The Nikon Z 17-28mm f/2.8 neatly picks up the baton from its Z 28-75mm f/2.8(opens in new tab) sibling, with a seamless handover in focal lengths. Like the preceding standard zoom, this wide-angle lens was originally developed by Tamron, to suit Sony E-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras. We’ve reviewed both of the Tamron 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD(opens in new tab) and Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD(opens in new tab) very favorably in the past, the latter subsequently being available in a G2 (Generation 2) iteration. Nikon obviously knows a good thing when they see it, and have repurposed and rebadged both lenses for its Z-system line-up. We’ve given the Nikon Z 28-75mm f/2.8 a similarly sparkling review(opens in new tab) as the two Tamron lenses, so it’s interesting to see how the newer Z 17-28mm fares.
There are still a few holes in the Z-mount lens line-up, including a lightweight 70-300mm telephoto zoom. As it turns out, Tamron is making a Z-mount version of its 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III RXD(opens in new tab) under its own name, which we’ve reviewed in the original Sony E-mount version. By contrast, Nikon already has two of its own wide-angle zooms on the market, in the little and large shapes of the Z 14-30mm f/4 S(opens in new tab) and Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S(opens in new tab) lenses. Thanks to its retractable design, the former is shorter than the new 17-28mm yet boasts a significantly wider maximum viewing angle of 114 degrees compared with 104 degrees. The latter matches the new lens with an f/2.8 aperture but is much chunkier, 25 per cent longer and weighs in at 650g compared with 450g. And it has a very oversized filter thread of 112mm compared with the new lens’s rather regular.
Specifications
Mount: Nikon Z
Full-frame: Yes
Autofocus: Yes
Stabilization: No
Lens construction: 13 elements in 11 groups
Angle of view: 104 to 75 degrees
Diaphragm blades: 9
Minimum aperture: f/22
Minimum focusing distance: 0.19m (W) 0.26m (T)
Maximum magnification ratio: 0.19x
Filter size: 67mm
Dimensions: 75x101mm
Weight: 450g