Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens

Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens Summary

Set your creative vision free with the Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens, the latest powerful telephoto zoom lens from Nikon suitable for both photography and videography. Offering a versatile focal range, this compact zoom is the ultimate all-in-one solution for full-frame (FX) Nikon mirrorless camera users. Whether you're capturing beautiful portraits, candid street shots, epic landscapes, or cityscapes, this lens delivers stunning results with beautiful clarity and detail.

You can enjoy the freedom of a constant bright aperture throughout the zoom range, allowing you to maintain consistent exposure and achieve beautiful bokeh with captivating subjects and smooth defocus backgrounds. With its fast stepping motor, you can also capture fast-moving subjects with precision and accuracy, ensuring you never miss a moment, even in low light.

Sample 01 @ 180mm. Camera settings: 1/1000 sec. f/2.8. ISO 280

Designed with video creators in mind, the Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens delivers well-controlled focus breathing, allowing for seamless focus pull transitions. Gone are distracting changes in frame size and the lens lets you maintain the visual integrity of scenes for professional-looking footage.

Being both compact and lightweight, this lens is built for versatility and portability, making it the perfect companion for on-the-go photographers and hybrid creators who travel.

Key Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens Features

• Portable all-in-one zoom weighing just 795g
• Bright constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range
• 9-blade rounded aperture
• Well suppressed focus breathing for video
• Internal focusing system
• Stepping motor (STM)  autofocus technology
• Minimum focus distance of 0.27m
• Compatible with Z 1.4x Teleconverter and Z 2.0x Teleconverter
• 67mm filter thread
• Clickless control ring

Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens in More Detail

Compact and lightweight design

With its lightweight construction of just 795g and compact size of approximately 15cm, this lens is the perfect companion for your photographic adventures. Whether you're capturing stunning portraits or intricate landscapes, you can enjoy the freedom of handheld shooting without the burden of extra weight. And when combined with the exceptional in-body image stabilisation (IBIS) found in Nikon's mirrorless camera bodies, you can achieve even more remarkable results without the need for a tripod.

Constant f/2.8 aperture

The wide and constant aperture of f/2.8 opens up a world of creative possibilities, particularly in low-light situations where you can capture cleaner, noise-free images at lower ISO settings. With the ability to gather more light, you can also achieve faster shutter speeds to freeze motion with precision. One of the great advantages of this lens is its ability to maintain a consistent aperture and shutter speed across the entire focal range of 70-180mm, allowing you to easily zoom and reframe your shots without adjusting your settings.

For those seeking to emphasise their subjects and create beautiful bokeh, the f/2.8 maximum aperture combined with the 9-bladed round diaphragm offers excellent background separation and a pleasing, smooth blur. This feature is particularly beneficial for portraiture and subject-focused photography, enabling you to effortlessly draw attention to your subject while minimising distractions in the background.

Sample 02 @ 25mm. Camera settings: 1/500 sec. f/3.3. ISO 280

High image quality

Nikon has designed the Z 70-180mm f/2.8 telephoto zoom lens with precision and quality in mind. Its optical layout incorporates 19 elements arranged into 14 groups, featuring special elements that contribute to its high image quality. These include 5 Extra-low Dispersion (ED) elements, 1 super ED element and 3 aspherical elements.

These special elements work together to effectively reduce chromatic aberration, control distortions and enhance overall image clarity, ensuring that your photos are sharp, detailed, and free from unwanted artefacts.

Sample 03 @ 145mm. Camera settings: 1/1250 sec. f/3.3. ISO 450

Sharp close-up lens with high magnification

The Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens offers impressive versatility with its close minimum focus distance. At the wide end of the range, you can get as close as 0.27m to your subject, allowing you to capture stunning close-up shots with remarkable sharpness and detail. Even at the telephoto end, the minimum focus distance is just 0.85m, ensuring you can still achieve impressive close-up images with ease.

In addition to its close focusing capabilities, this lens also provides a maximum magnification ratio of 0.48x. This means you can explore the realm of tele-macro photography, capturing subjects with nearly 1:2 magnification. Whether it's photographing flowers, capturing intricate details in nature, or any other subjects that capture your attention, this lens allows you to unleash your creativity and achieve stunning tele-macro shots that truly stand out.

Sample 04 @ 78mm. Camera settings: 1/320 sec. f/8. ISO 125

Teleconverter compatible for extended reach

Expand your telephoto capabilities even further by incorporating Nikon's teleconverters. With the Z TC 2.0x, you can extend the focal length to 360mm, unlocking new possibilities for capturing distant subjects. Not only that, but the reproduction ratio is also doubled to an impressive 0.96x, allowing you to delve deeper into macro-style photography and capture intricate details with stunning clarity.

For a slightly shorter focal length extension, the Z TC 1.4x takes you to 252mm, providing an additional reach while maintaining excellent image quality.

Sample 05 @ 180mm. Camera settings: 1/320 sec. f/8. ISO 900

Capture cinematic telephoto videos

The Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens is a fantastic choice for videographers, offering a versatile telephoto zoom range that brings your subjects closer with ease. The quiet autofocusing ensures smooth and discreet operation, allowing you to capture cinematic-looking videos without unnecessary distractions.

One standout feature for video is the lens's excellent suppression of focus breathing. This means that as you adjust the focus, there is minimal distortion or changes in the frame, resulting in more seamless and professional-looking footage. You can confidently achieve captivating close-ups with a shallow depth of field, adding a touch of artistry to your videos.

Moreover, when filming at longer distances, you can explore parallax effects to add depth and visual interest to your footage. By incorporating camera motion, you can create dynamic shots where the foreground and background appear to move at different speeds, adding a captivating visual element to your storytelling.

Sample 06 @ 80mm. Camera settings: 1/3000 sec. f/2.8. ISO 100

Compact, robust and intuitive

The 70-180mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens for Z mount combines outstanding performance with portability, making it an ideal companion for Nikon Z cameras. Its compact design ensures it won't add unnecessary weight to your kit bag, while the reliable sealing protects against dust and moisture.

The lens is particularly travel-friendly and features a coating on the front element for easy cleaning. With a clickless control ring and knurled zoom ring, you can customize your shooting experience and enjoy smooth, precise handling. The zoom lock switch prevents unwanted movement when the lens is not in use.

Three compact and affordable zooms

This newer Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens joins two existing Nikon mirrorless Z mount lenses, which together make up a new lightweight and affordable trinity, covering 17mm to 180mm in three high-quality lenses.

1. Nikon Z 17-28mm F/2.8 Lens
2. Nikon Z 28-75mm F/2.8 Lens
3. Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens

All three offer superb image quality with a constant aperture and share the same 67mm filter thread. This allows you to invest in a complete set of lens filters for any purpose, which can be shared between the three lenses. The simultaneously launched Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR Lens is an alternative choice, which offers next level performance with even greater reach than this model.

What’s in the box

• Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Telephoto Zoom Lens for Z mount
• HB-113 Lens Hood
• LF-N1 Rear Cap
• LC-67B Lens Cap
• CL-C2 Lens Case

Nikon Z 70-180mm f/2.8 Lens Specifications