Nikon Z 180-600mm VR

USA Version Performance Compared

More samples throughout this review at Bokeh, Falloff, Macro, Sharpness, Spherochromatism and Sunstars.

These are just snapshots; my real work is in my Gallery.

These are all shot hand-held as BASIC ★ JPGs; no tripods, NORMAL or FINE JPGs or RAW files were used or needed.

Helicopter and Sun Fire, San Diego, California, 7:25 PM, Thursday, 13 June 2024. 2.8× crop from Nikon Z8 (24 MP JPG mode) in Photoshop CC, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm at f/36 at ¹/_1,000 shutter-priority at ISO 64 (LV 21!!!). bigger. Doe you like it? !!!

The sun isn't really on fire; the heat shimmer from the helicopter's exhaust is making it look like flames are flying between the sun and the helicopter. I had no idea I was going to get this as I handheld this shot tracking the helicopter and it just happed to fly across the sun.

Sunset, San Diego, California, 7:49 PM, Thursday, 13 June 2024. Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/_1,600 Program-mode at ISO 64 (LV 16.6) as shot. bigger.

This was a plain sunset, so I used my 600mm lens' extreme magnification to explode the small, distant colored core to fill the frame with color. It's so sharp that if you look above the ocean on the right there's a seagull about ten miles out!

The Good Life, Tourmaline Surfing Park as seen from Chalcedony Beach 0.7 miles (1.1 km) away, Pacific Beach, California, 8:14 PM, Wednesday, 12 June 2024. Nikon Z8, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600 mm wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at ¹/₆₀ at Auto ISO 9,000 (LV 4.7), Skylum Luminar Neo software. bigger.

Did you catch this? I shot this hand-held at ¹/₆₀ at 600mm, 17 minutes after sunset!

Lifeguard Truck, Pacific Beach, California, 7:26 PM, Sunday, 26 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 180 mm wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at ¹/₁₀₀ at Auto ISO 125 (LV 11.3), Radiant Photo software. bigger or full-resolution 24 MP, 7 MB JPG file.

Pelican, La Jolla, California, 12:56 PM, Friday, 03 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in DX crop, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 470 mm wide-open at f/6 hand-held at ¹/₅₀₀ at Auto ISO 160 (LV 13.5), Radiant Photo software. bigger.

The mess on the bottom is out-of focus grass between my camera and the pelican.

Yellow Amaryllis, 11:04 AM, Sunday, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 380mm wide-open at f/6 hand-held at ¹/₅₀₀at Auto ISO 180, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.3), as shot. bigger or camera-original © 24 MP, 3 MB JPG file.

Capri by the Sea, Pacific Beach, California, 6:42 PM, Sunday, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 220mm wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at ¹/₅₀₀at Auto ISO 72 (LV 14.4), Radiant Photo software, perspective correction in Photoshop CC 2021. bigger or camera-original 24 MP © 4.6 MB JPG file.

Ultra sharp (see the camera-original © JPG file) and no distortion with my Z8's Auto Distortion Control ON.

Surfers and Sunset, Pacific Beach, California, 6:55 PM, Sunday, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 180mm at f/6.3 at ¹/_2,500 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 17¼), Skylum Luminar Neo software. bigger or full resolution.

You want sharp? You can see every detail in every wave all the way out to the edge of the earth in the full resolution file! (of course the closest waves aren't in focus.)

The Sun Slipping into the Sea, Pacific Beach, California, 7:33 PM, Sunday, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8 in 17 MP square-crop mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at ¹/₈₀₀ at Auto ISO 64, -2 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.6), exactly as shot. bigger.

Surfers, Pacific Beach, California, 7:23 PM, Sunday, 19 May 2024. Mild crop from Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3 easily hand-held at ¹/₃₂₀ at Auto ISO 140 (LV 13⅙), Skylum Luminar Neo software. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

How sharp is it? Sharp enough to see every hair, if you're in focus:

1,200 × 900 pixel (5⅙× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Glowing Sunset Contrail as seen from Pacific Beach, California, 7:50 PM, Sunday, 26 May 2024. Mild crop from Nikon Z8 in 24 MP JPG mode, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3 easily hand-held at ¹/₃₂₀ at Auto ISO 140, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13⅙), Radiant Photo software to bring out the colors and add contrast and vignetting. bigger or camera-original 24 MP © 2.3 MB JPG file.

