Thanks to its unique optical construction, this lens offers wonderfully smooth bokeh and can endow subjects with a beautifully natural-looking sense of depth. The intensity of image blur transitions smoothly as the distance from the sharply focused point increases, enabling bokeh with no rough edges. And the fine gradation of bokeh from the focus point to the background renders images with an incredible sense of natural depth. The benefits extend to movies, too: when pulling focus, bokeh transitions incredibly smoothly, providing a unique advantage when it comes to filming atmospheric scenes.

Nine rounded aperture blades decrease diffraction, delivering faithful reproduction of a scene’s elements. AE control is rendered exceptionally stable—even during a high-speed burst—thanks to the incorporation of an electromagnetic aperture control mechanism in the lens barrel. Nano Crystal Coat effectively reduces ghost and flare, and autofocus is smooth, quiet, and swift as a result of Nikon’s SWM (Silent Wave Motor). Three extra-low-dispersion (ED) glass elements minimise axial chromatic aberration. The front and rear lens elements are protected and made easier to clean by Nikon’s fluorine coat, which effectively repels dust, dirt, water, and grease.