This lens from Nikon is the first of the Mirrorless DX lenses. It is retractable so that it is very small when retracted and approximately doubles in size when it is extended for operation. The retractable lens is a great idea to keep the overall size of the camera lens combination to quite a small package. This lens in combination with the Z50 DX camera is a very small and tidy combination. To my mind it will nearly compete in size o some of the mobile phone cameras but offering a vastly better image quality. Lets face it, the camera business is competing head on with the phone cameras.
I have used this lens with the Nikon Z50 DX camera and I am convinced that it is an extremely fine lens. The lens simply extends and retracts by a simple turn of the lens zooming ring.
I have found it to be an excellent lens for landscape photography and also for general photography with its 16mm to 50mm zoom range. As this lens mounts on the new Nikon DX cameras it gives a crop factor of x1.5, so this lens is really equivalent to a 24-75mm lens, when compared to a full frame camera.
Sample Images
I have included a couple of flower images here which have been captured with the DX 16-50mm f3.5-6.3 VR Lens on the Nikon Z50 DX camera.
The first image of the red/white adenium (Desert Rose) has been captured with the following settings;
Camera Info
- Device: Nikon Z 50,
- Focal Length: 50mm.
Exposure
- Aperture: f/6.3,
- Shutter Speed: 1/80,
- Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority,
- Exposure Comp.: 0EV,
- Metering: Matrix,
- ISO Sensitivity: 250.
It should be noted that this lens has Vibration Reduction incorporated with the lens and it appears to work very well to eliminate vibration movement and give sharper images.
The second image of the red adenium has been captured with the following settings;
Camera Info
- Device: Nikon Z 50,
- Lens: NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR,
- Focal Length: 50mm,
- Focus Mode: AF-A,
- AF-Area Mode: Auto,
- VR: ON,
- AF Fine Tune: OFF
Exposure
- Aperture: f/6.3,
- Shutter Speed: 1/160s,
- Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority,
- Exposure Comp.: 0EV,
- Metering: Matrix,
- ISO Sensitivity: Auto (ISO 100).
Both of the above images appear to be very sharp and with very good contrast. The only real fault I have with this lens is the limited low aperture setting especially at the long end (50mm) where the aperture is f/6.3, but this is inherent in the design of the lens and is not really a fault.
Lens Specification
The Specification of the lens is as follows;
- Nikon Z mount.
- DX Format.
- Focal length, – 16 to 50 mm.
- Maximum aperture, – f/3.5 to f/6.3.
- Minimum aperture, – f/22 to f/40.
- Lens construction, 9 elements in 7 groups (including 1 ED element and 4 aspherical elements).
- Angle of view, – 83° to 31° 30′ (DX image area).
- Focal length scale is graduated in millimeters at 16, 24, 35 and 50mm.
- Internal focusing system.
- Minimum focus distance from focal plane,
- 16 mm zoom position: 0.25 m (0.82 ft),
- 24 mm zoom position: 0.2 m (0.66 ft),
- 35 mm zoom position: 0.23 m (0.76 ft),
- 50 mm zoom position: 0.3 m (0.99 ft).
- Maximum reproduction ratio, – 0.2 x.
- VR (Vibration Reduction), Lens shift using voice coil motors (VCMs).
- 7 rounded diaphragm blades.
- Filter attachment size, – 46 mm (P = 0.75 mm),
- Lens Dimensions,
- Length 70 mm (2.8 inches), distance from camera lens mount flange when lens is retracted,
- Diameter 32 mm (1.3 inches).
- Weight, 135 g ( 4.8 oz.).
- Internal auto focusing.
- Switchable Auto and Manual Focusing.
Supplied accessories as follows;
- LC-46B, 46 mm Snap-on Front Lens Cap,
- LF-N1, Rear Lens Cap.
If you need any camera gear similar to what I use, I recommend you try B&H on the link below for your purchases.
The following is a Gallery of some images from the 16-50mm lens.
1 comment
Comments are closed.