Lens review

Nikon Nikkor AF 35 mm f/2D

5. Chromatic aberration

Here, another interesting thing happens, and it’s one of the reasons why we won’t test the lenses on the Nikon D3 camera. The voice of reason would dictate that the aberration on a full frame will be higher than on a DX sensor. The graph below shows something different, though, because the aberration at smaller apertures in the case of the D200 is significantly higher than in the case of the D3.

This effect can be understood if we stop for a while and think how the chromatic aberration happens and how we measure it. When pixels are larger, the chromatic aberration is more difficult to register and, additionally in our methods it is measured by determining the size of an area, expressed in pixels, between the resolution graph for blue/cyan and for red. When the pixels are bigger, there are less of them in this area – thus a lower result and a necessity to redefine the scale.

It can’t change the level of the Nikkor 2.0/35 assessment in this category, which can be only very good. From f/2.0 to f/4.0 the chromatic aberration won’t disturb us at all. By f/5.6 and higher values, the aberration will reach a medium level, visible in real pictures only in very specific situations.