At 222mm / 8.8 inches long and 98mm / 3.9 inches in diameter, the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S isn’t a great deal bigger than the excellent Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S. And at 1435g / 3 lb 2.7 oz with the tripod collar, its actually 5g or 0.1oz lighter, and 135g (4.8oz) lighter than the AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR – Nikon’s comparable lens for DSLRs.
It’s still quite a weight to carry, but it proves manageable when mounted on a camera and carried with a strap across your body or in a decent backpack such as the Wandrd Prvke 31.
If you’re shooting for a long period of time you’re likely to appreciate a monopod such as the 3 Legged Thing Trent 2.0 to take some of the weight off your arms. And if you’re shooting subjects above ground level, you’ll need to add a tripod head to the mix. Nevertheless, I was able to get to keep the lens steady when out for the best part of a day with it without my biceps complaining too much.
As well as the weather-sealing that will be appreciated by hardy wildlife and sport photographers, Nikon has given the Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S a dedicated control ring, two sets of lens function (L-Fn) buttons and a small screen to display the focus distance, depth of field, aperture, ISO or the precise focal length. Pressing the display button next to the screen toggles through the options.
Helpfully, the function buttons on the lens barrel are positioned to ensure that one of each pair is within easy reach whether the camera is in landscape or portrait orientation. With two sets of L-Fn buttons you can access or activate two features quickly. I set the L-Fn button nearest the camera (between the control ring and manual focus ring) to activate Subject Tracking while I set Ln-Fn 2 to AF-On.
There’s also a focus limiter switch than can be set to allow the lens to focus across the full-range or from 3m to infinity. That’s useful if you’re shooting through vegetation or a moving crowd as it stops the camera/lens from being distracted by nearby objects.
In addition, there’s an A/M switch on the lens barrel so you can switch quickly between autofocus and manual focusing. However, if option a12 ‘Manual focus ring in AF mode’ in the camera’s menu is set to ‘On’, the manual focus ring can be used to adjust the focus even though the autofocus system is engaged.
One of the most interesting features of the Nikon Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S’s build is that it has a couple of elements that move in opposite directions to compensate for each other’s weight when the zoom ring is rotated. This helps to maintain the lenses weight distribution and balance so that it stays level on a tripod head or gimbal whatever the focal length in use.
All three of the rings on the Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR S rotate smoothly with each requiring about the same level of effort to move. It take about a quarter turn of the zoom ring to move from the 100mm end to the 400mm point, which means you can zoom very quickly in our out to get the desired framing.
Initially, I found myself reaching for the focus ring instead of the control ring, but with a bit of experience, I moved further towards the camera to adjust exposure compensation using the control ring. After while I found I could support the lens at the zoom ring and reach back with my little finger to shift the control ring.