Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens Review

Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Performance

Sharpness at 18mm is already outstanding in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture, and the clarity recorded towards the edges of the frame at this aperture is good. Stopping down improves sharpness towards the edges of the frame, falling just short of excellent levels at f/5.6.

Zooming to 50mm results in sharpness being reduced. Clarity is still very good at maximum aperture in the centre of the frame, although the performance of this lens falls short of good towards the edges of the frame at this focal length and aperture. Stopping down improves sharpness across the frame, peaking at f/8. Here sharpness is excellent in the centre and very good towards the edges of the frame.

Finally, at 140mm, sharpness is very good in the centre of the frame and good towards the edges of the frame at maximum aperture. Stopping down to f/8 produces outstanding sharpness in the centre of the frame with very good clarity towards the edges.

MTF @ 18mm

MTF @ 50mm

MTF @ 140mm

How to read our charts The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D300 using Imatest.

Levels of chromatic aberrations are well enough controlled with fringing towards the edges of the frame only becoming an issue when the lens is stopped down to f/22 at 18mm. 

CA @ 18mm

CA @ 50mm

CA @ 140mm

How to read our charts Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D300 using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is well controlled. At 18mm the corners are 1.83 stops darker than the image centre and at 300mm the corners are 0.59 stops darker. Visually uniform illumination is achieved with the lens stopped down to f/8 or beyond throughout the zoom range.

As is often the case with lenses sporting a high zoom ratio, distortion is quite pronounced at both ends of the range. At 18mm 5.02% barrel distortion is present, which is quite noticeable and at 300mm 1.5% pincushion distortion is present, which is less apparent. The distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, so it should be relatively easy to apply corrections in image editing software afterwards.

No hood is supplied with this lens, which is unusual, as Nikon normally bundle one as standard. Luckily this lens isn't too prone to flare or loss of contrast when shooting into the light, so it may not be necessary to spend another £15 on the optional HB-32 hood.

Add your message