In this article, I will share my experience using the multitalented Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens. As with my previous article on the Nikon 100-400mm (here), I won’t discuss performance in numerical terms or specifications. You can find that helpful information in the original Photography Life review (here). Instead, I’ll focus on how and why this lens has always been in my backpack, whether visiting a city, hiking mountains, or going on a photography expedition.
Table of Contents
Focal Length
I just completed my re-read of an excellent adventure photography classic written by Galen Rowell nearly 40 years ago: “Mountain Light – In Search of the Dynamic Landscape.” The book is dedicated to adventure photography more than gear, but a section talked about how necessary the 24mm and 75-150mm focal lengths were for him; in very short, they were his bread-and-butter lenses.
Things in photography have changed a lot, and trends in landscape photography today are more about the extremes – especially ultra-wides, but also using longer telephotos to extract details from expansive scenes. I was so used to my 16-35mm f/4 and 70-200mm f/4 that I never even owned a midrange zoom before switching to the Z system!
However, part of that was because I wasn’t satisfied with the Nikon offerings in the past. But now, the Z 24-120mm f/4 has changed my mind completely. I bring with me and use my 24-120mm nearly every time I go out with my camera, whether to document travel, do my best in landscape photography, or even photograph wildlife when animals aren’t shy.
It isn’t a secret that zooms are helpful for their variety of focal lengths. But this one finds the sweet spot of four considerations: focal length range, maximum aperture, image quality, and bulk. There are better midrange zooms in any of these individual respects, but to my knowledge, none are so good in all four of them.
I like to think of a zoom lens (especially one covering both wide and telephoto) as a set of primes. Rather than composing by zooming in and out, I recommend defining how you wish to render the subject, then selecting the focal length (24 / 35 / 50 / 85 / 120) correspondingly. After making your choice, move the camera position instead of zooming to get the desired composition. Although you can still zoom in and out to fine-tune the composition, this approach helps prevent thoughtless composition that can sometimes plague the use of zooms.
Optical Qualities
The Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 has a fixed f/4 aperture. It isn’t as fast as f/2.8, but it is pretty good, given the focal range. This lens does not have vibration reduction, however, the lens works well in tandem with the camera’s in-body image stabilization. If I’m not planning to take long exposures, I sometimes avoid bringing a tripod.
While the usefulness of using a tripod shouldn’t be underestimated, I found this way of working especially useful when trying to go fast and challenge the weather conditions, chasing out-of-the-ordinary situations. In doing so, however, you cannot be afraid to raise the ISO a bit.
The bokeh on this lens is not at the level of faster and brighter lenses, especially fast prime lenses or even an f/2.8 zoom of the same focal lengths. For that reason, I wouldn’t use it as my primary portrait lens, but it certainly is not uncomfortable with reportage photography. The fast and precise autofocus makes that even more true.
Finally, where image quality is concerned, I also find the Z 24-120mm f/4 plenty sharp and optimal for any landscape photography.
Other Features
Although this lens zooms externally and telescopes much longer while zooming, it feels durable and professional and can withstand extensive abuse without issues. As you’ve seen from my photos, I often shoot in very cold conditions – my low was using this lens at -37°C last March at the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic! (And this is just about the same in Fahrenheit, representing -35°F.) Unlike some of my gear in the past, I have never had an issue with the Z 24-120mm f/4 in these conditions. It feels confident and reassuring in comparison, and I cover it only when shooting in heavy rain.
A small bonus with the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 is that it uses a 77mm filter size, which is also used by Nikon’s 100-400mm (and their 70-200 f/2.8 Z). Those who also want to carry an ultra-wide will find that the Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 shares 77mm filters as well, and it pairs nicely with the 24-120mm f/4. The same is true of the Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8. However, the other Nikon ultra-wides unfortunately have different sizes (though you could conceivably use a step-up ring with the Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 and its 67mm filters).
At the same time, there is nothing wrong with using 24mm as your widest lens, either. I could also say that about using 120mm as your longest lens. With this range of focal lengths, a photographer can take excellent photos now, as in Galen Rowell’s time. And there is some joy in the simplicity that comes with just carrying one lens, a 24-120mm f/4.
Personally, as I previously discussed, I go with a two-lens kit most of the time given my wildlife photography. Most often, I pair this lens with the Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. This combination of focal lengths forms a versatile and hard-to-beat kit for nature photography, and a great number of my photos fall within the 24mm to 400mm range.
Conclusion
I have neglected midrange zooms throughout my photographic career, preferring to alternate between wide and telephoto lenses instead. This 24-120mm f/4 changed my mind because it balances everything so well, from image quality to bulk. It is not perfect, but it is much better than “good enough” and helps me produce my desired photos in this range of focal lengths efficiently.
In practice, I found it visibly better than the Nikon Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3, a lens that has gained a reputation for its versatility when fast apertures are unnecessary. I also found it a bit better than Nikon 24-70mm f/4, but mainly, I preferred it for the longer focal length range. (Photography Life has scientifically tested all these lenses anyway and shown their nuances, but this is my personal impression.)
