Nikon AF-S 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Lens Review

Nikon AF-S 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Performance

Sharpness already approaches outstanding levels across the frame at 18mm and maximum aperture. Stopping down the aperture improves clarity further with peak sharpness across the frame being achieved at f/8.

At 24mm, sharpness in the centre of the frame remains very high at maximum aperture, but clarity towards the edges of the frame falls just below excellent levels. Peak sharpness across the frame is achieved between f/5.6 and f/8 for this focal length. Here clarity is outstanding in the centre of the frame and excellent towards the edges.

Finally, at 35mm sharpness remains outstanding in the centre of the frame, but clarity towards the edges of the frame falls off to good levels at maximum aperture. Peak sharpness across the frame is again achieved between f/5.6 and f/8 where clarity in the centre is outstanding and sharpness towards the edges of the frame is very good.

Resolution @ 18mm		Resolution @ 24mm
Resolution @ 35mm		How to read our charts The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are well controlled although they increase to noticeable levels at 35mm with the aperture stopped down to f/16 or beyond. Even so, the levels of fringing are only very slight and shouldn't pose too many issues in normal photography.

Chromatic aberration @ 18mm		Chromatic aberration @ 24mm
Chromatic aberration @ 35mm		How to read our charts Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software. Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Nikon D600 using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners of the frame is quite pronounced for a lens with a reasonably modest maximum aperture. At 18mm the corners are 2.18 stops darker than the image centre and at 35mm the corners are 1.15 stops darker. Visually uniform illumination is achieved with the aperture stopped down to f/8 or beyond throughout the zoom range.

As you might expect very strong barrel distortion of 4.78% is present at 18mm, which will be easy to spot in any images that have straight lines running parallel to the edges of the frame. This level is reduced to 1.28% barrel distortion at 35mm. The distortion pattern is uniform at either end of the zoom range, which should make applying corrections in image editing software fairly straightforward.

A shallow petal shaped hood is supplied with the lens which does a reasonable job of protecting the lens from extraneous light that may cause issues with flare. Although this lens doesn't sport the latest Nano Crystal coatings, it is very resistant to flare and contrast holds up extremely well when shooting into the light.

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