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Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 Review

Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8

By Spencer Cox 41 Comments
Published On February 14, 2023

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Table of Contents

  • Specifications & Build Quality
  • Optical Features
  • Sharpness Comparisons
  • Verdict
  • Reader Comments
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options
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41 Comments
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Mike
Mike
March 1, 2023 11:10 am

@spencercox, how does the 28mm end of the Z 17-28 compare to the Z 28 2.8? Thank you.

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Gerard
Gerard
February 22, 2023 6:51 pm

I like Tamron and got a few of those, but I would never ever pay Nikon money for a Tamron lens.
That’s just dumb.

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Josiah
Josiah
February 17, 2023 10:36 pm

“I recommend updating your Nikon Z camera’s firmware to allow linear manual focus” Is that available on my z6? I researched online for a while but could only find a few lenses like the 70-200mm z and 400mm 2.8 tc z that supported it and only on the z9 and the mark ii models. Does every z lens support that on those cameras?

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Reply
Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  Josiah
February 18, 2023 2:53 am

Unfortunately not, it applies to the Z6 II, Z7 II, and Z9 so far. It’s not the end of the world – I still use my Z6 and Z7 all the time for Milky Way photography, you just need to take a bit more time to nail focus on the stars.

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Ivan
Ivan
February 16, 2023 9:28 am

Spencer, will you guys be reviewing the new Nikon 85mm f/1.2? Thanks for this review!

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Reply
Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  Ivan
February 16, 2023 4:23 pm

Yes we will! My plan is to prioritize reviewing all of the Z lenses. At this point, we’ve reviewed most of them, but there are still a few left to go.

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Johannes
Johannes
Reply to  Spencer Cox
February 17, 2023 1:33 pm

How long do we have to wait for a 50 1.2 review? :)

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Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  Johannes
February 18, 2023 2:49 am

I need to get a bunch of portrait samples with it first! I don’t want to just show my usual landscapes, no one buys a 50mm f/1.2 to photograph mountains.

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bg5931
bg5931
February 15, 2023 4:27 pm

That was quick: In the UK, this lens is already £120 off.

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Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  bg5931
February 16, 2023 4:17 pm

Nice! It seems like the type of lens that will go on sale pretty often.

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Pieter Kers
Pieter Kers
February 15, 2023 4:12 am

I am hanging on to my d850 for now and decide this year what i do:
It will be a Z8 if it has the right specs; or maybe i go to Sony 7rV. I have not bought any Z-lens yet so can still choose. What i dislike about Nikon is the almost complete lack of third party lenses. I like sigma lenses for one. Also i would like to see improvement on multishot in a Z8.
Sony has implemented it almost in a good way i read. Nikon can do better i hope.
Reviews are nice but i want to test (rent) these camera’s and lenses myself to find out the good/bad i am personally interested in. Till then i manage with my D850 that already works for 5 years and shot 400.00 images…
A real shutter has advantages; I spoke to the Nikon repair and they had already some Z9’s with burned-in sensors… try a timelapse with a sun in the frame!
New is not always better ; My Sigma f-bajonet primes are heavy but also hard to beat even by S-standards.

a good lens stays forever; this Tamron just is not it.

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Filip
Filip
Reply to  Pieter Kers
February 15, 2023 10:27 pm

Real shutter will not help with mirrorless agains Sun burned sensors. I assume that having a Sun in the photo means that the actual shot will take a split second but framing the photo may take minutes, while all the time the Sun is shining at the sensor. On every mirrorless camera.

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Daniel Eppelsheimer
Daniel Eppelsheimer
February 14, 2023 5:27 pm

You hinted at the AF-S 18-35 G
But left me hanging. That lens
I own and use often on D800.
Please more about your experience.

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Reply
Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  Daniel Eppelsheimer
February 16, 2023 4:16 pm

Nasim has a full review of that lens! Although, he measured it on the D810, so the exact Imatest numbers aren’t comparable to the ones in this 17-28mm review. In any case, you’ll get a great sense of our experience with that lens if you read his review in full: photographylife.com/revie…-f3-5-4-5g

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bg5931
bg5931
February 14, 2023 4:51 pm

Together with a 24-200, this would make for a very competent, very lightweight, compact, and not overly pricy hiking kit. “Unfortunately” (well…) I already have the 14-24/2.8 Z, so it is very hard to justify any other wide angle acquisitions.

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Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  bg5931
February 14, 2023 4:58 pm

Well, the 14-24mm f/2.8 S is arguably the best wide-angle lens ever made, so I wouldn’t sweat it too much :)

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bg5931
bg5931
Reply to  Spencer Cox
February 15, 2023 6:32 am

Sometimes the thought of a shiny new toy makes it difficult to be reasonable. ;)

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HMS
HMS
February 14, 2023 4:15 pm

Spencer, I enjoyed reading your review of the Nikon Z 17-28mm; its performance looks to be very solid and demonstrates that Tamron can produce credibly good lenses for Nikon. The lens is however not for me, as it is too short at the long end. While I own the Z 14-30mm, I find it also a bit too short at the long end. Ideally as a landscape and city-scape shooter I’d like a 16/17-35mm in Z mount, to pair up with my 24-120. A lot of my city-scape stuff requires focal lengths ranging from less than 20mm to 35mm. Walking around town with the 14-30mm, more often than not forces a lens change to the 24-120 to capture that missing range between 30 and 35mm. I could resort to my F-mount Tamron 17-35mm, but I’m not loving the gen1 FTZ adapter. I’m thinking of possibly adapting Sony’s 16-35m f4, but that can bring bits own problems…
Cheers.

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Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  HMS
February 14, 2023 4:58 pm

That makes sense, you could keep the lens changes to a minimum with a wide-angle that reaches 35mm. However, if you don’t like the FTZ adapter, I suspect you won’t be any happier with a Sony-to-Nikon adapter, even one of the good ones. Not sure what the right answer is in your case…

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Patrick Lafont
Patrick Lafont
Reply to  HMS
February 17, 2023 6:38 am

I don’t know if this could be a solution for you, but on my Z7 I assigned a button to switch to DX mode, so if I feel like I’m a little short I can do 20mp shots at 45mm.

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Ircut
Ircut
February 14, 2023 1:36 pm

It’s a much more interesting lens than I expected–I was expecting performance worse than the 14-30mm f/4, but it’s trading blows despite being a stop brighter!

It’s a bit too narrow for my own needs, plus I already have the 14-24mm f/2.8, but it’s still an intriguing option for those that are willing to trade some focal length for a 1 stop brighter lens compared to the 14-30mm f/4.

Meanwhile I’m waiting for Nikon to come out with a 14mm f/1.8 for Milky Way photography. The 20mm f/1.8 looks great, but 20mm is a tad narrow compared to 14mm.

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Reply
Spencer Cox
Spencer Cox
Author
Reply to  Ircut
February 14, 2023 3:15 pm

I felt the same way, this lens was better than I expected.

A Nikon Z 14mm f/1.8 would be a hit among Milky Way photographers, and it would pair well with a lot of their existing lenses (including this one, the 20mm f/1.8, the 14-30mm, etc.)

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Reply

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