2020-05-01_N-Photo_the_Nikon_magazine

he DX format 40mm Micro
is wonderfully compact
and lightweight, ideal for
popping into a spare corner
of your camera bag in case you need it.
That might happen more often than
you think, as it’s very versatile. The
focal length and aperture rating make
it a good standard prime for general
shooting, with the option of quick
shutter speeds under dull lighting
and a fairly tight depth of field.
Macro shooting is more tricky,
however, as the inner barrel extends
at shorter focus distances, giving a
working distance between the front of
the lens and the subject of just 3.5cm
in full macro mode. This can make it
difficult to photograph bugs without
scaring them away in the process, and
can also cast a shadow over the
subject, blocking ambient light.

Performance
The little lens punches above its weight
when it comes to image quality, which
is excellent in all respects. However,
autofocus speed is rather pedestrian
and manual focusing lacks a certain
smoothness and precision for those
more extreme close-ups.

aunched in 2011, this

optically stabilized FX

format macro lens

predates Sigma’s ‘Global

Vision’ Art, Sports and Contemporary

line-up by a year. Unlike the larger

150mm OS macro that was launched

a few months earlier, it’s still going

strong and serves up a tempting feast

of features at a very competitive price.

It has a fast ring-type ultrasonic AF

and a fully internal focusing

arrangement, complete with a range-

limiter switch that can lock out near or

far focusing. It’s also good for shooting

sports and wildlife, with a four-stop

stabilizer that has switchable static

and panning modes. A hood is supplied

with the lens, plus a hood converter for

optimized performance when using

the lens on a DX body.

Performance

Corner-sharpness is merely mediocre

at the wide aperture settings, but

that’s no real problem in macro

photography, where you’ll generally

use narrow apertures to gain even a

little depth of field. Handling is

excellent and the lens delivers

superb all-round image quality.

Nikon AF-S

DX 40mm f/2.8G Micro

£269/$277

Nikon’s baby Micro is short but sharp

Sigma Macro 105mm

f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM

£359/$469

A feature-rich lens at a real bargain price

Sharpness

Sharpness is really impressive

across the whole image frame,

apart from mediocre

corner-sharpness at f/2.8.

Sharpness

Sharpness is excellent in the

central region of the frame,

but slightly less impressive

towards the edges.

Fringing

Levels of colour fringing are

completely negligible,

especially at medium to

narrow apertures.

Fringing

Levels of colour fringing are

very minimal and remain

consistent throughout the

aperture range.

Distortion

The 40mm Micro is,

essentially, a distortion-free

prime lens with a practically

perfect lab score.

Distortion

There’s only the merest

hint of barrel distortion,

which we found to be

impossible to spot.

N-Photo verdict N-Photo verdict

It’s a good buy at the
price and delivers great
image quality but it’s
better for general
shooting than macro.

It works brilliantly, both

as a telephoto prime

and a macro optic for

extreme close-ups. It’s

also unbeatable value.

Features Features

Build &

handling

Build &

handling

Performance Performance

Value Value

3.5

Overall

4.5

Overall

TL

MACRO LENSES