Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ Review

The Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ is a full-frame mirrorless lens targeted toward videographers and hybrid shooters. Although it isn’t Nikon’s first PZ (Power Zoom) lens, it’s their first that is meant for a professional audience. The high-end nature of the lens is evident not just in the build quality, but also the price of $2800. Is this lens worth buying, or should you choose something like the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S instead? In this detailed review of the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ, we will answer all your most pressing questions about this interesting lens!

Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ Video Review

Photography Life team member Libor Vaicenbacher has been using the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ extensively in the field. Given the nature of this lens as a video-oriented tool, we decided to bring you a full-length field test in video form. The bulk of this video (indeed, everything where the lens isn’t visible on screen) was filmed with the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ:

Lens Specifications

Although the video covers the most important aspects of using this lens in the field, I’ll continue the review with some more details that you may be wondering about, starting with specifications:

• Full Name: Nikon NIKKOR Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ
• Mount Type: Nikon Z Mount
• Focal Length: 28-135mm zoom (4.8x zoom)
• Angle of View (Full Frame): 75° to 18°
• Maximum Aperture: f/4
• Minimum Aperture: f/22
• Aperture Blades: 9, rounded
• Filter Size: 95mm
• Lens Elements: 18
• Lens Groups: 13
• Special Elements: 4 aspherical, 3 ED, 1 aspherical ED
• Image Stabilization: No
• Internal Focusing: Yes
• Internal Zoom: Yes
• Control Rings: Zoom, focus, custom
• Function Button: Yes (duplicated on side and top)
• Switches: Zoom lever and A/M switch
• Focus Motor: STM
• Minimum Focus Distance: 34 cm (13 inches) at 28mm; 57 cm (22 inches) at 135mm
• Maximum Magnification: 0.25× (1:4)
• Mount Material: Metal
• Weather/Dust Sealing: Yes
• Dimensions (Length × Diameter): 178 x 105 mm (7.0 x 4.1 inches)
• Weight: 1120 g (2.47 lbs)
• MSRP: $2800 (Check current price)

That’s an advanced set of specs, and as you saw in Libor’s video review, the unique features of this lens work well. It is very well-built and handles smoothly in practice. But how does it perform in a lab environment? I decided to test that to see how it holds up, and the results are pretty interesting. We’ll start with distortion and work our way toward sharpness results.

Parfocal or Not?

When announcing this lens, Nikon said that “shifts in focus position and the center of gravity that occur with zooming have been minimized.” However, they stopped short of claiming the lens is actually parfocal. In my tests, I found that it is clearly not a parfocal lens. Small zoom adjustments are close enough, but going from 28mm to 135mm (or the opposite) will result in the focus position changing.

Is this a big deal? In some sense, it is – videographers certainly prefer the focus point to remain constant when zooming. On the other hand, there is still less focus shift than with most zoom lenses. It’ll be visible in a pair of photos, but it’s small enough that it won’t be obtrusive if you quickly refocus after zooming in a video. And indeed, you saw exactly that in Libor’s video review of the 28-135mm f/4 PZ – plenty of times where the zoom went from wide to tele, but none where I caught any noticeable focus shifts. Still, I wish that Nikon had found a way around this. My camera did not seem to compensate for focus changes via software when zooming in/out, or at least not enough to eliminate the effect.

Distortion

As expected from a midrange zoom, the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ has some barrel distortion at the wide end and some pincushion distortion at the long end. It’s on the moderate to high side, particularly at 135mm, but can still be corrected without any major lingering issues. The maximum is 4.82% pincushion distortion.

Vignetting

This lens puts up a very respectable vignetting performance. It’s only significant at 28mm when shooting wide-open at f/4. The maximum of 1.89 stops is comparable to what we saw on the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S (1.81 stops). At the longer focal lengths, however, the PZ lens has a small advantage, maxing out at 1.20 stops (while the 24-120mm f/4 S reaches 1.45 stops at 120mm).

Lateral Chromatic Aberration

Chromatic aberration is a factor on this lens. It hits a maximum of 2.50 pixels of CA when shooting at 28mm and f/11. The performance improves beyond 28mm, and at 50mm, it is totally negligible. CA picks back up as you zoom into 70mm and beyond, with 135mm also being a little on the high end with nearly 2 pixels of CA by our measurements. You can see the test results here:

This is higher than I had hoped, and potentially high enough that you could see some small, lingering artifacts in very high-contrast corner areas (like tree branches against the sky) even after corrections. That said, it’s not a dealbreaker and is still within the realm of what can be corrected most of the time without issue.

Sharpness

I was very interested to see how the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ would perform in terms of sharpness – even more than I am with most lenses! That’s because, as a video-oriented lens, it was designed for different priorities compared to most of Nikon’s lenses.

