Nikon Nikkor Z 40 mm f/2.0 review - Chromatic and spherical aberration

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Nikon Nikkor Z 40 mm f/2.0

26 November 2021

Maciej Latałło

5. Chromatic and spherical aberration

Chromatic aberration

In the case of the tested lens you deal with an angle of view a bit wider than in case of a typical stadard lens and a quite sensible f/2.0 aperture. Such a combination is not easy to correct when it comes to longitudinal chromatic aberration; still, despite a simple optical system and lack of low dispersion elements Nikon managed splendidly well in this area. Even at the maximum relative aperture images outside depth of field don't show any significant colouring – a round of applause!

Nikon Nikkor Z 40 mm f/2.0 - Chromatic and spherical aberration

What about lateral chromatic aberration – will the performance be equally good? Let's find out by glancing at a graph below.

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The aberration depends weakly on aperture values but it is stronger correlated with the position in the frame. On the edge of the full frame you deal with values ranging from 0.06% to 0.08% so being on a level that can still be described as low. On the edge of the APS-C /DX sensor the situation is a bit worse as this aberration increases to a borderline between low and medium values. Overall the performance in this category can be called satisfactory – chromatic aberration shouldn't overly bother you in real life photos.

Nikon Z7, RAW, f/2.0	Nikon Z7, RAW, f/16.0

Spherical aberration

First photos of this chapter show a slight 'focus shift' effect as, on stopping down the aperture from f/2.0 to f/2.8, depth of field is moved slightly toward greater distances. Still, when it comes to correction of spherical aberration, circles of light we got before and behind the focus don't feature any serious problems; they aren't perhaps identical but differences between them can hardly be called significant.