Nikon Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4
6. Distortion and field of view
Field of view
A rectilinear 35 mm lens on a full frame sensor should provides you an angle of view of 63.5 deg but the producers in their official specifications state 63 deg. Of course we decided to check how big this field really is.Still it's worth remembering that the Nikkor Z 35 mm f/1.4 attached to a camera body automatically corrects distortion so a measurement for JPEG files shows an already reduced field of view, after correction of deformations and cropping.
Our photos of starry sky were first saved as JPEG format and then as uncorrected RAW files. Then we transformed the pixel layout (X,Y) from the photo into the equatorial coordinate system (right ascension and declination), which locates a star on a celestial sphere. That way we could determine the field of view of the lens with utter precision and in the right way, so for rays of light coming from infinity.
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The transformation for JPEG files was based on the position of 113 stars spread evenly across the frame and the average mesh-fitting error amounted to just 10 seconds of arc. In this case we got an angle of view of 62.65 deg with a measurement error on a level of 0.03 deg. Our result is here a tad lower than the official declarations but the difference is not that big.
In case of uncorrected RAW files the transformation was based on the positions of 141 stars and the average mesh-fitting error increased to 42 seconds of arc. In this case the angle of view reached a value of even 66 deg with the error on a level of 0.05 deg.
Distortion
If you employ the smaller sensor and JPEG files the software is quite efficient when it comes to correction of deformations - we deal here with just traces of barrel distortion, reaching -0.31%. When you pass to RAW files you deal with a much higher level, that of -2.30%.
| Nikon Z7, 35 mm, JPEG, APS-C/DX | |||
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| Nikon Z7, 35 mm, RAW, APS-C/DX | |||
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In case of full frame, JPEG files once again don't provide any reason to complain because the software deals well with distortion correction, reducing it to a level of -0.41%.
RAW files show clearly that the constructors of the Nikkor's optical system gave up completely on distortion correction. You deal here with a level of -5.31%, an enormous value for this angle of view.
This high level was reached by taking a measurement on our biggest testing chart - in this case the lens was put less than two meters from the chart. It's also worth checking distortion correction for rays falling from infinity. In this case the result is lower but still very high, reaching -4.56%.
| Nikon Z7, 35 mm, JPEG, FF | |||
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| Nikon Z7, 35 mm, RAW, FF | |||
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