This was many miles away, requiring a slight crop even at 600mm. How sharp is it? Here's a 5⅙× crop:

1,200 × 900 pixel (5⅙× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Introduction top

USA Version Performance Compared

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Inexpensive.

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio

I love my Z 180-600mm VR. I've shot or owned pretty much every exotic 600mm lens made by Nikon since the 1960s, so I'm in a unique position to appreciate how much better is this inexpensive 180-600mm. It's small, light and easy to shoot in any light hand-held with VR, and every image (so long as it's in focus) is super sharp.

The Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR is an ultrahigh performance ultratele zoom for Nikon's Z system. It's ideal for birds, wildlife, sports, portraits and sunsets. The sunsets above were pretty boring in person, but I made them explode with color because I zoomed-in to the colorful core at the 600mm end of this lens. This is a trick I've been using since I got my first 600mm f/5.6 ED-IF back in the early 1990s; at 600mm just point your rig at the sunset, or its reflection in the water or a distant window, and BAM!, instant color.

The Z 180-600mm VR is ultrasharp, has superb stabilization and covers a perfect zoom range for everything distant. It's well made, optically superb and it's a bargain. It feels and works as if it costs $4,999 — but sells for only a third of that!

It works great with the TC 1.4× or 2× teleconverters, but only one at a time:

	Shortest Setting	Longest Setting
No TC	180mm f/5.6	600mm f/6.3
with TC 1.4×	250mm f/8	840mm f/9
with TC 2×	360mm f/11	1,200mm f/13

Just turn the focus ring at any time for instant manual-focus override.

The green flash is a mystical phenomenon where the last thing you see as the sun dips below the horizon is a brilliant moment of pure emerald green, as if it came from a LASER. Usually the only people who know what it looks like are sailors, surfers and people who live by the sea, as it's rare and you have to be at the ocean every day for sunset. It happens on extremely clear days when green and maybe blue light passes through the atmosphere, rather than the sun turning the usual red at the last moment.

I owe you an article explaining this and how to shoot it, but here's the best I got last night on a night where it didn't really happen:

The Green Flash, San Diego, California, 8:00 PM, Thursday, 13 June 2024. 19× (434 pixel) crop from Nikon Z8, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600 mm wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/_5,000 at ISO 64 (LV 18¼), Radiant Photo software.

On a typical day you'll get just little green fringes on the upper vestiges of the disk of the sun. Ideally shoot this with an astronomical telescope, while the Nikon Z 180-600mm VR is so long it works well handheld.

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

New intro top

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's first-ever ultratele zoom for its mirrorless system.

blue ball icon © KenRockwell.com Nikon's first-ever reasonably priced ultratele for its mirrorless system.

Good intro top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Tripod collar comes all the way off, and when it does, it's is easy to hand-hold without protuberances.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Sharp.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com VR Image Stabilization, rated 5.5 stops improvement, gives 4-stops of real-world improvement.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Four programmable Fn buttons around the front, usually set to AF lock.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Full-time manual-focus override.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Focus ring can be reassigned to other functions.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com HB-109 hood & CL-L6 "case" included.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Strap eyelets on the tripod collar.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Weather gasketing:

Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. bigger.

Bad intro top

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com It's such a great lens for such a low price that Nikon can't make them fast enough. Therefore you need to do what I did and order it now and be patient; it's rarely waiting around in stock because those that come in go right out to others who already have them on order, and your card isn't charged until it ships.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com No switch for VR (Image Stabilization); you have to use your camera's menu system instead.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com Production dumped to China, not made domestically in Japan:

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

Missing intro top

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No switch for VR (Image Stabilization); you have to use your camera's menu system instead.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No 90º clicks on tripod collar.

gray ball icon © KenRockwell.com No Focus Preset button, a common feature on $10,000 ultra teles to allow immediate refocusing to a preset distance.

This is a whopper of a lens for a teeny price. Here it is on my Z8, which is a pretty big camera:

Nikon Z8 and Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. bigger.

Compatibility top

USA Version Performance Compared

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

This lens works only on Nikon's Z-series mirrorless cameras.

It does not so much as even mount on any other camera.

It works great with the TC 1.4× or 2× teleconverters.

