Week with an expert. Best Nikon Starter Lenses

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR

The first lens in our test, which is one of the options for the “whale” configuration of cameras Nikon D5600, Nikon D7500 and other models. By the way, if you buy a camera with this lens, it will cost significantly less than if you buy it separately.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F8, 15 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

A versatile, lightweight and compact superzoom for almost all occasions, which replaced the old Nikon 18-135mm f / 3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor. With this lens you can shoot landscapes and portraits. Unlike its predecessor, the Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR has a stabilizer. If you are not going to Africa to shoot lions, then the Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR will probably be the only lens you need on a trip. It’s also quite light - it weighs 490 grams, which is much less even compared to the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300 mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR and is several times lighter than the lenses of the professional series.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F5.6, 1/30 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

Design

This is a relatively small lens weighing 490 grams, dimensions are 78 × 97 mm. The main material is plastic, but the mount is made of metal. When zooming, the external lens extends quite strongly. On the body is a powerful zoom ring, focusing ring and a block of AF and stabilizer switches. The lens is equipped with an ultrasonic SWM motor, which allows it to be used on cameras of the D3300 and D5600 series. The lens focuses at medium speed - not too fast, but not tiringly slow. Focusing is relatively noisy: when shooting a video, the autofocus operation will definitely be heard. When focusing, the front lens does not rotate, which makes it possible to use polarizing and gradient filters. Zoom lenses with a wide range of focal lengths have a complex design. Inside the lens there are 17 optical elements combined in 12 groups. Of these, 1 lens with a low dispersion ED glass and 1 aspherical element.

Optical characteristics

The Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR lens does not have a high aperture of f / 3.5–5.6. However, its optical performance is at a high level for an amateur lens. Chromatic aberrations are noticeable, but are effectively removed by the camera processor or the Lens Correction feature in Adobe Lightroom / Camera RAW. If you are shooting with bright, contrasting light, pay attention to the edges of the subject: there may be an unpleasant glow and purple hues. Here is an example shot from a Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR. At 100% magnification, it can be seen that the edges of the books in the upper right corner “glow” violet.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.

I went to the Lens Correction menu in Adobe Camera RAW, checked the option Remove Chromatic Aberration, and the edges of the books became much sharper, but some shine is still noticeable.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.

I am wary of amateur optics in the development of details: complex optical schemes and inexpensive glass usually negatively affect the sharpness of images. Therefore, I was interested in testing the lenses presented in the review. And I must say, I was not disappointed!

Sharpness test. Focal Length 18 mm:

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F5.6, 1/3 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F8, 1 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F11, 2 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F16, 3 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F22, 6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

At a focal length of 18 mm, the sharpness is good, the details in the center are remarkably worked out even with the aperture open. At the edges of the frame, the sharpness drops noticeably, but you can still consider not only small inscriptions, but also the texture of the books. The lens shows the best results at f / 8 aperture. Take, for example, the texture of the brown book “Numismatic Collection” on the first shelf. From f / 11, sharpness begins to fall due to diffraction.

Sharpness test. Focal length 70 mm:

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F5, 1/4 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download the original

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F8, 1/2 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F11, 1 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F16, 2 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F22, 4 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F32, 8 s, 105.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

When shooting at focal lengths of 70 and 140 mm, I got the sharpest image with f / 11 aperture, and starting from f / 16, sharpness decreased. At the edges of the frame, sharpness is better than at a focal length of 18 mm, but still lower than in the center of the frame. An open aperture can be considered working if you do not plan to print photos in large format (A3 or more).

Sharpness test. Focal length 140 mm:

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F5.6, 1/4 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F8, 1/2 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F11, 1 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F16, 2 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F22, 4 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 100, F32, 8 s, 210.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

Vignetting is slight but noticeable. As can be seen in the test pictures below, it is most pronounced at the minimum focal length (dark corners of the frame). It is better to get rid of it by turning on vignetting suppression in the camera menu, or in Adobe Lightroom / Camera RAW during post-processing. Closing the diaphragm one or two steps also helps.

Distortion

For superzoom distortion is a very characteristic phenomenon, and it needs to be monitored. Distortion is the geometric distortion of an image. For example, straight lines of bookshelves “bent” when shooting with a wide-angle lens. The distortion is best corrected by the built-in camera algorithm or by using the Lens Correction settings in Adobe Lightroom and Camera RAW.

Image before distortion correction. FR 18 mm

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.

Image after distortion correction

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.

Vignetting test. 18 mm:

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F3.5, 1/180 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F5.6, 1/60 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F8, 1/30 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F11, 1/15 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F16, 1/8 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F22, 1/4 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

Vignetting test. 35 mm:

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F4.2, 1/180 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F5.6, 1/90 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F8, 1/45 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F11, 1/20 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F16, 1/10 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Settings: ISO 100, F22, 1/6 s, 52.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

Stabilizer

Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR has a powerful stabilizer, which is activated by a switch on the lens body. The manufacturer promises to win in 4 shutter speeds when shooting handheld. What does it mean? For example, at a focal length of 18 mm for DX-matrices (which is equivalent to 27 mm on full-frame cameras), the recommended shutter speed is at least 1/30 s, otherwise the image will probably get blurry. To check this, I took a picture in the evening cafe with dim lights. The stabilizer is on, shutter speed 1/6 s, focal length 18 mm. Four stages of stabilization mean that I can shoot at shutter speeds up to 1/2 s instead of 1/30. At a shutter speed of 1/6 second, sharpness is good. This allows you to take pictures with less photosensitivity, which means with less noise and better color rendering.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 800, F3.5, 1/6 s, 27.0 mm equiv.Download RAW

conclusions

Nikon AF-S DX 18-140mm f / 3.5-5.6G ED VR- This is an excellent universal lens with an affordable price (if you buy it complete with a camera). Focal lengths cover most of the tasks of a beginner amateur photographer. It has good detail and slight, but noticeable vignetting - the optical characteristics are sufficient for amateur photography. The stabilizer allows you to shoot in low light conditions. The main disadvantages of the lens are significant distortion from distortion, which can occur during interior or architectural shooting and will require additional manipulations during post-processing. Also, the f / 5.6 aperture in the teleposition will not allow you to work with slow shutter speeds when shooting a report in the room (or you will have to raise the light sensitivity to very high values). For such tasks are more expensive and more fast lenses.

NIKON D7500 / 18.0-140.0 mm f / 3.5-5.6 Installations: ISO 50, F22, 25 s, 33.0 mm equiv.Download RAW