Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR review: your one travel lens

Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR: Two-minute review

As photographers and videographers, sometimes we just want to pack one lens that can do it all, but this comes with a few drawbacks. Typically, the broader the focal range and faster the maximum aperture, the bigger, heavier and ultimately more expensive the lens. The good news for Nikon shooters is that the Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens – which the manufacturer refers to as its ‘superzoom’ – is the lightest full-frame lens in its maker’s line-up while offering a maximum focal length of 400mm. As well as being useful for bringing the faraway closer, the telephoto end is also well suited to portraiture, for when we want to attractively throw the background out of focus and achieve attractive bokeh, while keeping our subject pin-sharp. 

With a minimum focus distance of 0.2m at its widest setting allowing for reasonable close-ups of flora and fauna, and a still-useful 1.2m at the telephoto end, those shooting handheld in more demanding lighting conditions are aided by Nikon’s built-in Vibration Reduction image stabilization, here providing equivalent to up to five stops. This is boosted to 5.5 stops when the lens is used with a Nikon camera, such as the Z f, that has a Synchro VR feature. This allows for image-stabilized camera bodies and image-stabilized lenses to work in tandem – an automatic process if the user has already activated it, the result being less pronounced blur caused by camera shake. For the record, other Nikon camera bodies with this feature aside from the Z f include its flagship Z 8 and Z 9 mirrorless models.

At its widest 28mm setting this lens also proves perfectly suited for landscape and travel photography – it’s wide, without being so wide as to cause fisheye or barrel-like distortion – while nudge a bit further up the zoom range and it’s great for street photography and people watching. In short, yes, this is a single lens that can do it all.

It’s a contender for one of the best Nikon Z lenses, and of course you’ll need one of the best mirrorless cameras from Nikon to pair it with. I used the impressive retro-styled Nikon Z f for the duration of my test, which felt like something of a perfect marriage, in that the camera body and lens are almost identical in weight, so the combination doesn’t feel too ‘front-heavy’ in the hand.

Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR: price and availability

• Costs $1,299.95 / £1,399 / AU$2,199
• Available to buy now
• Lens hood is supplied

The Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR was announced on March 26 2024, and costs $1,299.95 / £1,399 / AU$2,199

While it’s not a cheap lens, having spent some time shooting with it the price feels fair (and it’s much better value for Nikon users in the US than in the UK).  That’s not just because of build quality and performance, but because it’s basically capable of replacing a whole bag full of prime lenses that would otherwise be necessary to cover anything approaching the broad focal range on offer here. 

On top of that, most of us don’t want to kart a lens the size and weight of a dedicated 400mm around with us for day-to-day shooting, on the off-chance that we might actually need it – even if Nikon claims its Nikkor Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S is the lightest lens in its class at 2.75lb / 1,245g. Similarly, at the other end of the scale, a 28mm focal length might not be quite what we always have in mind for the treatment of a particular subject.

A possible alternative to the Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is the Nikkor Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR if you’re after a catch-all zoom for this specific mount. It starts out wider and only has half the reach of the 28-400mm, but it’s also less expensive at around $899.95 / £899 / AU$1,599.

Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR: design

• 14.2x optical zoom
• Extending barrel
• Rubber-sealed and weather resistant

We get the equivalent of a generous 14.2x optical zoom, with common focal distances/framing options marked in millimeters at regular intervals on the barrel itself. Just behind these sits a control ring with a rougher feel and which is assigned to manual focus by default, although it can be assigned to adjust aperture, exposure compensation, or ISO. When set to manual focus, twisting the ring will momentarily override autofocus. 

The focus markings on the lens barrel start out at the maximum 28mm, progressing through 35mm, 50mm, 70mm, 105mm, 200mm and 300mm before arriving at 400mm. At this point the almost comically fully extended lens barrel resembles a child’s kaleidoscope, and not just the look but also the feel of this lens reminded me of a ‘super-zoom’ bridge camera like the Nikon Coolpix P1000. The lens’s ridged rubberized surface enables a nice firm grip when holding or rotating the barrel to cycle through its broad focal range.

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The design of the Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR is further practical in offering a degree of weather resistance, with Nikon helpfully providing sealing around the mount and its moving parts. I was testing the camera in the UK in April, a month that’s prone to sudden rain showers, and while I made sure that neither the lens nor the camera got too wet, a light drizzle didn’t stop me from continuing to shoot.

A lens hood is included to prevent instances of possible flare in brighter conditions, and this can be ‘worn’ in reverse/inverted on the lens for easier transportation without affecting lens use. There’s also a lens lock to prevent the barrel from being accidentally nudged and extending as you’re walking around with it, although I didn’t often feel the need to engage this.

Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR: Performance

• Only 1.6lbs / 725g
• Balances well with Nikon's smaller Z-mount cameras
• Speedy autofocus

This lens is as much about portability and practicality as it is about performance, and Nikon has attempted to balance these attributes without too much obvious compromise. A good start is that the lens weighs a manageable 1.6lb / 725g, which makes it fairly evenly balanced when twinned with a body such as the 1.57lb / 710g Nikon Z f I tested it on. The pairing makes for a very solid and sturdy combination that gave me confidence from the off. I carried the camera with lens affixed around for the day without experiencing neck or shoulder ache, although it’s probably at the limit of what I’d feel comfortable traveling with or taking on holiday.

The beauty of this lens’s multi-purpose nature is that if you suddenly come across practically any image opportunity when out and about, you have the tool in your hands to be able to capture that image. Autofocus is both rapid and accurate, and unless there’s busy foreground detail getting in the way you have a high likelihood of achieving the shot you want, which is worth its weight in gold, creatively.

While to my eye results at maximum telephoto weren’t always quite as razor-sharp as from a dedicated 400mm prime lens married to a full frame sensor – and I occasionally got some slight image blur at maximum telephoto when shooting handheld – that’s to be expected. On the whole, I was more than satisfied, and I reckon that all but the most demanding of enthusiasts and amateurs will find detail both plentiful and sufficient for their needs.

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Generally speaking, images are consistently sharp across the frame, whether shooting at maximum wide-angle, extreme telephoto, or pretty much any point in between. Where I occasionally got a softer frame, this was often down to the fact that I was shooting handheld, and simply reframing an image and trying again with my palm wide open and supporting the lens barrel yielded a sharper result. Throughout my test period I kept Vibration Reduction active.

While a lot of zoom lenses have photographers wishing for just that bit more poke at the telephoto end to get them that bit closer, I found the Nikkor’s 400mm maximum setting useful and versatile. For those who prefer shooting with autofocus, I’m pleased to report that the lens’s stepping motor is as quiet as Nikon claims – imperceptibly quiet in fact. I was able to take several shots of a nearby robin perching on a tree branch at eye-level without startling it.

Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR: sample images

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Should I buy the Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR?

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How I tested the Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR

• A mixture of landscape, wildlife and portrait photography
• Used in changeable weather

Nikon pitching the Nikkor Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR as a jack-of-all trades option, I tested it in a variety of shooting scenarios, and the lens generally proved to be a capable performer. Landscapes, wildlife, portraits – we shot them all, with consistently pleasing results. I was ‘blessed’ with changeable weather conditions during my testing period, allowing me to put it through its paces in less than ideal light, and it coped ably with a variety of conditions.