Specifications top

USA Version Performance Compared

Nikon HB-109 hood. bigger.

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

Name specifications top

Nikon calls this the NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR:

NIKKOR: Nikon's brand name for all their lenses.

Z: For Nikon's mirrorless cameras.

VR: Vibration Reduction (Image Stabilization).

It also has:

AF-P: Stepper (Pulse) autofocus motor: silent and ultra fast.

Aspherical: Specially curved glass elements for sharper pictures.

D: Couples distance information to the 3D Matrix Meter.

ED: Magic Extra-low Dispersion glass for reduced secondary chromatic aberration.

IF: Internal focusing; nothing moves externally as focused.

∅95: 95mm filter thread.

Optics specifications top

Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR internal optical construction. ED and Aspherical elements. bigger.

25 elements in 17 groups!

6 ED extra-low dispersion elements, which helps reduce secondary axial chromatic aberration.

1 Aspherical element.

Internal zooming; nothing external moves as zoomed.

Internal focussing; nothing external moves as focused.

Nikon Super Integrated multicoating (SIC).

Fluorine front coating to resist crud.

Diaphragm specifications top

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

9 rounded blades.

Electronically actuated.

Stops down to f/32 - f/36.

Filters specifications top

95mm filter thread.

Angle of View specifications top

On Full Frame FX

13⅔º ～ 4⅙º diagonal.

On APC-S DX

9º ～ 2⅔º diagonal.

Autofocus specifications top

Internal focussing.

No external movement as focussed, so no air or dust is sucked in.

Focus Scale specifications top

No.

Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.

Infinity Focus Stop specifications top

No.

You have to focus somehow to get precise focus at infinity, just like at every other distance.

Depth of Field Scale specifications top

No.

Not on lens, but may be displayed in-camera.

Infrared Focus Index specifications top

No.

Close Focus (distance from subject to image plane) specifications top

4.3' (1.3 meters) at 180mm.

7.9' (2.4 meters) at 600mm.

Maximum Reproduction Ratio specifications top

1:4 (0.25 ×).

Reproduction Ratio Scale specifications top

No.

Image Stabilizer specifications top

Yes, rated 5.5 stops.

Tripod Collar specifications top

Metal.

Removable.

No click stops.

Standard ¼″ × 20 TPI and ⅜″ × 16 TPI tripod threads.

Caps specifications top

LC-95B 95mm snap-on front cap and LF-N1 Z-mount rear cap included.

Hood specifications top

HB-109 hood, included.

It has a spring-loaded locking pawl.

It's too short to do much of anything other than keep your fingers out of the lens, which it does well.

"Case" specifications top

Nikon CL-L6 "case." lamer.

CL-L6 "case," included.

Nikon claims it's a case, but it's only a cloth sack.

Size specifications top

4.33" ø maximum diameter × 12.4" extension from flange.

110 mm ø maximum diameter × 315.5 mm extension from flange.

Weight specifications top

75.5 oz. (2,140 g) with collar.

70.4 oz. (1,995 g) without collar.

Announced specifications top

Wednesday, 21 June 2023 at 12:04 AM NYC time.

Promised for specifications top

August 2023, but it wasn't easy to get until October 2024.

Included specifications top

LC-95B 95mm snap-on front cap.

LF-N1 Z-mount rear cap.

HB-109 hood.

CL-L6 "case."

Nikon's Model Number specifications top

20117.

Price, U. S. A. specifications top

25 October 2024

It's finally in stock everywhere.

$1,897 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

About $1,515 used if you know How to Win at eBay.

May ~ July 2024

It was hard to get; you had to order and be patient, or pay as much used as you would pay new.

$1,697 at B&H, at Adorama, at Amazon and at Crutchfield.

About $1,675 used if you know How to Win at eBay. It's about the same price as new because it's so good and so hard to find — so half the used sales are for more than the new price!

October 2023

It was hard to get; you had to order and be patient, or pay as much used as you would pay new.

$1,697 at B&H, at Adorama and at Crutchfield.

June 2023

It was hard to get; you had to order and be patient, or pay as much used as you would pay new.

$1,697 at B&H and at Adorama.

Boz, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

Optional Accessories top

USA Version Performance Compared

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

The optional LN-4 Lens Strap attaches to lugs on the tripod collar, so it's not that popular as I can't see why you'd be wearing this around your neck — with the collar attached.

