Nikon Nikkor 20mm f/4 AI Review

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Updated August 17, 2008.

Nikon's 20mm lenses has been favored by landscape photographers for decades. The Nikon manual focus Nikkor 20 f/4 AI was made in quite small numbers, in total there was less then 23000 lenses made. It was produced between 1974 to 1977. It's really compact compared to it's brothers and sisters. Is this the Nikon 20mm to get? read on to find out.

Specifications

Positives

• Size. Light and compact.
• DOF/IR markings.

Drawbacks

• Prone to flare.
• Soft and Light falloff, Corners are very soft @ f/4, light falloff is also pretty bad on a full frame camera.
• Second hand price.

Verdict

I had to try 3 samples of this lens before I got one that's worth looking into. On the D3 this lens is way soft in the corners @ f/4. Performance increases quite a bit by stopping down one stop to f/5.6.At f/11 the lens has it's peak performance. IR performance with the new samples is also better, as expected. The 14-24 and 17-35mm outperforms this old dinosaur without a doubt.

Features
Performance
IR Performance
Build
Value

Alternatives

Nikon 20mm f/2.8 AI-S. From: $619.95 USD

Nikon AF 20mm f/2.8D. From: $539.95 USD

Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF Price From: $1,599.95 USD

Nikon AF-S 14/24mm f/2.8G ED-IF Price From: $1,699.95 USD

Voigtlander MF Color Skopar 20mm f/3.5 SL-II Price: $549.99 USD

Sigma AF 20mm f/1.8 EX. From: $519.00 USD

*Prices are subject to change. Listed price is from April 26, 2010

Sample Pictures

Images have been imported to photoshop CS3 through Capture NX 2 thus leaving the original image settings as shot, I. E white balance, sharpening, etc .etc. Full resolution sample images are in RGB color mode. Check out my copyright page for information about usage of these images.