Thanks for the detailed review. Your sharpness plot demonstrating curvature of field made me double check AF fine tuning which came out to -1. I confirmed it was correct using both USAF resolution charts and the LensAlign Mk II tool. Checking resolution at the center, mid-zone and frame edge at f/4 when focusing on the central target, showed only a slight drop in the mid-zone sharpness at a repro ratio of 1:51 (81″ from the lens front) and should also produce very sharp images for longer landscape distances. Setting the focus point directly on the mid-zone target did help a little but the improvement was more academic as it pertains to resolution testing rather practical shooting even if heavily cropped. What’s more important for readers is that correct AF fine tuning is key to minimizing curvature of field effects. If AF fine tuning is off by as much as 1 or 2 increments, it can make a difference in sharpness when evaluating off axis sharpness with this lens.
Marios
September 6, 2024 5:34 pm
It would be great to see how the Voigtländer 40mm f/1.2 performs compared to the Nikon Z 40mm f/2
If you can get hold of one!!! I was on a waiting list with Grays. Got an email to say back in stock, sold out before I could order (within hours)!
Dan
February 10, 2024 3:01 pm
Hi Spencer Thanks for the great review. How did you find the field curvature, and reduced consistent sharpness for landscape shooting in practical terms? Is it quite noticeable or barely at typical 5m-infinity focus and f8-11? Of all the compromises that’s my main concern. Love the small size and weight and low cost. Thanks Don
My experience is for a 5m-infinity shooting distance and aperture of f/8-11, curvature of field won’t be an issue. I found the amount of mid-zone curvature of field to be relatively small and certainly with that small an aperture, DOF will eliminate any trace of it.
Scott
December 21, 2023 11:47 am
Can anyone tell me how this would do with capturing fast moving sports subjects such as mountain bikers on trail? Thanks!
Ken George
October 2, 2023 9:34 am
I have had the 40mm since it was released. I use it with my Z6ii for street photography. I love the weight. If stays under my windbreaker when I’m not shooting. It’s super for nighttime photography, walking around after dinner. The zoom attracts too much attention. Good comparison here. Thanks!
Francisco
August 2, 2023 5:49 am
Hi, first of all, thank you very much for the quality of your reviews. I am posting this comment because I just bought a Z50 with the 16-50 zoom and I’m wondering what prime between 35 and 50mm should I buy next. If I can summarize, (having in mind that my statment is a litle bit simplistic), we should avoid this lens when we want to shoot at small apertures and need sharpness all across the frame and we shouldn’t expect it to produce a pleasant bokeh when we begin to close the diafragm – even when the subject is close. 300 US, no miracles. Other than that, sharpness and colors are more than decent for me. Considering the price and size, that’s a very good purchase. However, does it make sense to buy such a lens when we have such a nice zoom like the 16-50 ? Ok, f/3.5 is not f/2, but even so… Thank you!
Francisco, I suggest the new Nikkor Z DX 24mm f/1.7 lens which will be the equivalent of 36mm in full frame terms. I have one for my Nikon Z30 and love it!
Sean
January 27, 2023 3:42 am
I just ordered a “like new” copy of this lens from mpb for $218 after a referral code discount. There are a lot available which seems a bit strange considering it is not a bundled kit lens and the positive opinions of it. The Panasonic 20mm 1.7 was one of my favorite m43 lenses, so I am looking forward to it.
HMS
December 1, 2022 2:42 am
Thanks for this thorough review. I’ve had the 28mm lens for a while and am enjoying it on both the Z6 and Z50. Just ordered the 40mm and its due to arrive in a couple of days; looking forward to it. I’ve never had any problems with plastic lens mounts and doubt that I’ll ever have any with these small lenses. You’d have to be exceedingly rough on your gear to break the lens at the mount. I’m typically not a prime lens guy but consider these lenses to my cheap, cheerful and light lenses for walking around with.. :-)
It serves a very similar purpose! And it’s lighter and sharper than a lot of older 50mm “nifty fifty” lenses.
