Nikon AF-S Nikkor 58mm f/1.4G Lens Review

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 58mm f/1.4G Performance

Sharpness in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture is already very good. Clarity towards the edges of the frame falls behind somewhat, only achieving fairly good sharpness, as is typical for standard lenses with a fast f/1.4 maximum aperture. Stopping down improves sharpness across the frame, with peak performance being achieved between f/4 and f/8. Here sharpness in the centre is outstanding, and performance is excellent towards the edges of the frame.

MTF @ 58mm

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 D600 using Imatest.

Levels of chromatic aberrations are reasonably well controlled, exceeding half a pixel width towards the edges of the frame at maximum aperture. Fringing is at its strongest at f/1.4, but the level is low enough to cause few issues, even in harsh crops from the edges of the frame.

CA @ 58mm

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 D600 using Imatest.

As you may expect from a fast aperture lens, falloff of illumination towards the corners is quite pronounced. At maximum aperture the corners are 2.13 stops darker than the image centre and visually uniform illumination isn't achieved until stopped down to f/4 or beyond.

Distortion is quite high for a standard lens. Imatest detected 1.6% barrel distortion, which may be noticeable in some circumstances. If straight lines are paramount, you'll be glad to hear that the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, which should make applying corrections in image editing software relatively straightforward.

Thanks to Nikon's Nano-crystal coating, incidences of flare are very rare indeed. Contrast holds up very well indeed, even when shooting into the light. A petal-shaped hood is supplied with the lens, which does a good job of shading the lens from extraneous light that may cause issues. Even so, as the front element is deeply recessed within the lens barrel, the hood can be left at home much of the time.

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