What priorities am I referring to? For starters, the lens has essentially zero focus breathing (as you saw in Libor’s video review). It also has minimal focus shift and great bokeh. And, in order to maintain its balance on a video gimbal, the lens does not change in length when zoomed or focused. All of this is very welcome, especially for videography… but there are always some tradeoffs in lens design, and most of these features tend to come at the expense of some sharpness.

With that said, let’s see how the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ performs in our lab:

It’s clear that this is not a perfect performance, but it’s also not bad. For filming in 4K (which is about 8 megapixels), you will never notice any issues, even in the corners. 8K video (roughly 33 megapixels) could occasionally show minor optical compromises in the corners, but nothing that reaches a concerning level to me. I should also point out that our tests are done on uncropped RAW files, so if you shoot video in a 16×9 aspect ratio, the weakest of the corners – which are still fine – won’t be in your footage anyway. All in all, I think the sharpness of this lens is quite good for its intended use of videography.

I should also note that this lens has no meaningful focus shift, and only a small amount of classic-shaped field curvature. Nothing to worry about in either case.

What about for still photography? It’s still a sharp lens, but if you don’t need its specialized videography features, you might as well pick something that’s less expensive. The most obvious alternative is the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S, whose sharpness numbers I’ll show below. You can also read our full Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S review to see its vignetting, CA, and distortion numbers.

Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ vs Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S

28mm / 24mm

Both lenses are quite similar at 24mm, especially in the center and midframes. In the far corners, the 28-135mm f/4 PZ is a little sharper from f/5.6 to f/11, with the advantage at f/8 being the most significant.

35mm

At 35mm, the two lenses are quite similar again. The Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S is a little better across the board at f/4 and f/5.6. At f/8, center and midframe results are comparable, but the PZ lens takes a bit of a lead in the corners. It’s a similar story at f/11, while the two lenses are totally comparable at f/16.

50mm

At 50mm, the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S is a little more clearly ahead. The central region is still pretty similar, but the midframes and corners definitely favor the 24-120mm f/4 S at f/4 and f/5.6. The results at f/8 are also slightly in its favor, but probably not by enough to care. By f/11 and beyond, the two lenses are comparable again.

70mm

70mm is a bit of a different story – the corners have sharpened on the 28-135mm f/4 PZ and weakened on the 24-120mm f/4 S. Central sharpness still favors the 24-120mm, but the situation is enough of a mixed bag that I wouldn’t say either lens has a distinct advantage at this focal length.

105mm

Here, as the corners weaken on the 28-135mm f/4 PZ, the 24-120mm f/4 S takes the lead again. It is clearly sharper than the 28-135mm f/4 PZ wide open, and a little sharper at f/5.6, especially in the midframes. The two lenses approach parity around f/8 and beyond.

135mm / 120mm

Finally, at the longest focal lengths of these two lenses, the pattern remains similar. Corner sharpness numbers are comparable across the aperture range (though they favor the 28-135mm f/4 PZ by a hair at f/8-11). The central and midframe numbers are also pretty similar starting at f/8. However, from f/4 to f/5.6, the less expensive 24-120mm f/4 S is clearly sharper from the center to the midframes.

All in all? The two lenses aren’t so far apart, but the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S is the better performer on balance. Granted, I can think of situations where I’d prefer the sharpness of the 28-135mm f/4 PZ – mostly relating to its small but consistent advantage in the corners at f/8. However, the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S is generally sharper elsewhere, while also costing and weighing less. If you’re not a videographer, or at least a hybrid shooter, you probably don’t need to lust over the 28-135mm f/4 PZ.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ is a compelling lens for videography:

• Zero focus breathing
• No meaningful focus shift when adjusting aperture
• Internal zoom without significant balance changes for video gimbals
• Very smooth and effective power zoom
• Seamless digital zoom to reach 270mm (effective) while maintaining 4K resolution without jitter
• Beautiful background blur
• Solid optical performance with no fatal flaws, though a little more CA than desired
• Geared focus ring and useful form factor for dedicated video rigs

Yet, there are also some important reasons why this isn’t the lens I’d recommend for stills:

• Pricey and specialized
• A little tight on the wide end at 28mm; 24mm would have been preferable
• Relatively large and unportable
• Very critically – no better than lenses like Nikon’s 24-120mm f/4 S in sharpness, distortion, CA, or vignetting, but twice the price!

And there’s one big negative for videography as well:

• This lens is not parfocal, meaning that the focus will shift as you zoom in

This leaves me with an easier recommendation than usual: consider this lens for video (if it’s within your budget and you don’t mind that it isn’t parfocal), but don’t get it for still photos. And that’s probably not a surprising recommendation, given Nikon’s positioning of this lens! But sometimes it’s good when there aren’t any major surprises in our reviews. Unless you need the video-specific features of the Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 S, you can safely keep your current midrange zoom without feeling like you’re missing out.

Where to Buy

This lens is available for $2800 through any of our affiliates:

• Nikon Z 28-135mm f/4 PZ at B&H – Check Current Price and Sales

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