Sharpness at 85mm

Our sharpness tests are carried out by photographing a real-world subject rather than a test chart. The Nikon Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S lens was attached to a Nikon Z 7, which in turn was mounted on a sturdy tripod. Self-timer mode was activated to steady the camera completely. Any slight tonal changes you may see across the crops are a result of slight changes in natural light during the shooting session.

The full frame at 85mm

At this focal length, centre sharpness is excellent at f/2.8, and remains excellent throughout the aperture range. There is a slight softening at f/22, as we’d expect, but the overall impression of sharpness when looking at images at normal size is fantastic. Sharpness at the edge of the image is best between f/5.6 and f/11.

Aperture	Centre Crop	Edge Crop
f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16
f/22