Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Nikon 40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Top positive review

Buy this instead of the 35mm f/1.8 DX

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2011

Many forum threads have pondered whether to choose the 40mm micro of the 35mm 1.8. I have owned both, used them extensively and can safely conclude that the 40mm micro/macro is the better all-around lens. It can do most the 35 can do, but offers the added bonus of macro and superior sharpness and resistance to chromatic aberration.

Here are the pros of the 35mm 1.8
- affordable prime lens
- fast 1.8 aperture makes it potentially wonderful for indoor and low-light shots when flash is not available or permitted
- extremely sharp if you get a good copy (I've owned two copies. One was tack sharp all the way down to f/1.8. The other had a lot of chromatic aberration and purple fringing wide open).
- great starter lens for a photo class

Here are the cons of the 35mm 1.8
- purple fringing wide open
- blurry wide open (what's the point of 1.8 if you can't use it?)
- lens hood is way too small
- build quality is plasticky (but this applies to 40mm micro as well)

Here are the pros of the 40mm micro
- A great lens for amateur food photography (at the actual restaurant/kitchen with actual food)
- Nikon's most affordable macro lens
- f/2.8 aperture is still very good for general photography
- Macro feature works like a charm
- Lens is lightweight enough that you can get away with handheld shots
- 40mm focal length (60mm on full-frame) makes it good for product photography of larger objects
- has focus limiter switch to disable macro and speed up autofocus
- great manual focus feel

Here are the cons of the 40mm micro
- autofocus hunts more than a regular af-s lens
- you're way too close to subject if you want 1:1 magnification (where 24mm wide object fills length of frame)
- Max aperture is f/4.4 at 1:1, but that's normal for all macro lenses

Because both lenses produce the equivalent of 52/60mm on a film camera, neither is appropriate for head & shoulder portraits, unless you shoot in landscape orientation. Both are great for full body or waist-up portraits. I like shooting up close, so I think you can fit a maximum of two or three people in the shot with these lenses. I would go wider for group photos.

Overall, though, I would choose the 40mm macro lens. It's sharper overall, focus is pretty fast (even when it hunts), and has the added value of close-focus/macro ability. Great for food & product photos.

239 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

G. Morris

Not the best Macro lens; living down to my expectations.

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2019

At the price I paid for this lens, I did not have high expectations and this lens has lived down to those expectations. I guess I can blame myself for some of this. I am using this lens on a Z6 with the slide attachment. I did not want the full frame Macro lens because I did not want to push my luck with the 50-65 year old slides I am taking photos of; 10MP of image data would be sufficient. Now I'm thinking maybe not.
As for the lens itself, focus is not particularly good. I'm finding manually focusing this lens is far more accurate than using auto focus. Also on the Z6, this lens hunts frequently for focus.
On the plus side the lens was inexpensive and if I abandon this lens, I'll not feel too bad selling it for a greatly reduced price.

3 people found this helpful

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From the United States

Phuong Tran Nguyen

Buy this instead of the 35mm f/1.8 DX

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2011

*: BlackVerified Purchase

239 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rob Myran

Good closeup lens for this price.

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

It focuses quite close. I have only had it long enough to try it out on some flowers and buds with snow on them. Happy with the results. I also took a few pictures of a chair then moved in on the details carved in on the back. This is not auto focus, but i think that is OK. Hand focus gets right where I wand to be. My auto focus lenses often focuses on the wrong thing leaving what I wanted a bit out of focus. I look forward to spring when I can get real close on subtle things like flowering moss and on small insects.

Helpful

andrew

Nice compact lens

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Great lens for learning macro photography

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Mr. Ferris

Entry Prime > Entry Zoom. Yes Please

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Bright sharp budget lens for APC-S sensors.

Autofocus can get finicky when getting into macro ranges with the lens. If you have a live view zoom, I recommend using manual focus with this lens at distances closer than 3’. Lens has an autofocus cutoff switch at .2 Meter focus distance to help prevent the issue, but it’s not perfect. With “full” selected on the lens, the autofocus will search through the entire focal range for the lens.

Lens is bright and fast. If you’re not under 3 foot distance the focus is fast and fairly reliable. If this is your first prime lens, you’ll be impressed by the focus speed over your kit zoom lenses. (And many other things too)

Bokeh is great, some and mostly round. Lens clarity will blow away your kit lenses, especially in the f/5.6-8 aperture range.

