Over the years, Nikon has steadily added to their supertelephoto lineup with excellent lenses 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. But a less expensive option was missing. That’s a big reason why the Nikon Z 180-600 f/5.6-6.3 VR, with a launch price of $1700, was so highly anticipated. Today, after testing the lens extensively in the lab and in the field, I’m here to share my review.
Before I get to the lens itself, let me take you on a little tour of its family tree. Don’t worry, there’s no need to venture into distant history. The only lens that could be considered a direct predecessor is the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6, which was introduced in 2015. At that time, we had no idea that Nikon would introduce the Z-mount just three years later.
On Nikon DSLRs, the 200-500mm f/5.6 was a very successful lens and a clear breakthrough that opened up wildlife photography to a wider range of photographers, mostly thanks to its price of $1400. I dare say that this lens alone won Nikon (and kept Nikon) a lot of customers among budget wildlife photographers. Especially when paired with the Nikon D500 camera, it was truly the ultimate budget wildlife combo.
Things got a little more complicated in 2018, when Nikon introduced the Z7, its first camera with a Z-mount. If you had decided to make the switch from DSLR to mirrorless and wanted to continue using this lens, you had no choice but to grab the FTZ adapter. The image quality was fine, but the autofocus reliability and speed were left lacking with this camera + lens combination.
Honestly, even on DSLRs, the autofocus performance of the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 was no miracle. It was on the slow side compared to the higher-end alternatives. And even though it was an impressive lens for the price, it wasn’t perfect. The 200-500mm lens had an external zoom construction, relatively slow focusing, and moderate weight that would nag at you over time.
If you’re curious whether Nikon listened to the sighs of its customers, and eliminated those complaints in the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, read on.
Specifications
- Full Name: Nikon NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR
- Focal Length: 180-600mm (3.3x zoom)
- Maximum Aperture: f/5.6 to f/6.3
- Minimum Aperture: f/32 to f/36
- Lens Elements: 25
- Lens Element Groups: 17
- Filter Thread Size: 95mm
- Angle of View (FX): 13° 40′ to 4° 10′
- Maximum Magnification: 0.25x (1:4)
- Minimum Focusing Distance: 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) at 180mm; 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) at 600mm
- Vibration Reduction: Yes; normal and sport
- Aperture Blades: 9, rounded
- Fluorine Coating: Yes
- ED Glass Elements: 6
- Aspherical Elements: 1
- Focus Motor: STM
- Internal Focusing: Yes
- Internal Zooming: Yes
- Teleconverter Compatibility: Yes (with both Z teleconverters)
- Focus Limiting Switch: Yes (two positions: full, and ∞ to 6 meters)
- Function Buttons: Yes, one (repeated four times around the front of the lens)
- Dimensions (Length x Diameter): 316 x 110 mm (12.5 x 4.4 inches)
- Weight: 2140 g (4.72 lbs), includes tripod ring
- MSRP: $1699.95 (see current price and sales)
Focal Length and Maximum Aperture
The key parameter, almost the holy grail of every wildlife lens, is the maximum focal length.
In the days of Nikon’s 200-500mm, the competition from Sigma and Tamron included lenses which zoomed to 600mm. With this new lens, Nikon reaches that target as well. The lens has gained the extra 100mm on the long end, in exchange for 1/3 EV of light.
A classic tradeoff. Is it a gain or a loss? In my opinion, definitely a gain. There is also a gain on the wide end from 200mm to 180mm, which isn’t as important as 500mm vs 600mm but still makes a difference.
Here’s a comparison between 180mm and 600mm:
Granted, the Nikon 180-600mm doesn’t have a constant aperture over the whole range, but I can live with that. This lens maintains its maximum aperture of f/5.6 in the 180-300mm range. Starting at 300mm, the aperture changes to f/6.0 and stays that way until 500mm. In the 500-600mm range, the maximum aperture drops to f/6.3.
If you want a 600mm lens with a brighter aperture, Nikon’s Z 600mm f/4 is the most obvious answer, but it also costs more than nine times as much! Adapting an F-mount 600mm f/4 is also an option if you don’t mind the weight of such lenses.
