In summary
This general-purpose, ‘walkaround’ lens is most likely to be purchased with the Z50 body, for which it is an ideal partner. It can also be fitted to a Z6 or Z7 body provided that camera has the latest firmware – but the frame will be cropped to 23.6 x 15.8 mm size, which makes the exercise a bit pointless.
When used on the compact Z50 camera body, its small size, light weight and versatile focal length range make this lens ideal for travel and street photography. It can also be used for family snapshots as well as landscapes, cityscapes and both individual and group portraiture.
Its minimum focus of 20 cm isn’t great for close-ups, although it’s workable at the 50mm setting. The electromagnetic aperture mechanism provides stable aperture control during movie recording and high-speed continuous shooting.
Full review
The Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR is one of two lenses introduced with the Z50 camera in October 2019. It is normally offered as the bundled kit lens, although a few local re-sellers offer it separately. Constructed mainly from black polycarbonate plastic, this lens is very small and light, particularly when you consider it also comes with built-in VR stabilisation that claims up to 4.5 stops of shake correction. Unfortunately, no lens hood is supplied.
Side view of the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens. (Source: Nikon.)
The optical design of this lens has been pared back to reduce overall weight and bulk and consists of nine elements in seven groups. Among them are four aspherical elements for correcting rectilinear distortion and one ED (Extra-low Dispersion) element to suppress chromatic aberration that can cause coloured fringing. Nikon’s Super Integrated Coating has been applied to minimise ghosting and flare.
Internal focusing, driven by a stepping motor is fast and near silent, making it ideal for capturing both stills and video. Full-time manual focus over-ride enables users to adjust the focus while in AF mode by simply turning the control ring when it’s set to the focus position.
This illustration shows the lens with its inner barrels extended (left) and retracted (right). (Source: Nikon.)
The retractable barrel makes it very compact, weighing only 135 grams, but it’s also relatively slow, with maximum apertures ranging from f/3.5 at 16mm to f/6.5 at 50mm. Minimum focus distances vary from 25 cm at 16mm through 20 cm at 24mm and 23 cm at 35mm to 30 cm at the 50mm position.
Who’s it For?
This general-purpose, ‘walkaround’ lens is most likely to be purchased with the Z50 body, for which it is an ideal partner. It can also be fitted to a Z6 or Z7 body provided that camera has the latest firmware – but the frame will be cropped to 23.6 x 15.8 mm size, which makes the exercise a bit pointless.
When used on the compact Z50 camera body, its small size, light weight and versatile focal length range make this lens ideal for travel and street photography. It can also be used for family snapshots as well as landscapes, cityscapes and both individual and group portraiture.
Its minimum focus of 20 cm isn’t great for close-ups, although it’s workable at the 50mm setting. The electromagnetic aperture mechanism provides stable aperture control during movie recording and high-speed continuous shooting.
Build and Ergonomics
The comparatively large diameter of this lens reflects the wide ‘throat’ of the Nikon Z mount. Its retractable design means it must be extended before it can be used. This extends two inner barrels, adding about 28 mm to its length at the 16mm and 50mm focal lengths, but only 22 mm between the 24mm and 35mm positions.
This diagram shows the external structure of the Nikkor Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens. (Source: Nikon.) 1. Zoom ring; 2. Focal length scale; 3. Focal length mark; 4. Control ring; 5. Lens mounting mark; 6. CPU contacts.
The zoom ring is roughly 17 mm wide and positioned at the front of the lens. Roughly half of its width is finely-ridged to provide a secure grip. Focal length settings for the 16mm, 24mm, 35mm and 50mm positions are stamped on the trailing edge for lining up against the mark on the fixed section of the barrel behind the ring.
You lose a fair bit of light when zooming from the 16mm to the 50mm settings, where the maximum aperture is f/6.3, compared with f/4 on the kit lens offered with Nikon’s full frame Z- mount cameras. That could be problematic when shooting in dim lighting, particularly when you want to avoid camera shake and/or visible image noise.
The control ring is located immediately behind the zoom ring. It’s approximately 5 mm wide and, by default, adjusts manual focus, although it can be customised to perform other functions, including aperture, exposure compensation and ISO settings.
