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Micro-Nikkor AF 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6 D ED - Review / Lab Test Report - Analysis |
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Lens Reviews -
Nikon / Nikkor (APS-C)
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Page 2 of 2
Distortion
The Micro-Nikkor AF 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED shows an unusually low level of distortion for a zoom lens.
At 70mm the lens is basically free of distortion and beyond there is only marginal pincushion distortion (<0.5%).
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Move the mouse cursor over the focal length text marks below to observe the respective distortion
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| 70mm |
135mm |
180mm |
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The chart above has a real-world size of about 120x80cm.
Vignetting
As mentioned the Nikkor is a full format lens which can take advantage of a sweet
spot effect on the D200. The vignetting is absolutely negligible within the APS-C scope
regardless of the focal length or aperture setting.
MTF (resolution)
All tests are performed near infinity focus so the following comments are only
valid when using the Micro-Nikkor AF 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED at conventional
focus distances. True macro tests are not possible at this state.
Within this scope the lens was able to deliver very good although not
exceptional resolution figures in the lab.
At 70mm the quality is excellent in the center and very good at the borders.
At 135mm the center suffers from a slight performance penalty but the quality
remains easily in very good territory. As to be expected the resolution figures
decrease further at 180mm - still very good but not impressive for a pricey
lens.
The lens has a min. aperture of f/40 - a rather theoretical setting. At 180mm f/40
the measure resolution is 720 LW/PH which isn't really something that could
be called "resolution" anymore. Due to diffraction this is an absolutely normal
behavior though.
Please note that the MTF results are not directly comparable across the different systems!
Below is a simplified summary of the formal findings. The chart shows line widths per picture height (LW/PH) which can be taken as a measure for sharpness.
If you want to know more about the MTF50 figures you may check out the corresponding Imatest Explanations
Chromatic Aberrations (CAs)
Lateral Chromatic aberrations (color shadows at harsh contrast transitions) are
relatively well controlled. At 70mm they're more pronounced (1.15-1.5px on the
average at the borders) whereas the issue is fairly negligible at 135mm and 180mm.
Verdict
The Micro-Nikkor AF 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6D ED delivered very good although no
exceptional results (at conventional focus distances). The resolution is excellent
at 70mm but the quality decrease towards the long end of the zoom range - a single
ED element is obviously not enough to match the mid to long Micro-Nikkor fix-focals
at their respective focal length. However, we are talking about an ambitious zoom
lens here and flexibility simply comes with compromises. Vignetting and distortions
are basically negligible and CAs are only an issue at 70mm. The build quality of the
lens is exceptional with only the tiny tripod mount to complain about. Typical for
most macros the AF speed isn't excessively high but if you take advantage of the
focus limiter things are generally fine here. At around 1500€/US$ the lens is fairly
pricey, more so regarding its rather slow max. apertures, and it is probably more a
specialty item for macro enthusiasts - for the same price you may also get a
Nikkor AF 80-200mm f/2.8D ED plus a 100mm macro lens which would make more sense
for the majority of users.
| Optical Quality: |
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| Mechanical Quality: |  (but miserable tripod mount) |
| Price/Performance: |  |
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| | What does this mean ? |
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