Not great for studio portraits. The 40mm range of lens brings you close to the subject for a full frame headshot with some little perspective distortion. However, if you’re looking for a viewing aspect to capture the story in the scene outdoors, this will take a great portrait.

I’ve yet to notice any major CA with this lens, but my older D50 body produces its own at the sensor regardless of lens. I would say there is minor lens CA at some camera settings. The lens minimum f/22 aperture stops aberrations from becoming a major issue either. YMMV based on your body and sensor. This lens will put your FX body into DX mode for capturing images.

Don’t plan on photography of live insects or other living maco subjects. The 1:1 macro reproduction scale is in focus at .163 meters from your camera sensor. With the magnifying focus travel in the lens, you might be 2” from lens to focus at 1:1.

Lens does have very noticeable focus breathing (the lens appears to zoom upon focus) and the aperture is variable from f/2.8 wide open @ infinity to f/4.2 wide open @ .163m focus, over a full stop of difference. (1 +.3 to be specific). This makes a 1:1 reproduction from this lens darker, not even counting camera distance. This variable aperture does hamper the effectiveness of autofocus at macro ranges, especially the true 1:1 macro.

The 40 mm aspect on the APC sensor is very close to “natural view” at an equivalent of 60mm on a Nikon APS-c (1.5 crop factor). Right in between 35mm and 50mm lenses, giving you a little of each while being neither.

If you are looking for an entry into macro photography and want a fast lens that can also function as an everyday prime lens, this budget entry is everything that you need. The 40mm viewing aspect will help learn and recognize the importance of composition without limiting as much as either a 35mm or 50mm lens alternative. YMMV here based upon your own preferences on viewing aspect.

This is easily my favorite lens and my go-to for most situations. It’s bright, fast and sharp. Even with the focus breathing and aperture variations, I have not been disappointed.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

S. Gable

Wow! This is My Favorite Lens

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2012

*: BlackVerified Purchase

I'm an all around photographer whose interest is in photographing whatever captures my eye. It could be portraits, landscapes, florals, art, and wildlife. For the last year or so, I've been interested in getting a macro lens for my Nikon D7000. I've read many reviews on the Nikkor 40mm Micro and decided to give it a try. The price was within my budget.

I ordered this lens two weeks ago and have been using it non-stop with wonderful results. I've set aside my 18-200mm, 35mm, and 50mm lens. That's how good this 40mm lens is.

I received this micro lens in time to capture the early Spring flowers. This 40mm micro lens does a great job capturing close-ups of flowers and plants. My pictures are coming out sharp and clear. Do you hear a "wow" from me?

I have taken a close-up picture of my Citizen watch with no flash. Another wow! I've included a picture in the gallery.

This lens also does a great job in capturing non-macro shots. I've used this lens indoors with no flash and have captured some amazing low-light pictures. Yep, another wow!

There is no VR on this lens. Not necessary to have as this lens is lightweight and with much practice, hand held shots are easy to take. For low-light photography, I do recommend using a monopod or tripod with this lens. Reality check: you can only hand hold a camera for so long before you get some camera shake and resulting blurred pictures. As I get older, I've come to the realization that I can no longer hold the camera perfectly still.

For macro shots, I primarily shoot in Aperture mode. I've found my sweet spot to be around f/4 and f/8. For normal shots, I tend to switch between Program and Aperture modes.

I use the included lens hood 100% of the time. Within the first few hours of using this lens, I accidently bumped the front lens against the door. Good thing I had my hood on. Lesson well learned.

Need proof? I have posted two floral pictures (Pink dogwood and helleborous) along with the photo of my watch in the photo gallery. Seeing is believing.

This is a great fixed lens that does double duty for macro and normal shots. I'm glad I trusted the reviews and my instinct and purchased this incredible lens.

** Update 06/16/12 **

This lens has been on my D7k for last several weeks. I've added another picture of a spider on a yellow daylily. It should be on page 6 in the gallery. For this picture I used my compact SB-400 flash as the picture was taken during the late evening hours. I'm enjoying this lens!

