Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED

Product Information

Consensus:The Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S isn't cheap (though this deal seriously helps) but it's a fantastic lens. It made our best lenses for astophotography guide where we said, "For astro, this lens gives premium performance."

Closest focus distance/max. magnification: 0.23m (0.75ft) / 1:5. The Sigma 24/1.4 reaches 1:5.3 at 0.25m.[0] elements in 11 groups. Two of these are ED glass, which helps reduce color fringing. Three are glass-molded aspherical. The inside of the front element (only) has Nikon's special Nano Crystal anti-reflection coating. That's the big N logo on the lens.The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 is the sharpest 14mm and 18mm lens I've ever used, by far. I know, because I've shot it head-to-head against my 14mm f/2.8, 18mm AF and 18mm f/3.5 AI-s on the D3. On the other side there are a lot of wide-angle zooms that cover 24mm plus give you the enormous flexibility to cover more shooting opportunities due to their variable focal length. Only one of them offers a faster maximum aperture than f2.8: the Sigma AF 24-35mm 2.0 DG HSM Art (around 1100 EUR). Then there are a lot of f2.8 zooms with one of them offering image stabilization which can compensate for the slower maximum aperture: The Tamron SP AF 15-30mm 2.8 Di VC USD (around 1000 EUR, see my Tamron 15-30/2.8 VC review).

adds over 10 degrees of diagonal angle of view over Nikon's next widest 17-35mm f/2.8 mm lens. (114 degrees vs. 104 degrees.) Canon's 16-35mm only sees 107 degrees. Nikon's users manual rightly cautions not to grab the lens by the cap, because it will slip off and drop your 14-24mm (and camera) to the ground if the lens slips out of the cap. Always grab it by the barrel. However, the lens does fall short ever so slightly in a few areas; mainly, in terms of astigmatism and distortion in the corners when compared directly to the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 Art lens. While the Nikon seems to have the advantage at 14mm, the Sigma looks to perform a little better once you start zooming in. 20mm, in particular, seems to be the Nikon lens’s weak point, and for me personally, this was a bit of a letdown as it is one of my favorite focal lengths to use when shooting the Milky Way. The zoom ring is located at the middle of the lens and turns through 70 degrees. It has a 19mm wide rubber surface with a good grip. It can hardly be operated with one finger as it needs more force than the AF-S 14-24mm f2.8G. The lens control ring is only 8mm wide and is located close to the camera. It has no rubberized surface but moves very smooth and can easily be operated even with your pinky. The focus ring at the front is 13mm wide, moves smoothly, and also has a rubberized surface – a welcome deviation over the metal surface on the Z 24-70mm f2.8 S. While I love the feature itself, the top OLED display turns off far too frequently. This is such a handy feature of the lens, and I know I would like it if it stayed on until a picture is taken. This could be a potential software fix down the road. Optical PerformanceHowever, this lens is also not for those who don’t need to or want to hike to their shooting locations. If you are the type of photographer who drives to most of your spots to shoot, and you park within a fairly short walking distance, you could save the money and get the Sigma. So how does the new lens fit in quality-wise? To find out I tested the Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.8 against Nikon’s own AF-S 24mm f/1.4G, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art, and Tamron’s stabilized ultra wide-angle zoom, the 15-30mm f/2.8 VC, all on the demanding D810 body. So if you’re shopping for a wide-angle lens, this review will give you some answers! And in my extensive testing, the plane of focus is quite flat, and the off-center and even extreme corner sharpness is quite impressive. Being a wide-angle lens, the 14-24mm ƒ/2.8 does exhibit some corner darkness, but in keeping with the excellent quality of this optic at its worst it shows up as a half-stop darker, at that's with the lens set to 14mm and ƒ/2.8. At any other focal length / aperture combination, corner darkness doesn't exceed a quarter-stop. Another scary thing about the 14-24mm, at least to those of us who've been around 14mm lenses for a long time, is that there is almost no falloff (corner darkening) wide open on the D3 full-frame camera! The 14-24mm is far superior to the previous 14mm and 18mm lenses; I can't see any falloff wide open looking at only one image without another for comparison.

I love ultrawide lenses like this 14-24mm. I use this 14-24mm because I'm crazy and love 14mm lenses. It replaces my 14mm f/2.8. It does not replace a regular wide lens like the 17-35mm. When I say I use the 14-24mm most of the time on my D3, it's because it replaces a fixed 14mm lens for me. As the lens is zoomed in, the same resolution characteristics are displayed, albeit at slightly reduced values. At 18mm, sharpness is virtually uniform across the image at all apertures except for f/2.8 and f/22. This is highly impressive performance, and is better than what I expected, even taking this lens' reputation into account. By 24mm the corner sharpness has dropped off a little, but is still good to very good. As with other recent Nikkors, the contrast this lens produces is quite amazing, further adding to the impression of clarity. Key Specs:The Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S is a high-spec, professional-level lens. Compatibility: Nikon Z-mount, Focal range: 14-24mm, Aperture range: f/2.8 - f/22, Autofocus: Yes, Thread size: 112mm with supplied hood, Weight: 1.4 lbs (650g) It's also weather-protected for outdoor use.For example, I’ll occasionally bust out the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G during the dance party when people are going crazy and limbs are flying everywhere. The manner in which this focal length distorts the scene makes everything feel a bit more dynamic and uncanny. The Nikon 14-24mm is much bigger and heavier than the already huge fixed 14mm lens. Look at the small lens mount. That's not a small lens mount; it's a huge lens reduced to fit the camera! The lens expands from the lens mount to the larger-than-normal zoom ring and gets even fatter from there. My 14-24mm f/2.8 AFS is optically perfect on my D300. I'm not saying "perfect" like I call my wife perfect; I'm saying the 14-24mm is so optically perfect its as if Nikon suddenly exempted itself from the laws of optics which have fettered us for the past 150 years. The front lens element is fluorine-coated to resist fingerprints and smudges. It's also flat, which is a major contrast to the large, bulging front elements of the earlier DSLR lens and most similar optics. While you can't attach filters directly to the front of the lens, two removable hoods are included and one of these does feature filter threads.