Our Recommendation
I was surprised by the Nikon Z 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ, I’ll admit it. I expected a cheap lens with bad image quality and an awkward power zooming mechanism. And while the lens certainly isn’t perfect, it exceeded my expectations in a number of ways.
First, the image quality is pretty good. It’s not Nikon’s best-in-class, but the sharpness is quite high even through the corners of the image, and there’s pretty minimal flare or chromatic aberration. The lens’s main image quality flaws are its distortion and vignetting, which are somewhat easier to correct (and in the case of vignetting, only really obtrusive at 12mm and f/3.5).
Where build quality is concerned, I’m very encouraged by the internal zoom design, which is better sealed against dust and grit compared to most wide-angle zooms. Nikon also managed to make the lens impressively small and light, making it a great option for travel photography. And while I was initially worried about how the power zoom would feel, it actually impressed me with its responsiveness and control (though for still photography, I’d still prefer a traditional zoom mechanism). That said, I wish that Nikon had added some more controls beyond just the zoom and focus rings, and potentially used some higher-quality plastics on a couple parts of the barrel.
Here’s how I’d sum up the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Extremely portable design that is easy to travel with
- Internally zooming construction is welcome in harsh environments
- Very good sharpness even in the corners of the image
- Very good chromatic aberration performance
- Minimal flare and ghosting
- Power zoom feature will be welcomed by videographers
- Excellent value for the money at $360
Cons:
- Some cheaper areas of plastic, namely on the focus ring and the very front of the barrel
- No meaningful controls or handling features
- No lens hood included
- Very high distortion at 12mm (though correctable)
- Pretty high vignetting when shooting wide open at 12mm
- Power zoom feature may still bother some photographers despite the good implementation
Although the pros and cons lists are both pretty long, I think that the pros are more important. Most of all, the size, price, and sharpness of the Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR are really impressive. Even the biggest flaws with this lens are hardly fatal, and I can recommend it pretty strongly.
What are the alternatives? Well, that’s part of why this one gets my recommendation. There are hardly any other ultra-wide zooms currently available for the Z system. You could adapt the F-mount Nikon AF-P 10-20mm f/3.5-5.6 from its DSLR origins (or a variety of other DSLR lenses), but that adds the weight and expense of the FTZ adapter. You could go with the full-frame Z 14-30mm f/4 S for a much higher price and weight, but that probably doesn’t make sense unless you also have, or intend to buy, a Nikon Z FX camera. Finally, the best alternative is probably the third-party Viltrox 13mm f/1.4 AF. It has drawbacks of its own – it’s heavier, more expensive, and cannot zoom – but due to the much brighter maximum aperture, it’s the better choice if Milky Way photography is one of your main goals.
That said, I think that the Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ is pretty much a no-brainer for most Nikon Z DX photographers. It’s ultralight, inexpensive, and sharp. There is no perfect competitor on the market. Yes, I can find some flaws with this lens – and it’s true that things like distortion and vignetting are not irrelevant even today – but most of the lens’s problems are pretty easy to work around. Maybe Nikon or a third-party company will release a different lens that makes me reconsider, but for now, this is the ultra-wide lens I would get as a Nikon Z DX photographer.
Conclusion
The Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR is available for $360 through any of our affiliates:
- Nikon Z DX 12-28mm PZ at B&H – Check Current Price and Sales
- Also available at Adorama and on Amazon
- Used: Check prices and availability at KEH
You can also buy the lens hood for this lens here:
Thank you for buying your equipment through the links above, whether it’s this lens, the hood, or anything else! When you do, Photography Life gets a small percentage of the sale without costing you anything extra. It goes a long way toward helping us test more equipment.
The next page of this review has some more sample photos from the Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR, followed by reader comments on the final page. Use the Table of Contents below the star rating to jump to the section you want.
Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR
- Build Quality and Handling
- Size and Weight
- Sharpness Performance
- Other Image Quality (Before Software Corrections)
- Value
Photography Life Overall Rating
Table of Contents