It’s crazy to think that this website reviewed the Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 Z original back in 2019. And today, the company is announcing the revamp of this lens. The new Nikon Z 24-70mm f2.8 S II is part of the S lineup, which means that it’s one of their higher end lenses. When the original launched, we considered it to be one of the absolute best 24-70mm lenses made. But since then, lots of others have come out. So what makes the new one so different?
What’s Changed With the Nikon Z 24-70mm f2.8 S II?
Here are the updates of what’s changed with the new lens:
- Internal zoom, while the previous lens was external zoom
- The original lens weighed 1.55 lbs, while this one weighs only 1.49 lbs
- The claim of increased dust and drip resistance due to being an internal zoom lens
- Using the new Silky Swift VCM motors for autofocusing. With that said, the company claims it to have the fastest focusing in Nikon’s history. Specifically, Nikon says that it’s 5x faster than the original lens with AF tracking performance enhancements by 60%.
- 77mm filter thread, down from 82mm
- 11 aperture blades, up from 9
- 9.4 inch close focusing, while the previous was 1.25 feet. At the telephoto end, it focuses as close as 12.9 inches. Still that’s better than the original.
- The lens hood has a filter adjustment window
- $2,799.95 price tag, which is nearly $1,000 more than the original lens.
- The new lens is 3.4 in. × 5.6 in from the originals 3.5 in x 4.9 in. So the newer lens is taller and leaner vs the shorter and wider previous lens
Some Initial Thoughts for Photographers
Nikon, in their press release, talks specifically about video users and doesn’t really say much about the lens specifically for stills shooting. Sure, we’re getting faster autofocus and there’s mentions of all their lens coatings. But let’s think about all the rest here:
- A longer and thinner lens isn’t always ergonomically ideal. But we’ll have to see. Fujifilm did this with many of their lenses when they updated them, and they didn’t really become any better
- 11 aperture blades means that we’ll get smoother bokeh, but you’ll probably only realize this if you’re comparing the bokeh of the scenes. Otherwise, it’s never going to beat a prime lens and doesn’t really matter. What matters instead is micro-contrast
- A 77mm filter thread is a lot easier to get a filter for than 82mm
- An internal zoom is a pretty great feature. But I wonder how long the focus throw is
- Being half a pound lighter isn’t really a big difference.
- Internal zoom design does indeed make the lens more durable, and I’m all about that these days
- Nikon’s tracking autofocus is already pretty darn great. But I’d love to see how it works with various camera bodies and in low light.
