Nikon Z lens roadmap: telephoto apertures “measured” and calculated

• 2 years ago
• Categories: Nikon Lenses
• Tags: Nikkor Z 400mm f/2.8 mirrorless lens, Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S mirrorless lens for Z-mount, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4 lens, Nikon Z mirrorless roadmap

A reader from Germany sent me his Nikon Z roadmap telephoto lens measurements and calculations:

Assuming the scales of the individual lenses pictured in the roadmap are identical, I measured the width of the front elements of all telephoto lenses in that roadmap rendering. Because we actually know that the 400 is a 2.8 aperture (= 143 mm front diameter) and the 600 is most likely gonna be an f/4 lens (= 150 mm front diameter), the maths was pretty easy from here. The averaged multiplier between the measured front diameter of the renderings and the real-life front diameter of those two lenses is 2.055. I thus measured the front diameter of each undisclosed telephoto off of the renderings and multiplied it with this factor to find out the actual front diameter.

My assumptions are:

• The 800 mm lens will have a 124 or 125 mm front diameter, which means it’s likely gonna be an f/6.3 (surprisingly).
• The 200-600 mm lens will have a 100 mm front diameter, which means it’s likely gonna be an f/6.3 at the long end (not a surprise).
• The 400 mm lens will have a front element between 95 and 100 mm, which means it’s either gonna be f/4.5 or f/4, with the latter being way more likely.

I wonder what you make out of my educated guesses. The surprise for me is probably the 800, but it makes sense, given it is visibly smaller in the roadmap image than the 400/2.8.

Credit: imagesandbirds.com