Nikon AF Nikkor 24mm f/2.8D Review

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January 25, 2011

The Nikon 24 2.8 AF D version reviewed here dates back to 1994. It's worth to mention here that the optical formula for this lens has been unchanged since the AI version back in 1977. Throughout the years this lens has gone through some minor upgrades, such as different coatings and external comsetics changes. The first AF version was released back in 1986, and was upgraded cosmetically in 1991 and finally the AF-D version reviewed here was released back in 1994. The "D" stands for distance information, and "tells" the camera what distance the lens is focused on. If you use TTL or i-TTL flash you will see a diffirence between a D and a Non D lens. As this lens is quite old, it uses a screw drive AF, so it will not auto focus on the lower end Nikon Dslr cameras on the market today. The lens features Nikon's Close-Range Correction System (CRC)

Specifications

Positives

• DOF & IR markings. Lens has both Depth Of Field markings and Infrared compensation marking.
• Size & weight.

Drawbacks

• Vignetting, the 24mm f2.8 Nikkor shows very strong vignetting from f/2.8 and to f/8.
• CA is on the high side for a prime lens like this.
• Lens hood is not included. Like most of the older Nikon AF lenses the lens hood is not included.
• Soft corners. much too soft for a landscape lens like this.
• Coma, not something you would think I would mention in a landscape lens, but shoot some backlit trees in the sun and you will see what I mean (Check the sample picture of the tree) You need to stop down to about f/5.6 before the coma gets under control.

Verdict

Chromatic Abberations is very high for a lens like this, and the vignetting is also very high on this lens. For PJ shooters the vignetting will in most cases be a plus, but for landscape shooters this will in most cases be a big drawback. To top it off it's very soft in the corners and needs to be stopped down to at least f/8 on landscape shots.
On a DX sized camera softening starts at f/11, stopping further down and image quality drops significantly due to diffraction. On the FX sized Nikon D3 you can stop down to f/16 without much worry.

End line is; skip this one, zoom lenses (even cheap ones) outperform this "old" lens by far.

Features
Performance
IR Performance (D2H IR)
Build
Value

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Nikon 24mm f/2.8D

Alternatives

Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AI-S Price From: $479.95

Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED Price From: $1,549.00

Nikon PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED Price From: $1,774.00

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED Price From: $1,849.00

DX equivalents:

Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED Price From: $779.95 USD

Nikon AF-S Zoom Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G ED-IF Price From:$899.95 USD

*Prices and rebates are subject to change. Listed price is from January 25, 2011

Sample Pictures

Images have been imported to photoshop CS4 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.