Alan Wilder
November 24, 2022 4:37 am
I happen to love the lens as the 40mm f/2 prime is what I sorely since my days of shooting Leica with a 40mm Summicron. Regarding the lens mount, my fix was to simply swap out it out with the the metal mount from a used FTZ adapter (about half the price of new). Fortunately, it was an easy DIY job that fit perfectly. Not only was back focus/alignment was unchanged but you gain the rear rubber dust gasket of the S lenses. Not mentioned in the review is that the plastic mount design does not have the rubber gasket feature. Don’t expect Nikon service to make the swap for you even if you provide the parts, It’s only a DIY job. Regarding the lack of fluorine coating, I simply use a Hoya HD filter to protect the front glass and has a feature similar to fluorine coating.
Wow! I never figured that you could swap in a metal mount yourself, at least not without side effects. Well done. I’m way too inept mechanically to try that myself (I dropped my engineering major in college and pretty rapidly switched to journalism) – but I’m glad it worked for you.
It’s an easy job, just remember to re-use the black metal screws that came with the 40/2 lens, not the chrome FTZ screws. The black metal screw have coarser threads to better secure to the lens’ plastic body.
That’s fascinating. If all it involves is unscrewing four screws twice, swapping the mounts, and screwing them back in, even I could manage that! You’ve definitely expanded my mindset today.
You’re almost, there are also 4 smaller screws on the side that secure the rear baffle with the rectangular opening to the mount. Three are identical and the fourth at the 12:00 position is slightly different, so be careful to keep track of them. Obviously is best to own a decent set of precision screwdrivers that nicely fit the screws (I got mine from RadioShack years ago but I’m sure you can get them on Amazon). Don’t forget to insert the rubber gasket from the FTZ adapter before dropping the metal mount in place or you’ll have a gap. It fits perfectly. Here’s a picture of the finished product: file:///C:/Users/alwey/Downloads/2406911.pdf
I like to take a crack at this DIY. Thanks for writing about it. Your link however points to the PDF in your own drive. Any way to post this in a public place like DropBox for others to access? Thanks again for the great idea.
Thanks for the detailed review. Your sharpness plot demonstrating curvature of field made me double check AF fine tuning which came out to -1. I confirmed it was correct using both USAF resolution charts and the LensAlign Mk II tool. Checking resolution at the center, mid-zone and frame edge at f/4 when focusing on the central target, showed only a slight drop in the mid-zone sharpness at a repro ratio of 1:51 (81″ from the lens front) and should also produce very sharp images for longer landscape distances. Setting the focus point directly on the mid-zone target did help a little but the improvement was more academic as it pertains to resolution testing rather practical shooting even if heavily cropped. What’s more important for readers is that correct AF fine tuning is key to minimizing curvature of field effects. If AF fine tuning is off by as much as 1 or 2 increments, it can make a difference in sharpness when evaluating off axis sharpness with this lens.
It would be great to see how the Voigtländer 40mm f/1.2 performs compared to the Nikon Z 40mm f/2
If you can get hold of one!!! I was on a waiting list with Grays. Got an email to say back in stock, sold out before I could order (within hours)!
Hi Spencer
Thanks for the great review.
How did you find the field curvature, and reduced consistent sharpness for landscape shooting in practical terms? Is it quite noticeable or barely at typical 5m-infinity focus and f8-11? Of all the compromises that’s my main concern. Love the small size and weight and low cost.
Thanks
Don
My experience is for a 5m-infinity shooting distance and aperture of f/8-11, curvature of field won’t be an issue. I found the amount of mid-zone curvature of field to be relatively small and certainly with that small an aperture, DOF will eliminate any trace of it.
Can anyone tell me how this would do with capturing fast moving sports subjects such as mountain bikers on trail? Thanks!
I have had the 40mm since it was released. I use it with my Z6ii for street photography. I love the weight. If stays under my windbreaker when I’m not shooting. It’s super for nighttime photography, walking around after dinner. The zoom attracts too much attention. Good comparison here. Thanks!