Getting a Legal U. S. A. Version top

USA Version Performance Compared

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

This section applies in the U. S. A. only.

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR USA Warranty Card. bigger.

Your lens must include a U. S. A. warranty card like the one shown above from Canon U.S.A., Inc. It should be on top inside your box as you open it. The serial number on the card must match the serial number on the bottom of your lens.

If you have no card or the serial number doesn't match, you got ripped off with a gray market version intended to be sold in another country. This is why I never buy from any place other than my personally approved sources. You just can't take the chance of buying elsewhere, especially at any retail store where strangers have probably opened your completely unsealed box and played with your camera, because non-U. S. A. versions have no warranty in the U. S. A., and you probably won't be able to get firmware or service for it — even if you're willing to pay out-of-pocket for it when you need it!

Shifty dealers may include copies of a card from a legitimate U. S. A. product in a gray-market box, hoping you won't check serial numbers and catch their fraud. A card with the wrong serial number means nothing other than that you have no warranty coverage.

The serial number on the box doesn't have to match, but it should. It's on a sticker above the UPC bar code. If not, it means a shady dealer took things out of boxes and was too sloppy to put them back correctly — and it means you got a used lens if anyone other than you took it out of the box.

If a gray market version saves you $500 the risk might be worth it, but for $200 or less I wouldn't risk having no warranty or support.

Always be sure to check yours while you can still return it, or just don't buy from unapproved sources and never at retail so you'll be able to have your camera serviced and get free updated firmware as needed. Get yours from the same places I do and you won't have a problem.

Performance top

USA Version Performance Compared

Overall Autofocus Manual Focus Breathing Bokeh

Distortion Ergonomics Eyeblow Falloff Filters

Flare & Ghosts Lateral Color Fringes

Lens Corrections Macro Max & Min Apertures

Mechanics Sharpness Spherochromatism

Stabilization Sunstars Teleconverters Tripod Collar

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

Overall performance top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com This is a great lens. It's so good at such a low price it can be the reason you prefer the Nikon system over Canon or Sony; it's a great long lens at a lower price than the Sony 200-600mm or the Canon 200-800mm (although I prefer the Canon system and the Canon 200-800mm, which costs more).

Autofocus performance top

Autofocus is reasonably fast. It's pretty much immediate at 180mm and can take a moment at 600mm if it has to motor all the way from one end of the focus range to the other.

There's a medium-pitched quiet hum as it changes focus. It's not perfectly silent, but close.

It's not almost instantaneous as is the autofocus of the $10,000 Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM; this 180-600mm takes a moment to hum and focus all the way from near to far at 600mm.

Luckily it doesn't get stuck if you're set to the wrong end of the focus range; if you are it perks right up and just focuses.

For actual shooting, this should be more than fast enough.

Manual Focus performance top

Manual focusing is entirely electronic; the manual focus ring isn't connected to anything other than a digital encoder.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Just grab the rear manual focus ring for instant manual-focus override anytime the camera is awake.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Better than any other brand, even if you're in AF-C and grab the manual-focus ring, it just swaps to manual focus instantly and stays in manual focus. Other brands will try to fight you for focus if you're in continuous AF, while this lens just does what you tell it to do.

Bravo!

Focus Breathing performance top

Focus breathing is the image changing size as focused in and out. It's important to cinematographers that the image not breathe because it looks funny if the image changes size as focus gets pulled back and forth between actors. If the lens does this, the image "breathes" by growing and contracting slightly as the dialog goes back and forth.

The image from this 180-600mm gets only slightly larger as focused more closely. I doubt anyone will ever notice.

Bokeh performance top

Bokeh, the feel, character or quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to how far out of focus they are, is neutral. This lens is so long that things get very far out of focus.

Here are photos from headshot distance wide-open. I'm focused on the DAVIS logo. Click any for the camera-original file:

Made-in-U. S. A. Davis 6357 Wireless Sensor Suite (use with WeatherLink console), 29 May 2024. Nikon Z8, ¹/₂₅₀, ¹/₂₀₀ and ¹/₃₂₀ at Auto ISO 64, 64 and 160, +.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6, 13.6 and 13.0), Radiant Photo software.

Click any for the camera-original file.

