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

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Nikon Nikkor Z 85 mm f/1.8 S

13 March 2020

Maciej Latałło

5. Chromatic and spherical aberration

Chromatic aberration

The Nikkor Z 85 mm f/1.8 S has two low dispersion ED glass elements and one of their tasks is correction of longitudinal chromatic aberration. They work quite efficiently - the level of that aberration remains slight although you can spot it on closer examination of blurry areas. The situation is a lot better than in the case of the Nikkor AF-S 85 mm f/1.8G and a tad better than in the case of the Sony FE 85 mm f/1.8. Once again the Tamron 1.8/85 VC is the worthiest opponent of the tested Nikkor and even though the duel is very fierce it seems the Nikkor still manages to win it.

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

The correction of lateral chromatic aberration can be described in very similar terms as indicates the graph, shown below.

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Aberration increases slightly on stopping down and ranges from less than 0.01% to 0.03%. These are excellent results because values below 0.04% we consider to be very low and they shouldn't cause you the slightest problems in real life photos.

It's true that none of Nikkor's Z 85 mm f/1.8 S rivals had any problems in this category but also none of them fared as well as the tested lens – a round of applause!

Nikon Z7, RAW, f/1.8	Nikon Z7, RAW, f/11.0

Spherical aberration

In first photos from this chapter it would be difficult to notice any traces of 'focus shift' effect and defocused circles of light are quite similar, with barely perceptible differences between them. Both these factors, and the fact that resolution by f/1.8 and f/2.0 remains really high, allow us to state that spherical aberration is corrected properly well.