Review Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 mm 3.5-5,6 G ED VR (N APS-C)
In August 2008, the Nikon 18-105 mm was launched. This lens, called in full Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 mm 3.5-5,6 G ED VR, is an alternative to the Nikon 18-55 mm kit lens. The range on the long end, 105 mm, is so great that a lot of photographic situations can be managed without having to change lens. The Nikon 18-105 mm is much cheaper than the Nikon 16-85 mm .
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 Field of view Nikon 18-105 mm @18 mm |
 Nikon 18-105 @105 mm |
Construction and autofocus |
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| Both the house and the mount are of plastic and during focusing, the filter does not rotate. The focus ring and zoom ring run smoothly without the lens feeling cheap. As with many other Nikon lenses, the AF drive is provided by a Silent Wave Motor. That means fast, almost silent and virtually no hunting in low light. With a Nikon D7000, the focus time takes only 0.28 seconds with a distance from 15 meters to 1.5 meter. |  |
Image stabilization Nikon 18-105 mm |
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| The effectiveness of Nikon 18-105 's integrated image stabilization is measured at a focal lenght of 105 mm. The effectiveness is about 4 stops, which is a lot. |  |
Vignetting |
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| Vignetting is expressed in stops and is somewhat on the high side at 18 mm at f/3.5 and f/4.0. And at 105 mm, the vignetting is only a bit too high at f/5.6. Vignetting can be controlled by certain programs. |  |
Distortion Nikon 18-105 |
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| The distortion, expressed as a percentage, is high at every focal length, especially at 18 mm. Distortion can be controlled with software; this can be done at the cost of the resolution. |  |
Bokeh |
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The images were made at a focal length of 62 mm. The maximal aperture at 62 mm is only f/5.2. The depth of field, even through the small image sensor, is fairly large. The background doesn't look nicely; the blurry circles are sharply defined and do not have even coverage. |
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 Bokeh Nikon 18-105 mm @f/5.2
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 Nikon 18-105 bokeh @f/5.2
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Flare |
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| This lens is very sensitive to backlight; both ghosting and flare can be seen. You will have to take this into account when photographing. |  |
Resolution Nikon 18-105 |
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The resolution of the Nikon 18-105 mm, expressed in LW/PH, reaches nice values at the center at all focal lengths and apertures. The corners are disappointing and stopping down hardly helps. |
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Chromatic aberration Nikon 18-105 mm |
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Chromatic aberration remains sufficiently low in all cases.
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Conclusion
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Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 mm 3.5-5,6 G
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See our list of tested lenses or the lenses with a Nikon mount tested by us to compare the performance of this lens to other lenses.
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Pro
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Con
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The Nikkor AF-S DX 18-105 mm 3.5-5, 6 G ED VR is equipped with an effective image stabilization, and is practical in use due to the wide zoom range. This lens is not very fast and in terms of resolution and distortion, this lens performs only very moderately. The lens is sensitive to backlight, but the recommended retail price is attractive. For lovers of sharpnes, the Sigma 17-70 mm is not an alternative to the Nikon 18-105 mm.
