When I first heard of the Sony Nex and the ability to use lenses of different manufacturers on it via adapters, I was thrilled. The original Sony lens choice for the Nex cameras is really small. And since Photokina was a big disappointment – Nex owners only got a lens plan, but no actual lenses – we have to rely on the offerings of other manufacturers for the time being.

BUT, after testing a couple of more and less expensive lenses with Nikon- and Leica-M-mount I didn’t feel all that thrilled anymore: I got more flexibility, but not that much of a quality improvement over the kit-lens.
(I still owe you my Leica M-Summarit 35/2.5 on the Nex, but that’s only, because I wasn’t amazed by the performance of this combo.)

That has definitly changed recently. I got the chance to use the now “old” Nikon AF-D 60/2.8 Macro on the Nex. To say the least, my hopes were rather modest. But this time I was proven wrong.

Here’s the master of the Nex! (Read on after the break.)

First of I used the lens on the Kipon Nikon-Nex adapter. It doesn’t offer an aperture ring, so you can’t use the latest AF-S version of the legendary Nikon 60 macro.

It is still the best combination I used so far with a Nex. It’s sharp, brilliant and seems to push the Sony Nex sensor to its limits.

Up to now I have used the following lenses on the Nex:

• Sony kit-lens E 18-55/3.5-5.6
• Voigtlaender 15/4.5 Super Wide Heliar (older version)
• Zeiss Distagon T* 35/2 ZF
• Leica M-Summarit 35/2 Asph.
• Nikon AF-D 35/2
• Leica M-Summilux 50/1.4 (pre-asph.)
• Nikon AF-D 50/1.4
• Nikon MF 50/2 Ai-S
• Sigma 50/2.8 Macro
• Nikon AF 85/1.8

Among these lenses the Zeiss 35/2 proved to be the best in terms of sharpness and brilliance. The Nikon 85/1.8 isn’t bad neither, at least from f2.8 to 5.6. And the Sigma Macro did a good job too.

With the Nikon 60 macro I’ve started to cherish the Sony Nex again. Here are a couple of comparison shots to the Nikon AF-D 50/1.4.

First: in the center of the frame (click to enlarge to 100%):

Beside the sharpness issues the 50mm Nikon gets blueish in the center of the frame above f5.6.

Here’s the corner performance (click to enlarge to 100%):

Another good news about the 60 Macro is, that it’s doing pretty ok even stopped down to the max, though of course it loses sharpness and gets blueish, but only from f16 on:

Here’s Nikon’s 50 and Nikon’s 60 Macro at f16 in the center of the frame:

But more importantly, here are some realworld impressions of this combo. They should show, what a great combination that is.
As a side note: Focussing is manual only, but very smooth.

Given the fact that the lens can be had for about 400,– Euros on the used market or about 500,– new (if you have an adapter with aperture ring like the one by Novoflex), it’s a rather affordable choice for the output you get – which is to have a great macro- and portrait-lens at hand.
(Click images to enlarge.)