Nikon Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.8G review - Chromatic and spherical aberration

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Nikon Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.8G

10 March 2012

Arkadiusz Olech

5. Chromatic and spherical aberration

The longitudinal chromatic aberration was more often than not a serious problem in the Nikon “primes”, presented lately. Especially the 1.4/85G model broke disreputable records – its aberration level was huge and it didn’t disappear even after stopping down by 2 EV. The Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.8G is doing better in this category but it doesn’t mean the situation is good. At the maximum relative aperture the longitudinal chromatic aberration is high and it remains rather pronounced even after stopping down by 1 EV. Only when you stop down by 2 EV you see that aberration reduced to a moderate level.

Nikon Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.8G - Chromatic and spherical aberration

A much better situation can be noticed when it comes to the lateral chromatic aberration. It shows a slight downward trend along with stopping down but even at the maximum relative aperture is not very bothersome. What’s interesting the results are a bit better than those of the more expensive Nikkor 1.4/85G.

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The spherical aberration it is well-corrected. The lens doesn’t show any focus shift with the stopping down of the aperture (as it can be noticed in the photos of the autofocus chart, presented at the beginning of this chapter). What’s more, defocused diode images in front of and behind the focus are very similar, without any distinctive heterogeneities. There is just a slight lightness decrease on the edge of the circle in the case of the back focus image.