Nikon Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4 review - Chromatic and spherical aberration

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Nikon Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4

25 November 2024

Maciej Latałło

5. Chromatic and spherical aberration

Chromatic aberration

The producer didn't use low dispersion glass elements in the optical construction of the Nikkor 1.4/35. Because of that we were very curious how the lens would correct longitudinal chromatic aberration because correcting this aberration with such parameters of the lens is not simple.

Stil, Nikon showed very clearly that longitudinal chromatic aberration can be corrected properly even without a high number of ED elements. Here this aberration is negligible and it won't be bothersome in real life photos at all.

Nikon Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4 - Chromatic and spherical aberration

Now let's check how the tested lens corrects lateral chromatic aberration – an appropriate graph is showed below.

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In this case the lack of ED lenses makes itself felt. The aberration level is not low at any aperture but in the area close to the maximum relative aperture, especially on the edge of the APS-C/DX sensor, it increases to a high level. Once again here we deal with a performance that is not on par in terms of quality with a contemporary prime lens and it doesn't befit a product from such a renowned producer.

Nikon Z7, 35 mm, RAW, f/1.4	Nikon Z7, 35 mm, RAW, f/11.0

Spherical aberration

The Nikkor Z 50 mm f/1.4, tested by us not so long ago, showed many problems with correction of spherical aberration. The number of problems in case of the Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4 is noticeably lower but still this aberration is not corrected in a perfect way. Its slight influence can be noticed both in a form of slight focus shift and noticeable differences between out-of-focus circles of light we got before and behind the focus. Still the lens shouldn't be criticized too harshly because we are still talking about medium values.