If you shoot sports on a Nikon Z body and keep a 1.4x teleconverter in the bag, Nikon's new zoom builds one in. At its price, though, it's a lens for working pros, and most Z owners can ignore it. Nikon Inc. announced the NIKKOR Z 120-300mm f/2.8 TC VR S on October 29, with US availability in mid-November at a suggested $13,999.95.
One switch instead of a converter swap
Its f/2.8 aperture holds across the whole zoom range. Flip its switch and the built-in 1.4x converter takes the long end to 420 mm. The widest aperture then drops to f/4, and the short end moves to 168 mm by our arithmetic. Nikon calls it the first constant f/2.8 zoom with a built-in converter, a claim it bases on its own research.
With a separate converter, adding reach means taking the lens off the body. Here it's one switch, and Nikon says you don't have to change your grip to use it. That's the main case for this lens over the F-mount AF-S NIKKOR 120-300mm f/2.8E from 2020.
Two weight savings, one converter
Nikon’s press release puts the new lens at about 2,735 g, 515 g lighter than the old F-mount zoom. Nikon lists the separate TC-14E III at 190 g. Comparing the old lens plus that converter with the new lens therefore gives a 705 g saving: 515 + 190 g, by our arithmetic. These figures compare the lens and converter; they exclude any mount adapter.
Footnotes worth reading on a Z8
Nikon's product page carries the limits that the launch text leaves out:
- Switching to DX crop automatically when the converter engages, for a 630 mm equivalent view, is listed only for the Z9 with firmware C:5.30 or later.
- The 60% shorter autofocus scan time, against the old F-mount zoom, is measured at 120 mm. At 300 mm, Nikon gives about 30%.
- The 6.5 stops of stabilization were rated on a Z6III with the converter off, and need a camera that supports Synchro VR.
- The tripod foot is made for screw-type Arca-Swiss clamps. Nikon says lever-type clamps may not hold it firmly.
Z8 owners should note the first point. Nikon names only the Z9 for it, so on a Z8, plan on setting the crop by hand whenever you flip the converter in.
Our take
Owners of the F-mount 120-300mm and a TC-14E III gain no reach. You'd be paying for the switch, faster focusing by Nikon's figures and 705 g less to carry against the old lens with its TC-14E III attached. The built-in switch may justify the cost for a working sports photographer who frequently changes reach. Everyone else should wait for owner reports on sharpness with the converter engaged, because image quality "comparable to that of a prime lens" is Nikon's claim. We have no independent measurement of it yet.
