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Home → Reviews → Cameras and Lenses → Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR AF-P Review

Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR AF-P Review

By Václav Bacovský 55 Comments
Last Updated On January 26, 2024

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Lens Comparisons

First, let’s take a look at different sharpness comparisons from the center of the frame to the edges. We will start with 18mm, with different aperture values:

18mm-f3.5-centre

18mm-f3.5-corner

18mm-f3.5-partway

18mm-f5.6-centre

18mm-f5.6-corner

18mm-f5.6-partway

18mm-f8-centre

18mm-f8-corner

18mm-f8-partway

Next, let’s take a look at the lens at 24mm:

24mm-f5.6-centre

24mm-f5.6-corner

24mm-f5.6-partway

24mm-f8-centre

24mm-f8-corner

24mm-f8-partway

From here, when zoomed in to 35mm:

35mm-f5.6-centre

35mm-f5.6-corner

35mm-f5.6-partway

35mm-f8-centre

35mm-f8-corner

35mm-f8-partway

And lastly, here is how the lens looks like at 55mm:

55mm-f5.6-centre

55mm-f5.6-corner

55mm-f5.6-partway

55mm-f8-centre

55mm-f8-corner

55mm-f8-partway

I will let you draw your own conclusions based on the above 100% crops. And now on to individual lens comparisons.

Nikon 18-55mm AF-P vs Nikon 18-55mm AF-S VR II

The one-generation older iteration of this lens has an almost identical design yet displays a bit different curve of sharpness. The older AF-S version is better at 18mm wide open at f/3.5, both in the center and in the mid-range. Only the corners are equally sharp (or relatively soft), AF-P has much more controlled aberration. The same holds for f/5.6 (at 18mm); the older generation lens is still a tad better. At f/8, I would call it a draw (AF-P has better corners again), which also holds true for smaller apertures. The older generation is also a bit sharper in the center at 24mm at f/5.6, but the situation changes at 35 and 55mm, where the AF-P version is better at all aperture values throughout the frame. In general, the AF-S has quite weak corners and suffers earlier from diffraction; there is also a pretty noticeable amount of chromatic aberration. Only at the same values the peak sharpness comes earlier (wider open) than with AF-P version.

Nikon 18-55mm AF-P vs Nikon 18-140mm AF-S VR

This is a much larger zoom; hence, one could expect a bit worse resolution values, at least at some focal lengths. In general, this zoom is known for a solid performance at 18mm, even wide open (with rather weak corners, though), and then with a deteriorating tendency at longer focal lengths. My copy of this lens displayed, however, a bit different behavior. The corners proved soft until f/8, but even the central sharpness was not nearly close to Nikkor 18-55mm AF-P (or AF-S) lenses at 18mm. Surprisingly, the best result I could achieve with the 18-140mm lens was at 55mm – here, I was expecting the smaller AF-P zoom to lead. So, in general, the level of sharpness was, with some rare exceptions, worse (with chromatic aberration comparable to the AF-S version of the 18-55mm).

17_Kanary_170919_151
NIKON D5300 + 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, ISO 100, 1/640, f/7.1

Nikon 18-55mm AF-P vs Nikon 18-105mm AF-S VR

I did not have this cheap kit zoom at my disposal while testing the 18-5mm AF-P lens, so I can only deduct indirectly from inspecting photos in my archive. I assume the 18-55 is equally sharp at 18mm and slightly sharper at other focal lengths, with differences more visible in the corners.

Nikon 18-55mm AF-P vs Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX

Even if it is not fair to compare a zoom lens with a fixed prime lens, I did this comparison very quickly. After all, the 35mm AF-S DX lens is also an entry-level lens. The comparison gives us a rough idea about how sharp the zoom is because one can expect a lot of resolution from a fixed prime, especially at f/4 – f/5.6. With both lenses set at f/5.6, I was surprised that the Nikkor 18-55mm AF-P lens displayed only slightly lower resolution in all parts of the frame (and much better aberration control) – so the little zoom is really strong.

Table of Contents

  • Overview
  • Optical Features
  • Comparisons
  • Summary
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
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