Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8 Lens Review

Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification

This 40mm macro optic from Nikon costs around £250 and provides a compact and lightweight alternative introduction to macro photography with a Nikon DX format digital SLR. It features a silent focusing motor and life size magnification at its closest focusing distance.

The closest alternative from third party manufacturers is Tokina's 35mm f/2.8 Macro lens, which costs around £380. This lens lacks the silent focusing of the Nikon optic and the slightly shorter focal length will reduce the working distance slightly.

Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 Handling and Features

Weighing only 235g, this lens is amongst the lightest and most compact true macro optics currently available for the Nikon system, which will make it perfect for stowing in a the bottom of a camera bag, ready for when it is needed. As a result it balances very well on the Nikon D300 body used for testing. High quality plastics have been used for much of the construction and the lens mount is made from metal, creating a quality feel. Although this optic makes no claims to be weather resistant, a rubber gasket has been included around the lens mount, to help prevent the ingress of dust and moisture into the camera.

Main view	Focus range

Manual focusing is performed via the narrow rubberised ring, which has just the right amount of resistance and travel to make fine adjustments straightforward. A minimum focus distance of 16.3cm provides life size magnification, but with little working distance. Care will need to be taken not to shade your subject when working this close, and the supplied lens hood may need to be removed. The hood is a relatively deep, circular affair which clips onto the bayonet fitting around the 52mm filter thread.

Side switches	Rear

Although this lens sports a silent wave focusing motor, focus speeds are quite slow, even when compared to other macro lenses in Nikon's line up. A focus limiter switch is a welcome addition, to help speed focusing by preventing the lens from tracking back and forth through the entire focus range when it is difficult to obtain a lock onto a subject. The lens extends during focusing, however the front filter thread doesn't rotate, which makes this lens perfect for use with polarising and graduated filters.

Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 Performance

At maximum aperture the clarity in the central portion of the frame is already excellent and the quality towards the edges is just a shade below good levels.

Stopping down improves sharpness further across the frame until f/8, where the clarity is outstanding across the frame. After this diffraction takes a bite out of the sharpness, but the clarity is still good down to f/16.

How to read our charts The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D300 using Imatest.		How to read our charts Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D300 using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are kept to low levels, with them peaking at 0.74pixel widths at f/16 towards the edges of the frame. This low level shouldn't pose any issues, even in large prints or harsh crops from the edges of the frame.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners is very well controlled. At maximum aperture, the corners are only 1.07 stops darker than the centre of the frame and stopping down to f/5.6 results in visually uniform illumination.

As you might expect for a fixed focal lens, distortion is virtually negligible. Imatest managed to pick up 0.253% barrel distortion, which is a very low level and it shouldn't be noticeable under most shooting conditions. If no distortion at all can be tolerated, then it should eb easy to correct in image editing software afterwards, as the distortion pattern is consistent across the frame.

When the lens is focused to infinity, the front element is heavily recessed within the lens barrel, which does an excellent job of preventing light sources from out side the frame causing flare and loss of contrast. A relatively deep circular lens hood is also provided for further protection. When shooting into very strong light sources in the frame, such as the sun, contrast holds up well and the lens rarely causes any flare in the image.

Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G Sample Photos

Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 Verdict

What is there not to like about this 40mm macro optic from Nikon? It's lightweight, compact and delivers images with excellent sharpness and contrast with low distortion, falloff and chromatic aberrations.

Priced at around £250, it represents excellent value for money, especially for those looking for a decent introduction to macro photography, especially if the short working distance isn't an issue for you.

The Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 delivers excellent images and represents excellent value for money.

Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 Pros

Excellent sharpness
Good build quality
Great value
Light weight and compact

Nikon Micro 40mm f/2.8 Cons

Focusing can be slow

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G Specifications

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