lens Tests Are Back! What Should We Review First?

The title says it all – our new lens testing studio is operational! There’s a long list of lenses in front of me to review, and only so many days in a year. So, I’d love to hear what you want to see us review first at Photography Life.

At the end of this article is a link to a Google Forms survey where I hope you’ll share your thoughts. But first let me offer some context.

Photography Life is usually known as a Nikon-centered site. Nasim, Libor, and I have shot with Nikon cameras extensively (although not exclusively) for years. When we’re not publishing tutorials, we’re usually publishing articles on Nikon equipment. And the Nikon coverage will only speed up now that we can test lenses again.

Still, in the mirrorless age, it’s easier than ever to adapt lenses from one brand to another, even with autofocus. Sports and wildlife photographers will usually prefer faster-focusing native lenses, but a slower-paced landscape photographer could reasonably shoot with a Nikon Z camera and a full lineup of Sony E or Leica M glass. There are also photographers who may want to compare optical quality across brands for various reasons (aside from just being a fanboy).

That’s a long way of saying that I’d love to start reviewing lenses for multiple lens mounts, with Imatest data that can be compared from one company to another. I think that our existing audience of mostly Nikon-based photographers could find it useful, and certainly any Fuji/Canon/Sony/Panasonic/etc. photographers would as well.

Even so, I intend to finish our reviews of native Nikon Z lenses before branching out. The Z lenses and teleconverters we still need to review are as follows:

• Nikon Z 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 DX VR
• Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8
• Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S
• Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8
• Nikon Z 28mm f/2.8
• Nikon Z 40mm f/2
• Nikon Z 50mm f/1.2 S
• Nikon Z MC 50mm f/2.8 Macro
• Nikon Z 58mm f/0.95 S
• Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S Macro
• Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S
• Nikon Z 400mm f/2.8 VR S
• Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S
• Nikon Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S
• Nikon Z 1.4x Teleconverter
• Nikon Z 2x Teleconverter

Some of these lenses aren’t readily available yet, and it may still be a while before we can test hard-to-find glass like the 800mm f/6.3. But broadly speaking, we’ll listen to your answers in the survey and try to review the most anticipated lenses first.

Beyond that, I’m interested in hearing any suggestions, requests, or feedback that you have for our reviews. I want to make them better than ever. Feel free to leave your thoughts not just in the survey, but also in the comment section below.

The link to the Google Forms questionnaire is here:

• After more than 600 responses, the form is now closed. We will be posting the results soon.