As always, if you want to throw the background as far out of focus as possible, shoot at 600mm at f/6.3 and get as close as possible.

Distortion performance top

The Nikon Z 180-600mm VR has no visible distortion as shot with correction ON, and has moderate pincushion distortion without correction.

While Canon's own software probably also corrects this from RAW CR3 files, be warned that other brands of raw processing software probably won't correct the distortion, and Heaven only knows what distortion you may see then.

For more critical scientific use, use these corrections in Photoshop's lens correction filter to JPG images.

These aren't facts or specifications, they are the results of my research that requires hours of photography and calculations on the resulting data.

On Full Frame at infinity	Correction factor to use with images made with correction ON in Z8	Correction factor with uncorrected images
180mm	±0.00	-1.80
200mm	±0.00	-1.50
300mm	±0.00	-1.80
400mm	-0.10	-1.80
500mm	±0.00	-1.40
600mm	-0.05	-1.50

Ergonomics performance top


Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. bigger.	Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. bigger.

red ball icon © KenRockwell.com There's no switch for in-camera Image Stabilization; you have to set this in a menu.

Its obviously a big lens, and perfect for carrying held at your side, at least if you're a big guy. I'm 6' 0" (183 cm) and with my camera strap around my neck the front of this lens conveniently cradles in my hand. In other words, the lens points towards the ground and my hand is in just the right place to cover the front of the lens as I always do when walking to keep it from banging into anything. It also hides behind my arm so I don't stand out as much.

There's a lot of glass moving around, so it takes two fingers to zoom. It zooms as easily pointed directly up or down. There is no creep.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com The focus ring is electronic and always active, bravo!

This is a whopper of a lens, and I can hold and try to shoot this thing with just one hand holding the chunky grip of my Z8. I have big, strong hands so it's easy to hold and point it one-handed, but it's just about impossible to point it well, so I don't recommend this.

Otherwise, ergonomics are easy.

Eyeblow performance top

While there's a lot going on inside this internally-zoomed lens, no significant amount of air pumps in or out of the back as zoomed.

Falloff performance top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com The Z 180-600mm has no visible falloff, no correction needed.

I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background, and it's still completely invisible with correction active:

Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction at its default of NORMAL:

	Maximum Aperture	f/8	f/11
180mm
300mm
600mm

If you go out of your way to turn off the correction, it's still invisible. While we can see a little below because I've greatly exaggerated the falloff by shooting a gray field and placing these on a gray background; it will be invisible in actual photos of real things:

Falloff on full-frame at infinity, correction turned OFF:

	Maximum Aperture	f/8	f/11
180mm
300mm
600mm

Filters, use with performance top

There's no need for thin filters. I can stack several standard 95mm filters with no vignetting at any setting on full-frame.

Go ahead and use your standard rotating polarizer and grad filters.

Be careful; a lens this long will be sensitive to poorly made filters. Check any filter your hope to use with this lens for flatness. Take photos with and without the filter, or even better, just hold it over the front of one side of a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. The image should be perfectly clear with or without the filter. If the filter is even slightly unflat, the image seen through the telescope will look awful! So long as it looks good when held in front of your scope, it will be perfect for pictures. This test instantly makes even slightly bad filters look absolutely awful, so if it looks OK through your scope, you're good.

Flare & Ghosts performance top

Nothing unusual here. There can be a slight ghost of the sun if you use a filter as I do, so if I shoot into the sun I may take it off. This isn't the lens so much as the light bouncing off the sensor back out to the filter and back again.

See examples at Sunstars.

Lateral Color Fringes performance top

There are no color fringes as shot on Nikon cameras as JPG, which by default correct for any that may be there.

If you shoot raw and then use non-manufacturer software to process that data into images then there is the possibility that there might be some, but I doubt it.

Lens Corrections performance top

If you shoot raw data rather than JPG images, whatever software you use to create visible images from raw data may or may not correct these as is done in-camera as JPGs. You're on your own there; I don't bother with raw data.

The Z9, Z8, Z7 II, Z6 II, Zf, Z7, Z6, Z5, Z fc, Z50 and Z30 correct for any or all of distortion, diffraction and falloff (vignette control). You can turn these corrections ON or OFF, and falloff (vignette control) has a few strength options.

