Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D IF-ED Review

Focusing Characteristics

I was able to test the focusing speed of the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D on my old Nikon D7000 DSLR, and I would describe it as “slow and steady.” It definitely shows its age compared to Nikon’s newer lenses, particularly in the macro range. However, at farther focusing distances, its focus speed is reasonable. Focus accuracy was excellent. However, I have not yet tested its focus speed and accuracy using the MonsterAdapter LA-FZ1 adapter – the adapter wasn’t shipping yet at the time of this review’s publication.

More than perhaps anything else about this lens, I am impressed by its working distance at high magnifications. When shooting at 1:1, you get a whopping 256 millimeters / 10 inches of working distance in front of the lens. (Note that this is a different measurement from the minimum focusing distance figure in specification charts, which is measured between the camera sensor and the subject.) If you’re trying to photograph small and skittish creatures, the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D can do it more easily than almost any other lens ever made.

As I mentioned in the Handling section on the previous page, the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D works great for manual focus. The focusing ring is large and smooth, and it has a very generous focus throw. Macro photography is often done with manual focus, and Nikon certainly seemed to recognize that when designing this lens. I measure the focus throw as approximately 225 degrees.

Lastly, note that macro lenses in general will lose some light as you focus more closely – the “effective aperture” begins to narrow. Nikon cameras account for this effect, but it does mean that the maximum aperture on the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D will appear as f/5.3 when focused to 1:1 magnification. This is normal for macro lenses and doesn’t represent a fault with the lens.

Distortion

The AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D has effectively zero distortion, measuring just 0.07% pincushion distortion in a lab environment. This is negligible even when photographing architecture. Well done by Nikon! These days, mild distortion can be corrected very easily, but when this lens was designed, it was much more difficult. Film photographers have always prized lenses with minimal distortion, and I have no doubt that this contributed to the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D’s legendary status.

Here’s a simulation of 0.07% pincushion distortion:

Vignetting

In uncorrected images, the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D has minimal levels of vignetting even wide open. It never reaches above the one-stop mark, which means that it will be negligible in almost all real-world images. Here’s a full chart of vignetting levels:

Note that there is no value for close focus at f/4. That’s because, at 1:1 magnification, this lens’s effective aperture is f/5.3 at the brightest, as discussed in the Focusing Characteristics section of this review. I also didn’t display the f/5.3 result in the chart above, because I measured it in the lab to be identical to the f/5.6 result at close focus (0.56 stops of vignetting). This leads me to believe that the true effective maximum aperture at 1:1 magnification is really f/5.6, despite the camera displaying f/5.3.

Lateral Chromatic Aberration

There is an exceptionally low amount of lateral chromatic aberration on the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D. Here’s the chart:

Anything under about one pixel is almost impossible to notice in real-world images, even with chromatic aberration corrections turned off. Since this lens maxes out at just 0.31 pixels of lateral chromatic aberration, it is well under that hurdle! You will most likely never see lateral chromatic aberration on this lens in real-world images. This is about as low as we’ve ever measured.

Sharpness

So far, the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D has passed all of our tests with flying colors. It isn’t just “good for a lens from 1993” – it is best-in-class in distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration. But what about sharpness?

The AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D is quite sharp as well, although advanced modern lenses do outperform it. Here’s what we measure in the lab:

This performance is hardly bad, especially considering how consistent it is from corner to corner throughout the aperture range. I would have no concerns using this lens at any aperture, and at the end of the day, that’s probably all that matters. However, in a lab environment with a 45 megapixel sensor, it is true that a lot of newer lenses, especially prime lenses, will reach higher numbers overall.

Note that I did find some definite focus shift on this lens when stopping down in the range from f/4 to f/8. When possible, you’ll get sharper results in that range by setting your aperture first and focusing second. This can be achieved by using the aperture ring on the lens to stop down before focusing.

What about the competition? Here’s a brief comparison against two of Nikon’s other top macro lenses, the 105mm f/2.8 G for DSLRs and the Z MC 105mm f/2.8 S for mirrorless:

You can see that the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D performs at about the same level as Nikon’s 105mm f/2.8 G macro lens – a little worse in the center, but just as good in the corners. Not bad considering that the 105mm f/2.8G is 13 years newer, released in 2006. However, today’s Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 S is sharper than both of these older lenses from corner to corner.

Obviously, it’s not a fair comparison given that about 30 years passed between the 200mm f/4 Macro and the Nikon Z MC 105mm f/2.8 Macro – some improvement is to be expected. Still, it does show me that there’s room for a follow-up to the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D if Nikon chose to make such a lens today. As good as this lens is – and as well as the design has held up for more than three decades – modern technology has pushed sharpness to a really remarkable level.

Bokeh

Bokeh is another word for the qualities of the background blur in a photo. “Good” bokeh is completely subjective, since different photographers have their own preferences for how the background blur looks. That said, photographers commonly want their background blur to be soft, not distracting, with round and soft-edged specular highlights.

With that in mind, I find the bokeh of the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D to be very pleasant. It’s soft and unobtrusive, with minimal color fringing. At narrow apertures, out-of-focus highlights take on the shape of the aperture diaphragm, but even so, I never found the bokeh bothersome during my testing.

Here are a few sample photos to give you a sense of the lens’s background blur.

The next page of this review sums up everything and explains the pros and cons of the AF Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4D. So, click the menu below to go to “Verdict”: