Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm F 1 4G ED Review | 54 Data compared

The Photography Life review of the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED highlights it as a professional-grade wide-angle prime, praised for its exceptional low-light performance and bright f/1.4 aperture that creates a unique, shallow depth of field. Its optical construction, including Nano Crystal Coat, delivers impressive center sharpness and contrast, making it a strong choice for creative, wide-aperture photography. However, the lens has drawbacks, including high chromatic aberration, moderate barrel distortion, and significant coma at f/1.4, which limits its immediate usability for astrophotography. Furthermore, it features noticeable field curvature and heavy vignetting wide open, requiring stopping down to at least f/4 for optimal edge-to-edge sharpness, all at a very high price point.

The PCMag UK review evaluates the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED, a premium fast wide-angle prime lens built for Nikon SLRs. On the pros side, the lens features a robust physical build with a black polycarbonate finish, gold accents, and a weather-sealed metal mount that pairs securely with weather-resistant camera bodies. Optically, it excels at close-distance focusing down to 9.8 inches, allowing photographers to isolate subjects and create a beautifully blurred background with a shallow depth of field when shooting wide open. Furthermore, its center sharpness improves drastically when stopped down slightly, hitting excellent resolution levels from f/2 through f/11. Conversely, the review highlights several distinct cons, starting with its steep $1,999.95 retail price tag. When shooting wide open at f/1.4, its resolution barely meets expectations for high-resolution cameras, and the image edges drop down significantly to a softer 1,900 lines. Optical flaws also include a noticeable 2.5% barrel distortion and intense corner dimming (vignetting), which causes the corners to lag behind the center by 3 full stops at f/1.4. Finally, the lens entirely omits optical vibration stabilization. Ultimately,...

The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED is a professional wide-angle prime lens designed for full-frame Nikon DSLRs, highly regarded for its uniform performance and robust build quality. Tested on a demanding 36MP D810 body, the lens features a 12-element optical design with Nano-coating to reduce flare, weather sealing at the mount, and a silent wave motor for autofocus functionality. Its standout pros include a uniform sharpness across the frame even when shot wide-open, a lack of pronounced degradation at the DX-crop corners, exceptional autofocus repeatability measured at 99.1%, and a durable, weather-sealed construction built for long-term professional serviceability. However, the lens has notable cons, primarily its steep retail price of approximately 1,700 EUR, which makes it 1,000 EUR more expensive than its primary rival, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art. The review also points out mechanical flaws, such as an unexpected slack or play in the 16mm focus ring and relatively slow autofocus speeds taking roughly 0.8 seconds to rack focus. Furthermore, it lacks optical image stabilization and ships with a basic soft pouch that feels insufficient for a premium,...

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED as a stellar, professional-grade wide-angle lens with a robust, weather-sealed magnesium alloy barrel and superb handling, offering stunning optical resolution. Key advantages include its fast f/1.4 aperture for low-light photography, quick Silent Wave Motor (SWM) autofocus, and robust build quality. However, the review notes a tendency to occasionally miss focus when used at the maximum f/1.4 aperture, which requires careful handling due to extremely shallow depth of field. Despite a high price point, the lens is recommended for its elite performance.

The Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.4 G ED (FX) lens delivers strong resolution and exceptional bokeh performance, making it highly effective for isolating subjects even as a wide-angle lens. Its primary strengths include excellent center sharpness right from f/1.4, which upgrades to outstanding levels from f/2.0 onward. Out-of-focus backgrounds look incredibly smooth and pleasant, while the 9 rounded aperture blades successfully maintain circular highlights across all aperture settings with minimal outlining. Additionally, while backlight conditions do generate some flare and ghosting, the integration of Nano Coating effectively preserves high image contrast and minimizes overall degradation. Conversely, the lens suffers from notable optical drawbacks that require stopping down or post-processing to correct. Its most significant flaw is an exceptional 2.2 EV of vignetting when shot wide open, which remains quite high until reaching f/5.6. The lens borders and corners start out somewhat soft at wide apertures, requiring users to stop down to f/4 for very good sharpness. It also exhibits moderate barrel distortion, residual spherical aberration causing focus shift, and visible longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LoCAs) that produce colored magenta and green halos...

Ken Rockwell hails the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED as a top-performing wide-angle lens, praising its exceptional center-to-corner sharpness at f/1.4 and superior resistance to flare. Key advantages include fast, accurate autofocus, smooth bokeh, and robust, weather-sealed construction with convenient 77mm filter threads. Conversely, the lens is a G-type, lacking an aperture ring for older cameras, and exhibits noticeable corner vignetting when shooting wide open. Its relatively heavy, 21.8-ounce build and high price point make it a significant investment primarily suited for specialized low-light, handheld, and photojournalistic work.

The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED AF-S Nikkor is a high-end FX-format prime lens that delivers fast and silent autofocus via its AF-S motor, excellent build quality, and minimal distortion (.3%.5% on FX sensors). When stopped down to f/2.8 and beyond, the lens provides exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness, peaking at f/5.6 on DX bodies and f/4 on FX bodies. Chromatic aberration is very well controlled at smaller apertures, and corner shading is virtually unnoticeable on cropped sensors. Additionally, its 9-rounded diaphragm blades produce pleasing out-of-focus elements, and the included HB-51 lens hood effectively reduces veiling flare. However, the lens has notable drawbacks when shot wide open at its signature f/1.4 aperture, where it suffers from central softness, pronounced corner softness on full-frame bodies, and pink longitudinal chromatic aberration fringing on high-contrast edges. Full-frame users will also experience significant vignetting at f/1.4, with light falling off by over a full stop in extreme corners. At 620 grams, it is physically large and heavy, making smaller camera bodies feel front-heavy. Finally, it makes a poor macro tool with only 0.18x magnification, and its premium...

The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED is a highly versatile wide-angle prime lens, featuring an ultra-fast f/1.4 aperture that excels at low-light photography, offering superb subject isolation and a unique "3D" rendering. Its advanced optical design, utilizing Nano Crystal coat and ED glass, delivers vibrant colors and high contrast, making it ideal for landscapes, event, and astrophotography. Have However, the lens is heavy, expensive, and shows lower corner sharpness on high-megapixel sensors compared to modern f/1.8 alternatives, particularly when shot wide-open. Despite these drawbacks in technical performance metrics, its specialized low-light capability and build quality make it a favored tool for professionals.

The Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4G ED is a large, heavy, and expensive wide-angle lens built like a tank to withstand extreme conditions, featuring a quiet and fast autofocus system and a 77mm filter size. When tested on a DX sensor camera like the Nikon D3200, its focal length provides a 35mm full-frame equivalent field of view, making it an excellent option for reportage, street, concert, and travel photography. The lens delivers outstanding overall image quality with high resolution that peaks between apertures f/4 and f/11, though center sharpness is already highly usable at f/1.4. Optical defects are exceptionally well-managed on the smaller DX sensor; vignetting is practically unnoticeable, barrel distortion is visually imperceptible at -0.5% in RAW files, and lateral chromatic aberration scores very well, especially with standard in-camera JPEG corrections. The primary advantages of this lens include its great image quality, incredibly robust build, beautiful round bokeh under f/2.8, and rapid AF. However, it comes with notable drawbacks, including its high cost, bulkiness, and lack of built-in image stabilization. Photographers may also encounter minor optical flaws, such as visible...