The following sample shots were taken with a D3x (in DX crop mode) and RAW-converted via CaptureOne 4.8.
Click on a thumbnail to view the original file (opens in a separate window).
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Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/13.0
Exposure
1/160s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/8.0
Exposure
1/250s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/9.0
Exposure
1/250s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/9.0
Exposure
1/320s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/5.6
Exposure
1/400s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/5.6
Exposure
1/100s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/3.5
Exposure
1/200s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/3.5
Exposure
1/400s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/8.0
Exposure
1/500s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/8.0
Exposure
1/800s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/9.0
Exposure
1/640s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/6.3
Exposure
1/1600s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/6.3
Exposure
1/640s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/8.0
Exposure
1/250s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/8.0
Exposure
1/640s
Make
NIKON CORPORATION
Model
NIKON D3X
ISO Speed
200
Focal Length
85.0mm
Aperture:
f/5.6
Exposure
1/1250s
Verdict
The Micro Nikkor AF-S DX 85/3.5 VR is an attractive new option for DX shooters looking for a dedicated macro lens. It's rather light-weight and compact, delivers very sharp images wide open, which can be considered distortion free (at least for typical macro subjects) and show only minimal traces of CAs. The bokeh is nice and smooth, just a tad underdeveloped for normal tele use because of the lack of speed.
All this comes with the added bonus of Nikon's VR II optical stabilization. VR won't really be of much use at life size macro shots but it's a long way from infinity to the minimum focus distance and for most of that scale the VR is a surely welcome and useful feature.
Optically, the lens only has one issue, which is surprisingly high vignetting wide open. However, this can be easily solved by stopping down to f/5.6 ... or in post processing.
Best of all, the lens is moderately priced, so if you're into macro photography and have no plans to move on to a FX camera soon, this is certainly one of the lenses to consider.
