Micro Nikkor 105mm AF-S VR II Chromatic Abberations

akazoly · May 18, 2012

Hello,
I bought a Micro Nikkor 105mm AF-S. The CA is quite high especially at f/2.8. Check out this picture (it is a crop). The sky was bright.

Is this normal? The CA is less noticable at f/11 or f/16.
I heard all Micro Nikkor 105mm AF-S have some CA. I'm not sure. I would be grateful for any idea.

Thank you!

BTW, I shoot RAW. ISO 100, Nikon D3100.

akazoly · May 19, 2012

UPDATE:
I have chromatic abberation at all apertures in high contrast scene. Is this normal for that lens? I can remove the CA in Lightroom (f/8), but sometimes CA is so strong at f/2.8 that Lightroom is unable to remove it completely.

I took this photo at F/11 (as you can notice the CA is present, because the background is brighter than the flower petal).

Should I send back the lens to Nikon?

Imageon · May 19, 2012

Looks like the problem is maybe two fold you've got some chromatic shift but it could be do the lens flair as a result of the background overwhelming the receptors at the fringes of the bird. If you get it with less intense backgrounds could be a problem can't tell the intensity of the light from the samples you have here. I have the same lens but haven't noticed this my subjects are usually within a less contrasty tonal range.
Hope this helps.

kundalini · May 22, 2012

Neither image is particularly sharp and both are quite contrasty scenes. I think it may have to do with operator error to some extent. Learn to see the light and know when it's not worth shooting until you can change it. Otherwise accept the faults that will appear.

JoeHemi · May 22, 2012

I absolutely love this lens, its given me no problems ever. I've never noticed anything blatant but then again I'm not a pixel peeper either.

This was shot at f/3.2 in good light

akazoly · May 23, 2012

Both photo: ISO 100, Nikon D3100, Micro Nikkor 105mm. Cloudy day.

Aperture - F/10: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1924024/flower_f10.jpg
Aperture - F/5.6: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1924024/flower_f56.jpg

Did you notice the CA on the right side (the petal on the right side).
What do you think? Isn't this too high for f/10?

I never had such problems with Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G

djacobox372 · May 23, 2012

Lenses without aspherical elements are prone to CA. It should also be noted that macro lenses are tuned to be focused up close and don't perform as well when focused at more distant subjects.

akazoly · May 24, 2012

djacobox372, I'm using a Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AF-S VR II. It has ED glass. I wasn't so distant.

akazoly · May 24, 2012

Is this normal at F/16? http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1924024/CA2.jpg

JoeHemi · May 24, 2012

Just took this at f/16. I don't notice the same issues that you are having. My 105 was also made in Japan, the newer ones are made in China, but unsure if build quality changed at all.

sleist · May 24, 2012

It's (often) easily fixed in Capture NX2.

akazoly · May 25, 2012

My 105mm AF-S Micro is made in China.

JoeHemi What camera body do you use? I have a Nikon D3100. I suppose the D3100 sensor is too poor for that lens.

sleist · May 25, 2012

akazoly said:
My Micro Nikkor is made in China.

JoeHemi What camera body do you use? I have a Nikon D3100. Maybe the D3100 sensor is too poor for that lens.

I almost always use the lowest ISO value (ISO 100).

It's not the camera. It's your choice of background that's mostly at fault and it's made worse by the poor focus.
A DX sensor will accentuate CA to some degree over an FX sensor, but that's true of all DX sensors - not just the D3100.
I'm not aware of any sensor blooming issues with the D3100 sensor either.
Macro lenses are engineered for close focusing - not birds in trees.
Post some sharp macro shots using a tripod in proper lighting and stop the lens down to at least f/4-8.
Not saying you don't have something off with your lens, just that there are too many other issues with the samples you posted to say the lens is the only problem.