Nikon Nikkor AF Micro 60 mm f/2.8D review - Build quality

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Nikon Nikkor AF Micro 60 mm f/2.8D

25 October 2007

Arkadiusz Olech

3. Build quality

The lens’s age (14 years) can be seen at first glance. But this isn’t a pejorative comment. Simply speaking, people who used to work with such analogs as Zenit or Praktica will feel very nostalgic when holding the Nikkor for the first time. The way the lens looks, its build quality, harsh black metal body and the shiny metal bayonet remind us of times when the best equipment came only from Western Europe or Japan, and not from China…. The picture below shows us the comparison between our tested lens and the two Nikkors: the 2.8/105 VR and 18-200 VR.

Nikon Nikkor AF Micro 60 mm f/2.8D - Build quality

As far as the Nikkor’s build quality and ergonomics are concerned, there is nothing to complain about. We have a big and comfortable manual sharpness adjustment ring with a clear scale on it. This is very important in macro-photography since we often work with manual adjustment. Next to the sharpness adjustment ring, there is second narrower ring, which is used to change the mode from AF to MF. On the left there is a FULL/LIMIT switch, used for sharpness adjustment range changing.

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As is common for many macro lens combinations, when taking pictures of close objects, the lens comes out from the lens barrel and the lens’s size increases significantly. The whole procedure, however, is very smooth and the barrel extension is as solid as the rest of the lens’s body.

It is worth adding that the lens is sending information to the main body about the light adjustment when the distance from the object is adjusted. So, at the minimum photographic distance (0.219 meter) the maximum aperture is f/5.0. We can only use the f/2.8 aperture at the 1.8-meter range and above.

As far as the internal construction is concerned, the Nikkor has a simple construction of 8 elements set up in 7 groups. The designers didn’t use any special glass or special lens shape. At the end of the lens there is a non-rotating 62 mm filter thread, and inside we find a 7-blade diaphragm.