I had trouble selecting the photos to illustrate this essay because of the sheer number of different photos and subjects that I have captured with it. This is as versatile as the photographer could ask a lens to be. It suits my style of nature photography perfectly and supports me in any other type of photography I throw at it.
I hope you found this essay about the value of the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S lens in my photography enjoyable. As a Nikon shooter, I have not used Sony or Canon’s 24-105mm f/4 lenses, but I suspect I would like them as well for similar reasons, even though the small boost on the long end of the focal lengths is very welcome! If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.
Thank you for your comments about the Nikon Z 24-120mm f4 lens. I too have enjoyed using this versatile lens for my landscape photography and for my candid family photography. One thing I didn’t see mentioned was the fact that this lens throws a beautiful sun star!
It’s also my basic combination, 24-120 and 100-400mm, both of which are pretty good at “near macro”. For completion, I add the 600mm f6.3 and the 105 macro.
I had many zooms, starting from 18-135 DX (terrible) to 18-105 DX( good), 24-120 3,5-5,6 and 24-120 f/4 FX (both terrible, sold after 2 months) and 28-300 (love and hate, but I kept it for a long time). I was always looking for a lens suitable for traveling easy, with family, dog and child. They all represent a compromise and never completely satisfying. But traveling with the holy trinity with a 10 years daughter was impossible. Z 24-200 was a step ahead, but not able to resolve the Z7ii sensor (sold it and then bought it again for the Zf, because it fits perfectly the 20 MP sensor.) But the Z 24-120 f/4 is marvelous. After more than 2 yrs I never felt the sense of compromise of previous zooms. Light enough, versatile enough. Able to resolve a 45 MP sensor. And now is always with me, even if in the bag there are 2.8 lenses. And is able to give nices surprises, like sharp sunstars in night photography (much better than Z 14-24 2.8).
Is a lens that every Nikon shooter should have. Not a surprise that the 24-70 f/4 is much cheaper in 2nd hand mkt. I’ve sold my 24-70 2.8 F because it was staying at home most of the time.
Only weakness is macro. Producer marketing claims short focus distance but macro is another story. With the 24-120 you can have some mediocre close up but the image lacks of character and tridimensionality,. But this is not a defect. Macro needs special lenses, as bird photography.
Massimo: thanks for the excellent review!
Nice article. Thanks for your information…
I am keen to add the Z 24-120 F4 lens along with a Wider Prime to my slowly growing collection of Z Lenses.
What is worthwhile noting, as a result of observing the Market Place, is that the
Z 24-70 F4 is to be discovered at approx’ 60% cheaper than a 24-120 F4 when sold as a used item. The 24-70 F4 lens has its own attraction, it will enable an individual on a very tight budget, or not feeling the need for the extra range an opportunity to capture images at a focal length most of the sample images have been taken at in the above article.
Is the above ratio of Focal Lengths selected for the shown images an indicator that the Telephoto Focal Length capabilities of the lens are the least used when the lens is mounted for use?
Good overview and discussion on this versatile lens. It’s what’s mounted on my Z8 90% of the time. One correction though is that this lens does not have VR. That’s about the only thing Nikon did not include with this otherwise great value lens.
Love it as a one lens setup for longer hikes, or when it is difficult to change lenses.
Thanks Nikon, for this marvel!
Now, a 20-35 2.8 wouldn‘t sound too bad, wouldn‘t it? ^^
100 percent agree with you Massimo. I changed from the highly versatile 24-200mm to this, and while a little bulkier, it’s a great do most things lens with high image quality. One thing you omitted is it’s macro abilities, which come in use too.
Great images too; thanks for the article
Glad you enjoyed the article, Mark.
I know it works for close-up photography too, but I’ve never used it that much in that way. That’s why I didn’t mention this feature, preferring to be personal and base my advice and conclusions only on what I actually use.
Thanks for sharing! It is a well-balanced lens and it’s a joy to use for travel. However you should also mention that it has a very high distortion. No big deal on Lightroom for most people, but for someone like me using darktable it means that you do have do correct each image because it’s just very high.
Good point Ben, thank you.
I’m not a Lightroom user too, but I don’t find so annoying correcting the distortion. And the same is for vignetting. Probably because of the subjects I photograph the most I don’t correct them at all. But surely I understand and agree your point: there is a trend of lens projects simplification manufactures follow, leveraging on automatic corrections performed by mainstream software.
I would imagine that the 24-120 would have been even more popular, had the price delta between it and the kit 24-70 not been enough for any one of the 1.8 primes between 35-85, or almost enough for the 105MC on sale. It can be difficult to justify, when the 24-70 is almost as good within its own range, is sunk cost, and when budget limited as a newbie.
I do wish I had went for it when I built my Z setup. 24-70 did turn out to be a touch short for some travel occasions, and changing lenses in the field is not always realistic.
Thank you for your comment, James.
I started my journey with Z mirrorless with a 24-70/4 I got in kit with the Z6. It was a pretty good combination I liked a lot, and honestly I switch to 24-120 just for its longer range, taking the chance to sell that effective kit to a person I know.