The Z9, Z8, Z7 II, Z6 II, Zf, Z7, Z6, Z5, Z fc, Z50 and Z30 always correct for lateral color fringes (lateral chromatic aberration). This is part of Nikon's secret sauce and never appears in any menu.

Macro Performance performance top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com It doesn't focus that close physically, but its long focal lengths let it get shots that are very close. This is good because it gives us plenty of working room to clear our lights or leave our subjects in peace:

Yellow Amaryllis, 11:04 AM, Sunday, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 380mm wide-open at f/6 hand-held at ¹/₅₀₀at Auto ISO 180, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.3), as shot. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Casio G-Shock Solar Atomic Watch at close-focus distance, 05 May 2024. Nikon Z8, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at ¹/₅₀₀at Auto ISO 110, +1 stop exposure compensation (LV 14.1). bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

1,200 × 900 pixel (5⅙× magnification) crop from above. bigger or camera-original © JPG file.

Yes, you're seeing the texture of the watch face as well as lots of dust sharply rendered. Bravo!

Maximum & Minimum Apertures performance top

	Maximum Aperture	Minimum Aperture
180mm	f/5.6	f/32
200mm	f/5.6	f/32
300mm	f/6	f/36
400mm	f/6	f/36
500mm	f/6.3	f/36
600mm	f/6.3	f/36

Mechanical Quality performance top

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

This lens is a typical consumer blend of metal and plastic:

Hood

Plastic bayonet with spring-loaded plastic locking pawl.

Front Bumper

Rubber.

Filter Threads

Plastic.

Hood Bayonet Mount

Plastic.

Gold ED Band

None.

Barrel Exterior

Plastic.

Zoom Ring

Rubber-covered plastic.

Focus Ring

Hard plastic.

Slide Switches

Plastic.

Tripod Collar

Metal.

The collar has a locking and friction screw. Loosen that and you can flip open the collar and remove it.

It has standard ¼″ × 20 TPI and ⅜″ × 16 TPI tripod threads.

Identity

Printed around front of lens, also printed on top of barrel.

Internals

Seem like mostly metal!

The zoom cams look and feel like metal as well.

Dust Gasket at Mount

Yes.

Mount

Chromed metal.

Markings

Just paint; nothing's engraved.

Serial Number

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

Laser engraved in black-on-black on the bottom of the barrel.

Date Code

None found.

Noises When Shaken

Moderate rattling from what sounds like the VR groups sliding around.

Made in

Made in China.

Sharpness performance top

2024 BMW 330i, 3:30 PM, Monday, 26 May 2024. Nikon Z8, Nikon Z 180-600mm VR at 230mm wide-open at f/5.6 easily hand-held at ¹/₁₂₅ at Auto ISO 80, +0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 12¼), Radiant Photo software. bigger or full-resolution © JPG file.

I'm loving my Z 180-600mm. So long as my Z8 actually focuses properly (It's a Nikon Z thing that every so often it simply misses), every shot is ultra sharp and super easy to handhold at 600mm. I'm like a hundred feet away and I can read all the lettering off the tires and the aluminium rims. Love this lens!

How sharp is it? Sharp enough to see every hair, if you're in focus:

This was many miles away, requiring a slight crop even at 600mm. How sharp is it? Here's a 5⅙× crop:

Lens sharpness has nothing to do with picture sharpness; every lens made in the past 100 years is more than sharp enough to make super-sharp pictures if you know what you're doing. The only limitation to picture sharpness is your skill as a photographer. It's the least talented who spend the most time worrying about lens sharpness and blame crummy pictures on their equipment rather than themselves. Skilled photographers make great images with whatever camera is in their hands; I've made some of my best images of all time with an irreparably broken camera! Most pixels are thrown away before you see them, but camera makers don't want you to know that.

If you're not getting ultra-sharp pictures with this, be sure not to shoot at f/11 or smaller where all lenses are softer due to diffraction, always shoot at ISO 100 or below because cameras become softer at ISO 200 and above, avoid shooting across long distances over land which can lead to atmospheric heat shimmer, be sure everything is in perfect focus, set your camera's sharpening as you want it (I set mine to the maximum) and be sure nothing is moving, either camera or subject. If you want to ensure a soft image with any lens, shoot at f/16 or smaller at ISO 1,600 or above at default sharpening in daylight of subjects at differing distances in the same image.

