NOTE: This article was first published over at nikonglass (https://goo.gl/Fgf5G4) on the 31st October 2010
For Nikon FX users, the 16-35mm f/4 zoom lens is a great addition, especially if you do a lot of landscape photography. Now some of you are probably thinking, what about the 14-24mm, sure it may be a little sharper with a lot less distortion, but it is a lot more demanding and requires expensive and specialized filters. Plus the 14-24 offers less range.
The AFS 16-35mm offers three distinctive characteristics: Firstly, the constant f/4 aperture which we haven’t seen from Nikon in a long time, secondly, the VR technology on a wide angle zoom lens and thirdly, it’s the widest FX lens from Nikon that works with filters (screw on and front mounted). FX users have been waiting for this lens for a long time. The same cannot be said of DX users, since the range is not exciting enough on the smaller format (24-52.5mm).
Even though the 16-35mm is a stop slower than the other pro wide angle zooms from Nikon, it provides a lower priced alternative and a constant aperture of f/4 throughout its zoom range. And though a little cheaper than some other options, the new lens is a bit overpriced for what it really is at just over 1000€ but this doesn’t seem to be hurting sales.
For a thousand euros you get a magnesium alloy chasis and a top quality plastic exterior. It also includes weather-resistant sealing, which means less worrying when shooting in wet conditions. Much like most of the pro lenses from Nikon, the new Nikon 16-35mm VR lens is built to last a lifetime. Being a G-series lens, means it won't work on manual focus cameras because there's no way to set the aperture, however, its fully compatible with all current Nikon DSLRs.
Surprisingly, this lens is quite large, making the combination with a D700 a bit uneven since it tends to nose dive but feels more balanced on the D3. The specs suggest that the AFS 16-35mm is as large as the AFS 24-70mm, but in practice it feels a bit smaller in the palm of your hand. The fact that its lighter than the AFS 24-70mm probably helps in making it feel less bulky too. Its also smaller and lighter than the AFS 14-24mm. So even though the new constant f/4 aperture lens seems bulky at first, in reality it has less metal and glass in its construction making it a pleasure to use on a D3 or D700 & MB-D10. As already mentioned, the lens provides a 77mm filter thread so using filters is not a problem like it is with the 14-24mm. As usual, the zoom ring is closer to the camera body and the focus ring is towards the front. The manual focusing feel has the typical looseness of most modern Nikkors and the zooming the typical stiffness - nothing unusual.
The 16-35mm is a totally new design and is made up of 17 elements in 12 groups. The optical construction includes two ED glass elements and three aspherical glass elements to minimize distortion and aberrations. One of the other reasons why the optical construction is so complex and the lens so big and heavy is the inclusion of the additional stabilization elements of the VR mechanism, which is another reason why this lens has such a high price tag. According to Nikon you get up to four f-stops of shutter speed advantage, something that can come in handy if shooting in low light. The lens also offers Nikon's Nano Crystal coatings which help to subdue internal reflections, thereby reducing the risk of flare and ghosting. Like most modern Nikkors, it has 9 rounded diaphragm blades as well for better bokeh performance. Overall, Nikon has put a lot of effort in producing this lens.
There is no doubt that this lens is sharp! Plus chromatic aberrations are practically non existent.
This 100% screen grab shows how good the lens performs under harsh conditions. Any Chromatic aberrations have been easily removed by Lightroom. 35mm @ f/4
The lens performs best between 20-35mm while at 16mm you get the lowest performance, though still very good (best to avoid wide open aperture at 16mm). Edges are quite good both in terms of resolution and light fall off thanks to its flatness of field across all focal length and aperture ranges though under certain circumstances light fall off can be heavy (again, best to avoid wide open aperture at 16-20mm). Also worthy of note, is the negligible loss in resolution due to diffraction from f/11 on.
Chromatic aberrations: CA's shouldn’t be a problem since they are non distinguishable under most circumstances and the same goes for color fringing, though those two are more evident at the 16mm setting.
Vignetting: One must not forget that providing a 77mm filter thread on such a wide angle of view (107°) is not an easy task and will in most cases affect the vignetting performance of the lens. Personally, I feel that light fall off isn’t really a problem with this lens and its purpose, but technically speaking, it is “noticeable” when shooting clear sky’s wide-open and at all focal lengths, however, it wasn't very obvious and was easily resolved by closing down one stop if you felt it may cause a problem for your particular subject. Of course the problem is nearly non existent for shooters utilizing Nikon's auto-correction facilities (either hardware or software).
Distortion: This is one area where you will have to learn to live with the short comings. For landscapes this won’t be much of a problem and horizons can be fixed if needed, since its not of the mustache type, but for those shooting architecture professionally, other lenses will be required. Heavy barrel distortion is very noticeable from 16 to 18 and has pretty much disappeared by 20mm. At 35mm pincushion distortion is slightly noticeable but not bothersome. For those shooting jpg’s or using Nikon Capture NX, most of the lens‘s shortcomings will be automatically corrected to some degree.
Flaring and ghosting: Unfortunately, flaring can be a problem at times but not so much as to be regretting the purchase. Shooting against the sun most of the time produced good results and no loss of contrast, but sometimes would produce ugly ghosting of various colors and shapes. Usually, if spotted during composition, you could ever so slightly tilt or swing the camera and remove the flaring, so in a sense its manageable.
This lens should not be compared with the 14-24mm f/2.8 zoom. They are different lenses designed for different purposes and they both excel at those. The old AFS 17-35mm f/2.8, even though a good performer on the D700, is best left alone since it was designed for film and is still expensive to this day. The new AFS 16-35mm f/4 VR is sharper and an overall better performer with the added advantage of VR technology. As for the "legendary" AFS 14-24mm f/2.8, it is produces both sharper and less distorted images than both across the frame and at all focal lengths, but as already noted is of limited range and offers no filter attachment.
Even though slightly overpriced for what it really is, the AFS 16-35mm f/4 is an excellent lens for all those landscapers out there. Overall the 16-35mm lens can produce high resolution images throughout the aperture and focal length range but more precisely, best performance is between f/5.6 and f/16 and from 18mm to 30mm. So if you are shooting landscapes, then this lens will serve you well. On the other hand if you are thinking of buying this lens for anything else other than shooting landscapes, you may be disappointed. One exception may be travelers and street photography, since the light weight and the VR technology may be a bonus for them. Wedding and event photographers may also be interested in this lens, but I personally feel that the AFS 14-24mm f/2.8 is a better investment for them. The lens is a winner in my eyes even at the high asking price.
If you enjoyed this article I would really appreciate an upvote ;-) You could also help me by resteeming my article for others to find and read, thanks!
