Nikon AF-S 60mm f/2.8G micro

Nikon AF-S 60mm

There must be something in the water over there in Japan as Nikon keeps releasing these new lenses of late that just amaze with their stunning optical performance. Of the more recent announcements, I’ve bought the 14-24mm and now this updated 60mm macro and both are excellent. I don’t want to imply the older 60mm macro was a bad lens, as it certainly

wasn’t, its been a trusted instrument for over 4 years of use, but this newer 60mm micro is better in just about every way.

I’ll begin with the build quality and as per normal with Nikon, this is a well made lens. Its not made of the same sturdy stuff as the higher priced pro lenses, but I’ll doubt anybody will have a complaint. It is a little larger when placed next to my older 60mm micro, and feels a little thicker in the hand. Although there are some downsides to it as far as focal length changes, I really like the fact this lens keeps its length due to IF. The front element is now much closer to the end of the lens, which makes the lens hood a good idea - albeit they are generally a good thing to use anyway.

Now to the juicy part, the lens has fantastic sharpness. The older lens was very sharp too, but this one goes one better and its easy to see the difference. Its very sharp from the largest aperture and it keeps this terrific performance up-to about f/16. I took some shots of flowers at f/22 and here too, it was fantastically sharp - albeit not quite as much so as at f/16. One of the old criticisms of the last generation of 60mm micro, was its performance at distance. I always thought this was perhaps over-stated but nonetheless the older version was certainly better at close distances. This new AF-S 60mm macro holds its performance at close and far distances however, which makes it a much more useful lens for multiple reasons.

Perhaps its down to the fancy new Nano-coating, but regardless of the reason this lens handles flare exceptionally well. Its downright hard to introduce, and when quickly comparing the two lenses in difficult lighting it was easy to spot which shot went with which lens. Obviously AF performance is of secondary concern on a macro lens as you’ll almost certainly be manually focusing. The new SWM in the lens has made it noticeably faster than the older version as to be expected, and a dame site quieter too. It still has a very long range to go through however, so its not in the same speed league as the 17-55mm f/2.8 of course, but then who would of expected it to be (focus limiter???).

I’ve always found a 50-60mm macro, or as Nikon calls it more accurately micro, lens very useful for a whole host of reasons. As soon as I saw this one announced, I knew I’d be ordering it as soon as the lens was available. Its performance is fantastically good with excellent sharpness, lovely out of focus blur, no issues with flare or CA and its just a fun lens to have in your bag for when its needed. If you’ve been holding off waiting for a macro lens of this focal length, I’d say now is the time as you’ve been rewarded for your patience with a great performer. For anybody that already has the 60mm f/2.8D micro its a little bit harder to say as the pervious generation is no slouch either. On balance however, I’d say if its a lens you use often it probably is worth upgrading to this new AF-S 60mm as it offers enough gains in enough area’s that the new lens does make the price & effort worth it. Let’s hope Nikon keeps em coming...