Hi, first of all, thank you very much for the quality of your reviews.
I am posting this comment because I just bought a Z50 with the 16-50 zoom and I’m wondering what prime between 35 and 50mm should I buy next.
If I can summarize, (having in mind that my statment is a litle bit simplistic), we should avoid this lens when we want to shoot at small apertures and need sharpness all across the frame and we shouldn’t expect it to produce a pleasant bokeh when we begin to close the diafragm – even when the subject is close. 300 US, no miracles. Other than that, sharpness and colors are more than decent for me. Considering the price and size, that’s a very good purchase. However, does it make sense to buy such a lens when we have such a nice zoom like the 16-50 ? Ok, f/3.5 is not f/2, but even so…
Thank you!
Francisco, I suggest the new Nikkor Z DX 24mm f/1.7 lens which will be the equivalent of 36mm in full frame terms. I have one for my Nikon Z30 and love it!
I just ordered a “like new” copy of this lens from mpb for $218 after a referral code discount. There are a lot available which seems a bit strange considering it is not a bundled kit lens and the positive opinions of it. The Panasonic 20mm 1.7 was one of my favorite m43 lenses, so I am looking forward to it.
Thanks for this thorough review. I’ve had the 28mm lens for a while and am enjoying it on both the Z6 and Z50. Just ordered the 40mm and its due to arrive in a couple of days; looking forward to it. I’ve never had any problems with plastic lens mounts and doubt that I’ll ever have any with these small lenses. You’d have to be exceedingly rough on your gear to break the lens at the mount. I’m typically not a prime lens guy but consider these lenses to my cheap, cheerful and light lenses for walking around with.. :-)
2020’s version of beloved nifty fifty.
It serves a very similar purpose! And it’s lighter and sharper than a lot of older 50mm “nifty fifty” lenses.
I happen to love the lens as the 40mm f/2 prime is what I sorely since my days of shooting Leica with a 40mm Summicron. Regarding the lens mount, my fix was to simply swap out it out with the the metal mount from a used FTZ adapter (about half the price of new). Fortunately, it was an easy DIY job that fit perfectly. Not only was back focus/alignment was unchanged but you gain the rear rubber dust gasket of the S lenses. Not mentioned in the review is that the plastic mount design does not have the rubber gasket feature. Don’t expect Nikon service to make the swap for you even if you provide the parts, It’s only a DIY job. Regarding the lack of fluorine coating, I simply use a Hoya HD filter to protect the front glass and has a feature similar to fluorine coating.
Wow! I never figured that you could swap in a metal mount yourself, at least not without side effects. Well done. I’m way too inept mechanically to try that myself (I dropped my engineering major in college and pretty rapidly switched to journalism) – but I’m glad it worked for you.
It’s an easy job, just remember to re-use the black metal screws that came with the 40/2 lens, not the chrome FTZ screws. The black metal screw have coarser threads to better secure to the lens’ plastic body.
That’s fascinating. If all it involves is unscrewing four screws twice, swapping the mounts, and screwing them back in, even I could manage that! You’ve definitely expanded my mindset today.
You’re almost, there are also 4 smaller screws on the side that secure the rear baffle with the rectangular opening to the mount. Three are identical and the fourth at the 12:00 position is slightly different, so be careful to keep track of them. Obviously is best to own a decent set of precision screwdrivers that nicely fit the screws (I got mine from RadioShack years ago but I’m sure you can get them on Amazon). Don’t forget to insert the rubber gasket from the FTZ adapter before dropping the metal mount in place or you’ll have a gap. It fits perfectly. Here’s a picture of the finished product: file:///C:/Users/alwey/Downloads/2406911.pdf
I like to take a crack at this DIY. Thanks for writing about it. Your link however points to the PDF in your own drive. Any way to post this in a public place like DropBox for others to access? Thanks again for the great idea.
Here’s a link with a picture of the finished lens I posted in FM forum: www.fredmiranda.com/forum…/1770415/0
Wow, this is awesome to know, thanks Alan. 😃🍻