The lens barrel ends in a polycarbonate mounting plate with 11 gold-plated contacts that share electronic signals between the lens and the camera. It is supplied with front and end caps but no lens hood.
Performance
Our Imatest tests showed that, performance-wise, the Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR lens was capable of delivering very good results. Interestingly, we found the best results at the shortest focal length and widest aperture settings, which is unusual (to say the least).
Overall resolution was very good for a kit lens and quite consistent through to about f/8, after which there was an increasing downward slide with diffraction taking effect between f/10 and f/11. The table below shows the results of our tests.
Lateral chromatic aberration was negligible across the aperture and focal length ranges, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results from JPEG files, below. Uncorrected raw files showed slightly higher CA levels but did not run into the ‘low’ band. The red line marks the boundary between ‘negligible’ and ‘low’ CA.
Normal backlighting was handled very well and contre-jour lighting showed little evidence of ghosting or flare, even when a bright light source was on the edge of the frame. Use of a lens hood would make it even better.
Our assessments of rectilinear distortion were carried out on converted raw files to avoid the impacts of the in-camera corrections applied to JPEGs. We found very slight barrel distortion at 16mm and a similar level of pincushioning at 50mm but no visible distortion in between.
Vignetting is another aberration that is automatically corrected in JPEG files in the review camera so once again, we had to evaluate raw files. Some vignetting was obvious at the widest apertures at 16mm and 24mm but very little at 35mm and virtually none at 50mm. Fortunately, this aberration is easily corrected in image editors and most raw file converters so we don’t see it as a significant issue.
The seven-bladed lens diaphragm appears to close to a circular aperture, but producing smooth and pleasing bokeh at the relatively small maximum apertures can be difficult. A lot depends on the focal length, shooting angle and relative brightness of the background.
Across the zoom range, the bokeh could become choppy where there were bright patches in the background, which were often rendered as bright circles. Outlining was also quite common, particularly at shorter focal lengths.
Autofocusing performance, which is influenced by the algorithms in the camera, was generally quite competently handled, provided lighting was adequate and there were contrast edges to focus upon.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 83 degrees to 31 degrees 30 minutes
Minimum aperture: f/22 to f/40
Lens construction: 9 elements in 7 groups (including 4 aspherical and 1 ED elements)
Lens mounts: Nikon Z mount
Diaphragm Blades: 7 (circular aperture)
Focus drive: Stepping motor
Stabilisation: Lens shift using voice coil motors (VCMs)
Minimum focus: 25 cm at 16mm to 30 cm at 50mm
Maximum magnification: 0.2x
Filter size: 46 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 70 x 32 mm, when retracted
Weight: 135 grams
Standard Accessories: LC-46B 46 mm front lens cap, LF-N1 rear lens cap
Distributor: Nikon Australia, 1300 366 499.
TESTS
Based on JPEG files from the Nikon Z50 camera.
SAMPLES
Vignetting at 16mm.
Vignetting at 24mm.
Vignetting at 35mm.
Vignetting at 40mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 16mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 24mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 35mm.
Rectilinear distortion at 50mm.
16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/160 second at f/6.3.
50mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/100 second at f/6.3.
Backlit close-up at 16mm in ‘Macro’ Scene mode; ISO 100, 1/250 second at f/5.6.
Backlit close-up at 50mm in ‘Macro’ Scene mode; ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/6.3.
Bokeh at 16mm focal length, f/3.5, ISO 400, 1/500 second.
Bokeh at 50mm focal length, f/6.3, ISO 400, 1/250 second.
Strong backlighting at 16mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/7.1.
Strong backlighting at 50mm focal length; ISO 100, 1/1000 second at f/8.
30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/13 second at f/4.8.
30mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/200 second at f/7.1.
35mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/125 second at f/5.6.
16mm focal length, ISO 800, 1/125 second at f/5.6.
20mm focal length, ISO 180, 1/320 second at f/5.
16mm focal length, ISO 1000, 1/400 second at f/5.6.
832: 26mm focal length, ISO 100, 1/320 second at f/6.3.
Additional image samples can be found with our review of the Nikon Z50 camera.
Rating
RRP: AU$299; US$299
- Build: 8.5
- Handling: 8.6
- Image quality: 9.0
- Versatility: 8.9
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