People worry waaaaay too much about lens sharpness. It's not 1968 anymore when lenses often weren't that sharp and there could be significant differences among them; ever since about 2010 all new lenses are all pretty much equally fantastic.

This lens is super sharp corner-to corner at every aperture, limited by your vision as an artist and of course by diffraction at the smallest apertures and atmospheric heat shimmer at the longest zoom settings. Unlike the Z 28-400mm, this lens is always ultra-sharp just like the $16,000 Nikon teles.

It's best to shoot this lens wide-open all the time, because its optics are ultra sharp and you need all the light you can to shoot at the lowest ISO and fastest shutter speed. Avoid f/22 and smaller unless you really need it for depth of field because diffraction takes its toll. See also How to Calculate the Sharpest Aperture.

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Ooooh, these are fantastic MTF curves, which in English means that this lens is ultra sharp at every focal length:

At 180mm.

At 600mm.

Nikon's MTF charts at 10 cyc/mm and 30 cyc/mm.

Spherochromatism performance top

Spherochromatism, also called secondary spherical chromatic aberration or "color bokeh," is an advanced form of spherical and chromatic aberration in a different dimension than lateral chromatic aberration. It happens mostly in fast normal and tele lenses when spherical aberration at the ends of the color spectrum are corrected differently than in the middle of the spectrum. Spherochromatism can cause colored fringes on out-of-focus highlights, usually seen as green fringes on backgrounds and magenta fringes on foregrounds. Spherochromatism is common in fast lenses of moderate focal length when shooting contrasty items at full aperture. It goes away as stopped down.

It has almost no spherochromatism, which is excellent.

Mondaine A132.30348.11SBB at close-focus distance at 600mm wide-open at f/6.3, 05 May 2024. bigger or camera-original © file.

Image Stabilization (VR) performance top

green ball icon © KenRockwell.com Optical Image Stabilization (OIS, IS or VR (Vibration Reduction)) works great! I get four solid stops of real-world hand-held improvement at all focal lengths on my stabilized Z8.

I get 100% perfectly-sharp tripod-equivalent shots hand-held most of the time at 1/20 at 180mm, 1/30 at 300mm and 1/60 at 600mm. Bravo!

"Percent Perfectly Sharp Shots" are the percentage of hand-held, free-standing with no support or bracing, frames with 100% perfect tripod-equivalent sharpness as viewed at 300%. Hand tremor is a random occurrence, so at marginal speeds some frames will be perfectly sharp while others will be in various stages of blur — all at the same shutter speed.

This rates what percentage of shots are perfectly sharp, not how sharp are all the frames:

At 180mm

% Perfectly Sharp Shots	¹/₂	¹/₄	¹/₈	¹/₁₅	¹/₃₀	¹/₆₀	¹/₁₂₅	¹/₂₅₀	¹/₅₀₀
Stabilization ON	0	6	0	71	100	100	100	100	100
Stabilization OFF	0	0	0	0	10	18	29	71	100

I see a 4 stop real-world improvement.

At 300mm

% Perfectly Sharp Shots	¹/₂	¹/₄	¹/₈	¹/₁₅	¹/₃₀	¹/₆₀	¹/₁₂₅	¹/₂₅₀	¹/₅₀₀
Stabilization ON	0	9	20	22	88	100	100	100	100
Stabilization OFF	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	28½	100

I see a 4 stop real-world improvement.

At 600mm

% Perfectly Sharp Shots	¹/₈	¹/₁₅	¹/₃₀	¹/₆₀	¹/₁₂₅	¹/₂₅₀	¹/₅₀₀	¹/_1,000	¹/_2,000
Stabilization ON	10	0	50	100	100	100	100	100	100
Stabilization OFF	0	0	0	0	12½	12½	62½	87½	100

I see a 4 stop real-world improvement.

Sunstars performance top

With a 9-bladed rounded diaphragm, I get pretty good 18-point sunstars on brilliant points of light at the smallest apertures.

Likewise ignore the crazy rainbow dots at small apertures; these are sensor artifacts caused by taking a picture directly of the sun and exposing for the dark underside of a huge palm tree, and using that same palm tree to hide the sky to accentuate the stars.

Click any to enlarge:

Click any to enlarge.