Build Quality and Construction
One of the things that really bothered me about the previous generation Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 was the extending zoom design. When changing the focal length from 200mm to 500mm, the lens lengthened by about 8cm. This not only felt less secure in rainy conditions, but it also caused the lens to grow imbalanced on a carefully-aligned gimbal tripod head.
And this is where I have the first piece of good news. The Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 has an internal zoom, which makes it a breeze to balance on a tripod. Once you make the effort to balance it properly, you won’t need to readjust the gimbal as you zoom, since the lens’s center of gravity changes very little.
Another benefit of the internal zoom on the 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 is that it’s more resistant to dust and moisture. Since there is no vacuum created when zooming, ambient air does not flow in – nor does rain or dust. It’s not that I had major issues with the 200-500mm, but it required more care in harsh weather.
I’m very happy that I can now put these concerns completely to rest. The Nikon Z 180-600mm, although not an S-class lens, is sealed extensively against moisture. Moreover, thanks to its constant length, it is be much easier to equip the lens with additional protection, for example from LensCoat.
A smaller complaint I had with the older 200-500mm f/5.6 also involved the zoom function. With that lens, you had to turn the zoom ring more than 150 degrees to go from the 200mm to the 500mm. This meant that zooming between the extreme positions was more difficult to do quickly. Zooming on the Nikon Z 180-600mm is steeper (a little over 70 degrees), and you can turn from 180mm to 600mm with a single hand movement.
The tripod collar of the older Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 was also designed in a rather unfortunate way. Yes, there’s the usual fact that it was incompatible with the Arca Swiss standard. However, the attachment of the tripod plate was also a problem, since the 200-500mm’s tripod foot only had one thread. Therefore, it was necessary to apply a lot of force to prevent the plate from rotating. Another bit of good news is that the Nikon Z 180-600mm has two threads on the tripod foot! That said, it’s still not Arca-Swiss compatible.
Let’s move to the other end of the lens. Who among us has had a 200-500mm f/5.6 with a perfect lens hood? Well, I sure didn’t. The delicate hood locking mechanism on that lens was notorious for breaking after a while. As for the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3, the lock on the hood is much better designed and should last a lot longer. It’s basically the same mechanism as on the Nikon Z 400mm f/4.5, for example – just push the lock button and twist.
In short, all of my major handling and build 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 also a lighter lens at 2.14 kilos rather than 2.3 kilos (4.7 pounds versus 5.1 pounds). All of this adds up to a lens that is smoother and more enjoyable to use.
Handling
The Nikon 180-600mm is undoubtedly priced to be affordable. However, this affordability comes with some compromises. For example, it does not have the “Memory Set” button found on higher-end lenses. This button can be used to store a focus distance in the lens’s memory, then recall it in a split second with the lens function button (L-Fn). This is very useful when the autofocus misses the target and focuses on the background, for example.
With lenses like the Nikon 400mm f/4.5 or 500mm f/5.6E, I use this feature a lot, and it has saved me plenty of photos. The Nikon 180-600mm does have four duplicating programmable function buttons, which is great. Unfortunately, if you program them for Memory Recall, there is no button left on the lens for Memory Set (and vice versa). You need to use up one of the precious custom buttons on your camera instead.
Too bad, I’d gladly pay a few hundred dollars more for such a button on the lens. It would elevate the lens to a higher category. Although, that’s probably why Nikon didn’t put it there – the point of this lens is to be a budget option, not another $3000+ beast.
The group of switches on the left side of the lens is more modest than on its predecessor. In this respect, however, it’s in line with other Nikon Z lenses, including those of the S-class. The two switches available allow you to toggle between Auto and Manual focus, and then there’s a useful AF limiter with two positions (Full, and Infinity-6m). Unfortunately, the image stabilization settings need to be set in the camera’s menu.
The next page of this review covers the optical characteristics of the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR, including focusing performance and sharpness tests in the lab. So, click the menu below to go to “Optical Features”:
Table of Contents
