Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Lens Review

Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Handling and Features

The size, weight and build of this lens are typical of 18-135mm optics that used to be bundled as part of a kit with Nikon DSLRs. It's reasonably lightweight at only 490g, thanks to the mostly plastic construction, although the lens mount is metal and the lens balances well on the Nikon D300 body used for testing. The plastics used are of high quality, creating a reasonably robust impression, reinforced by the rubber gasket, designed to prevent the ingress of dust and moisture via the lens mount, although the lens itself isn't weather sealed.

A silent wave motor powers auto-focus and it obtains focus reasonably quickly. Manual adjustments can be applied at any time via the narrow focusing ring closest to the lens mount. The manual focusing action is smooth and well damped, which makes fine adjustments easy to apply. The zoom action is also smooth and consistent through the range. Enough resistance has been applied to prevent the zoom creeping forward when it is pointed down, which is good as there is no locking switch provided.



Closest focus distance is 45cm, and focusing is performed internally, so the 67mm filter thread does not rotate, which makes this lens ideal for use with graduated filters and polarisers.

Nikon's Vibration Reduction system promises to allow hand held shooting at shutter speeds slower than the usual rule of thumb for sharp hand-held photos might allow. With care, sharp hand held shots are possible at shutter speeds as low as 1/13sec around half the time, which is around four stops slower than would normally be possible.

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