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| Shot from a moving ferry. Nikon Z50 with Z DX50-250mm lens at 250mm. |
I usually find that making assumptions about photo equipment is unreliable and that testing gives more robust results.
This morning I tested five camera/zoom lens units to see which performed best in the superzoom range.
The result was quite surprising.
The cameras were:
Nikon Z50 with Z DX 50-250mm lens at 250mm (Equivalent 375mm)
Sony RX10.4 at 220mm (E 600mm)
Lumix G9 with Leica 100-400mm lens at 300mm (E600mm)
Lumix FZ1000.2 at 146mm (E400mm)
Lumix FZ300 at 108mm (E600mm)
The subject was a group of casuarina trees about 700meters from the camera. These have loads of fine detail and are very suitable for testing telephoto lenses.
Each lens was used at its pre-determined best aperture.
I hand held each camera with image stabiliser on.
I made several RAW exposures with each camera and picked the best although only the FZ300 showed any variation in sharpness between one frame and the next.
The RX10.4, FZ300 and G9+100-400 were each used at E600mm.
Each camera had 20 Mpx except the FZ300 at 12 Mpx.
I compared the resulting images side by side on screen.
I adjusted the magnification of each so that image elements appeared the same size on screen.
I made only minimal adjustments to each RAW file to achieve approximately equal lightness, contrast and color in the files.
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| Just for reference this is the test scene. The image has been reduced and compressed by the Blogger platform so you cannot use it as a guide to the capability of the Z DX 50-250mm lens. |
Results
The first thing I noticed was that there was not a huge difference between any of the images. Each camera/lens combination made pictures of very good quality.
I find this remarkable, given that the least expensive kit, the FZ300 cost just over $500 and the most expensive, the G9+Leica 100-400mm cost over $3500.
The least sharp result came from the Lumix FZ1000.2. This camera has a good, well proven lens but on this test it came off worst.
Next was the Lumix FZ300 which gave very good result considering this camera’s tiny sensor and small pixel count.
The Lumix G9+100-400mm, Sony RX10.4 and Nikon Z50 + Z DX 50-250mm were very close but to my eyes and those of my wife who delivered her verdict not knowing which image came from which camera, the Z50 +50-250mm came out just a bit sharper and clearer than the other two.
This result came as a bit of a shock I have to say.
It means that the DX Z 50-250 at E375mm cropped to E600mm is as sharp as and maybe a fraction sharper and clearer than either the RX10.4 or G9+100-400 at E600mm.
The Z DX 50-250mm lens is a budget kit model with all plastic construction including the mount but it delivers a level of optical performance far above what I had expected.
On other tests I have found this lens delivers a similarly excellent optical performance at all focal lengths with near perfect centering and very good sharpness right to the edges.
It appears Nikon has indeed set a new standard for the budget kit tele zoom.
Not only is this lens very sharp, it produces virtually no distortion, very low levels of color fringing, very smooth bokeh and high resistance to flare.
The VR is very effective, the zoom action very smooth and the AF very fast, accurate and reliable.
If purchased with the Z50 as part of a twin lens kit the 50-250mm adds only $300 to the price of the body+single lens kit.
Comment
I reckon this is just about the best photo equipment bargain on the planet right now.
There appear to be few formal reviews of this lens online at present.
Maybe reviewers thought the 50-250mm would be just another run-of-the-mill-not-very-good budget zoom of unremarkable quality.
My tests find that it actually is an excellent lens and would be highly regarded if it cost five times as much.
The budget kit tele zoom ain’t what it used to be.