Nikon 16-35mm f/4 VR II

The new 16-35 f/4 VR is hopefully the first of several professional quality, full-frame f/4 lenses. It features Nikon’s newest Vibration Reduction technology, providing the ability to shoot at shutter speeds up to four stops slower than would otherwise be possible. The new complex optical design features Nikon’s exclusive anti-reflection Nano Crystal coat, two ED glass elements and no less than three aspherical glass elements to minimize distortion and aberration, even at maximum aperture. The VR II system and Silent Wave Motor deliver extremely quiet, discrete operation and the nine bladed rounded diaphragm renders delightful bokeh.

Roger’s take: Well its everything I had hoped for, but unfortunately a bit more. First the great: its relatively small so its convenient to carry in a bag or pack. Its as sharp as you could ever hope, autofocuses quickly, and the VR is spectacular (shooting at 1/6 second I’m getting nice, sharp images). Its a great all-around ultrawide and its ability to take filters gives it an advantage over even the legendary 14-24 f/2.8.

There’s a downside though: at 16mm the barrel distortion can only be described as ‘nearly fisheye’. Its much less at 18mm and gone by 20mm. Barrel distortion is, of course, easy to fix in Photoshop or your image processor of choice, but this needs to be mentioned (and perhaps demonstrated below). How important this is will depend on what you’re planning to shoot and if you’re willing to spend some time postprocessing the images. I don’t shoot a lot of buildings, so it won’t bother me much, but I wouldn’t recommend this lens to someone who’s going to shoot a lot of architecture.

Includes
Hood