Teleconverters performance top

It works great with the TC 1.4× or 2× teleconverters, but only one at a time:

	Shortest Setting	Longest Setting
No TC	180mm f/5.6	600mm f/6.3
with TC 1.4×	250mm f/8	840mm f/9
with TC 2×	360mm f/11	1,200mm f/13

Tripod Collar performance top

The tripod collar flips open and is removable.

It's all metal and has both ¼″ × 20 TPI and ⅜″ × 16 TPI tripod threads.

It has no 90º clicks.

Compared top

USA Version Performance Compared

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

There is no similar Z lens, but you can use the F-Mount AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E VR or AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF on the Z cameras with FTZ or FTZ II:

	Z 180-600mm VR	AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E VR	AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF	Z 100-400 + TC 1.4x
Maximum Aperture	f/5.6 ~ f/6.3	f/5.6	f/5.6	f/6.3 ~ f/8
Announced	21 June 2023	04 August 2015	23 August 2018	28 October 2021
VR	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Filter	95mm	95mm	95mm	77mm
Close Focus at Short End	4.3'/1.3m	7.2'/2.2m	10'/3m	2.5' / 0.75 m
Close Focus at Long End	7.9'/2.4m	7.2'/2.2m	10'/3m	3.2' / 1 m
Works with Teleconverters?	Yes	Yes	Yes	You're doing it!
Macro Ratio (w/o TC)	1:4 (0.26 ×)	1:4.5 (0.22 ×)	1:5.6 (0.18 ×)	1:1.9 (0.53 ×)
Weight, w/collar*	75.5 oz. (2,140g)	81¼ oz. (2,355g)	51¼ oz. (1,463g)	50.5 oz. (1,433g) + 7.7 oz. (220g) = 58.2 oz. (1,653g)
Price, 6/2023	$1,697	$1,057	$3,297
Price, 5/2024	$1,697	$1,057	$3,297
Price, 11/2024	$1,897	$1,057	$3,297
Price, 04/2025	$1,897	$1,397	$3,297	$2,797 + $547 = $3,344

* Actual measured weight.

The AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E VR has always been a superb lens and costs less than this Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR. It works fine on Z cameras with FTZ or FTZ II, however it has slightly less zoom range and weighs a bit more — but the 200-500 also works on F-mount digital and 35mm cameras.

I never liked the AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF; it's expensive and has crummy VR.

The Z 100-400 + TC 1.4x combo covers a similar range and is the lightest zoom here, however it's also the slowest and the most expensive.

User's Guide top

USA Version Performance Compared

I got my Z 180-600mm VR at B&H. I'd also get mine I'd also get mine at Adorama, at Amazon or at Crutchfield, or used at eBay if you know How to Win at eBay, or get it used at KEH.

Nikon Z 180-600mm VR. bigger.

AF - MF Switch user's guide top

AF: Auto Focus. You have instant manual focus override by turning the focus ring at any time.

MF: Manual Focus only.

Use on the Z8 and Z9 user's guide top

Hint: You may prefer to dedicate an Fn button you can reach with your right hand to focus settings, because the special focus mode buttons on the front left of the Z8 and Z9 requires your left hand. If your left hand is holding the lens, you'll have to hold your rig in just your right hand while you pull your left hand in to set focus. Therefore I suggest an FN button you can reach with your right hand for faster shooting.

Full / ∞-6m Switch user's guide top

This is a focus limiter.

Leave it in FULL.

The ∞-6m position prevents the lens from autofocusing closer than 6 meters (20 feet). Use this setting only if you're having a problem with the lens attempting to focus on irrelevant close items, or if for some reason the lens is "hunting" from near to far looking for distant subjects.

Vibration Reduction (VR) user's guide top

There are no VR switches. You'll have to find these settings in your camera's menu system. Sorry.

Hint: Use the SPORT mode. If you don't, you'll often get different framing than what you thought you were going to get!

Carrying user's guide top

Hint: Everyone's arms and straps vary, and I find mine are just the right size so that if I carry this around my neck with the lens pointing at the ground, I can cradle the front of the lens in my hand to 1). hide the whole rig under my arm, 2.) keep the lens from falling, 3.) keep some weight off my shoulder, and 4.) it lets me prevent the lens from banging into anything as I walk.

Recommendations top

USA Version Performance Compared