Sharpness at 70mm

For this review, the sharpness test is carried out by photographing a real-world sample, rather than a test chart. The Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/4 S lens was mounted on a Nikon Z 7, which was in-turn mounted on a sturdy tripod. Exposure delay was activated to prevent camera-shake. Any changes in tone you might see across the crops are due to natural light changes during the shooting session.

The full frame at 70mm

At this focal length, centre sharpness is excellent at the maximum aperture of f/4. It stays excellent at f/5.6, dropping ever so slightly at f/8. Sharpness drops again at f/11, a little more at f/16, before showing the softest results at f/22. All images look great when viewed at normal printing or web sizes. At the edges of the images, the sharpest results are seen between f/8 and f/16.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22