59 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rimo Abdallah

Amazing capabilities .. Amazing price

Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2011

*: BlackVerified Purchase

As an amateur photographer .. I was comparing the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 .. the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and the Nikon 40mm f/2.8.
The Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras is 200$ .. Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras is 210$ and this Nikon 40mm is 280 $.
The apretures as you see are better in all other lenses compared and they're also cheaper .. but i chosed this one though .. because actually if you want a "bokeh-licious" lens only for portrait (35mm and 50mm) you're wasting money because it doesn't feature macro .. so you're adding 60$ and adding the best focusing range in all nikon lenses . as no lens focuses closer than 0.163cm.
I tried this lens in all condition .. ( weddings , birthdays , macro "flowers" , portrait , street photography etc.)and here are my notes:

WEDDINGS:
- as you need a wide-angle in wedding for the bride and groom this lens isn't perfect .. but it's perfect when capturing moments for it's fitting focal length and its apreture .. like with their best friends dancing or the guests . It's also light-weight so it fits perfectly for wedding and to complete the wedding arsenal .. i recommend the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM Macro Lens for Nikon DSLR .. only 200$

BIRTHDAYS:
- if this birthday is a business (you're not invited) .. this lens is perfect for everything .. because if you're sitting with them on the table .. this isn't perfect.

MACRO:
-as a macro lens i ONLY recommend this and the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor Lens and the price difference is huge .. and this is in a category and the other one is another category.
Its focus is a little bit annoying because it changes every mini-second .. so you can fix this by pressing the AE-L button .. when reaching the desired focus .

PORTRAIT:
- Its bokeh is closing the case .... PORTRAITS ARE VERY NICE .. WITH A VERY NICE BOKEH.

I highly reccomend this Lens to ANYONE

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Perfect lens

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2024

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Purchased for traveling. Perfect for obtaining group photos and landscapes.

Helpful

Gary Y.

I love this lens for what it is.

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2024

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Definitely macro. Great close up shots. But remember it's a 40mm so you have to get close.

Helpful

Juancho

Buena aproximación a la fotografía macro

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2023

*: BlackVerified Purchase

El tamaño y peso del lente es adecuado, pequeño y liviano, compatible con la cámara Nikon D7500 que usé. La relación precio/calidad es correcta, antes no había usado este tipo de lente micro y lo adquirí pensando en conseguir imágenes destacadas de lagartijas de lava de Isla San Cristóbal (cuelgo en este portal cinco muestras de las fotografías tipo que logré). A falta de zoom me acerqué a pocos centímetros de los lagartos y manteniendo el puso con una sola mano hice tantas fotos como podía en modo enfoque automático, no utilicé el enfoque manual porque hasta cuadrar perdía la imagen del bicho. El lente no tiene zoom ni estabilizador de imagen; no obstante, permite una buena aproximación a la fotografía macro.

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Eric Hinrichsen

Very happy with this as my 3rd lens

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2012

*: BlackVerified Purchase

Just because I think it helps to see where this fits in my collection, here's my progression of lens buying...
Camera: D7000

1st Lens: 18-200mm - A jack of all trades but master of none. My most-used lens, but wanted something faster that could do shallow DOF at closer distances.

2nd Lens: 50mm 1.8D - Figured I could take advantage of the D7000 being able to use this cheaper non-G lens. Also, due to having a manual aperture ring, allowed me to use it with basic macro tubes. While I got decent results with the macro tubes, they were clunky to use and were prone to ghosting if the sun caught them the wrong way. Also, while it did the job for good indoor low light performance at f1.8, I often found 50mm a bit too tight on my DX body.

3rd Lens: I was between the 35mm 1.8G and this 40mm 2.8G... I went with this one and I'm glad I did. While it's not going to come close to a 105mm VR (if I could afford one now) for insect photography, it's functional in this task as long as the subject isn't *super* jittery. While everyone says you wind up using manual focus/camera moving for macro, being able to let the AF get you "close" before fine-tuning in manual was a huge help for things like butterflies when they might only be in one spot for a few seconds (when compared to non-electronic macro tubes). For a sample of such shots, I have a few in the customer images.

For non-macro work, I feel that this can do 90% of the same things the 35mm 1.8 could have, and for those situations where I need that extra 1 stop more light/shallower DOF, I have my 50mm 1.8. And truth be told, the D7000 does so well at high ISO, I can often compensate by upping that and still be happy with the results.

Within a year or two I fully intend to own a 105mm 2.8 VR macro... but this lens was a great way to stave off that craving for under $300 instead of spending $900. And even once I own the 105, I don't see this lens going anywhere... it's great for larger objects like flowers or product shots, as well as it's general prime use, and much easier to carry than a 105.