When I first heard about the Nikon Z 24-105mm f/4-7.1, I nearly spat my coffee all over my keyboard. “Who the heck wants a 24-105mm that maxes out at f/7.1?” I spluttered to my Nikon-loving colleague, Adam. In a world with the sublime Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 S, I was struggling to understand Nikon’s play. But when I finished my cup of Joe and read into things a little further, my stance quickly began to change on this latest Nikon Z lens.
I’ve said time and again that enthusiast photographers (and the photography press, especially) tend to overstate the importance of fast apertures. They’re lovely to have, but not necessarily essential. Many of the world’s greatest photographs were shot at f/8, after all. In many ways, we’ve been programmed to have a visceral reaction to slow lenses, but not every photographer or indeed genre has a need for speed.
