Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm F1 8G ED Review | 54 Data compared

The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED is a lightweight, fast, wide-angle prime lens designed for FX full-frame DSLRs, featuring 12 elements in 9 groups with ED and aspherical glass, plus Nano Crystal Coating. It offers a quiet Silent Wave Motor (SWM) autofocus, a non-rotating 72mm filter thread, and solid build quality, making it suitable for landscapes and architecture. According to ePHOTOzine, pros include excellent center sharpness when stopped down, low distortion, and fast, accurate autofocus, while cons include soft performance at f/1.8 and a limited depth of field scale. Peak performance is achieved at f/11, making it a strong performer once stopped down from its widest aperture.

📷 The Review Highlights The AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.8G ED is a fast, wide-angle prime lens designed for full-frame Nikon DSLRs. Released in August 2015, it targets photographers looking for a compact, budget-friendly alternative to heavy f/1.4 primes or large wide-angle zooms. Key strengths include its light 355g weight, weather-sealed metal mount, fast autofocusing speed of 0.4 seconds, and Nano-coating to enhance image clarity. The lens earned a "Recommended" award for its solid overall performance and bright f/1.8 aperture. ⚖️ The Downsides & Rivalry However, the lens faces incredibly tough competition and some performance flaws. Image quality proves disappointing at the borders of the DX image circle, and manual focusing is finicky due to a short 75-degree throw and slack in the focus ring. Furthermore, at roughly 800 EUR, it struggles to match the value of the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art. The rival Sigma lens costs about the same but boasts superior build quality, sharper optics, and a faster f/1.4 maximum aperture.

The DPReview review of the Nikkor 24mm F1.8G ED lens highlights its excellent sharpness at matched apertures, fast autofocus, and compact, lightweight design suitable for landscapes and architecture. Scoring 88%, it is considered a capable, affordable option that produces good low-light results and pleasing sunstars with 7 rounded aperture blades. However, the lens lacks robust weather sealing, limiting its use in severe conditions, and exhibits more green/purple lateral chromatic aberration than competitors. Potential drawbacks include problematic flare resistance, a slight lag in the manual focus ring for video, and, sometimes, jumpy contrast-detection autofocus.

The Photography Life review defines the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED as an exceptional, lightweight, and compact wide-angle prime lens, highlighting its superior wide-open center sharpness that rivals more expensive glass. It features fast, quiet autofocus, durable construction, and excellent Nano Crystal Coatings for improved contrast, making it a high-value option for photographers. Conversely, the lens displays roughly 1.02% barrel distortion and significant vignetting at wider apertures, and the plastic construction lacks a premium feel. Additionally, it exhibits nervous background bokeh and poor coma control, reducing its effectiveness for specialized, wide-open astrophotography.

The Nikon 24mm f/1.8G AF-S is a lightweight, solid-performing wide-angle prime lens designed for Nikon DSLRs, though its slightly long, telephoto-like build makes it feel bulky when adapted as a 36mm-equivalent on DX bodies. On full-frame (FX) bodies, its standout pros include outstanding center sharpness wide open, which improves to excellent edge-to-edge sharpness when stopped down to f/2.8 and f/4. Furthermore, the lens provides nearly excellent, uniform sharpness on DX bodies, well-controlled latitudinal chromatic aberration, minimal barrel distortion, and an affordable price tag relative to its heavier f/1.4 counterpart. Conversely, the lens suffers from notable cons, most prominently clear blur in the corners on FX bodies at wide apertures (f/1.8 to f/2.8) and pronounced vignetting of over a stop wide open. Autofocus performance is adequate but lacks snappiness, longitudinal chromatic aberration is clearly visible unless stopped down to f/4, and the bokeh is unexceptional, producing asymmetrical, "onion skin" highlights. Reviewer Thom Hogan also criticized the inconsistent filter ring sizes across the f/1.8G prime series and the lack of video-friendly features like an aperture ring or electronic aperture control. Despite these...

The Opticallimits review of the Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.8 G ED highlights it as a highly anticipated, affordable wide-angle prime that completes Nikon’s f/1.8 lineup. Optically, the lens delivers excellent resolution in the center even when shot wide open, while border and corner sharpness remain highly impressive throughout the aperture range. Additional optical strengths include well-controlled chromatic aberrations and effective resistance to ghosting and flare. From a handling perspective, its inner focusing design ensures the lens length stays constant, and the Silent Wave ultrasonic drive provides quiet, fast autofocusing. The high-quality plastic construction also keeps the lens exceptionally lightweight for its size. However, the review points out several significant drawbacks. The most prominent physical flaw is a notable slack or play in the focus ring coupling when changing directions, which makes precise manual focusing highly frustrating. It also features a quite short focus throw and lacks a physical aperture ring due to its G-type design. Optically, the lens suffers from heavy vignetting at f/1.8, with light falling off by a massive 2.7 stops in the corners. Even when the lens...

The LensTip review of the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 24 mm f/1.8G ED concludes that this lens is an exceptionally strong performer, even calling it the best instrument out of all the full-frame f/1.8 Nikkors they had tested at the time. Optically, its standout pros include excellent image quality and sharpness in the frame center, good resolution on the edges of smaller APS-C/DX sensors, and minimal longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberrations. Furthermore, the lens boasts low astigmatism, moderate distortion, and a quick, silent autofocus system. LensTip.com However, the lens does suffer from notable optical and physical cons, particularly when paired with a full-frame sensor. LensTip highlights distinct coma deformations and high vignetting in the extreme corners of a full-frame image, along with diagonal ghosting and green flares when shooting against very bright, direct light near the corners of the frame. Mechanically, reviewers were critical of the physical build quality, noting that the lens barrel utilizes too much plastic and exhibits unpleasantly pronounced slack in the casing and focus ring mechanics.

The Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED AF-S Nikkor is a highly capable, fast wide-angle prime lens designed for FX full-frame sensors, though it can also be used on DX bodies where it provides a 36mm equivalent field of view. Optically, the lens delivers exceptional sharpness, especially when mounted on DX-format bodies. When tested on a full-frame sensor, center sharpness remains excellent wide open, but significant softness appears in the corners at f/1.8. This corner softness rapidly improves upon stopping down, becoming tack-sharp across the entire frame by f/4. Additional strong performance points include very well-controlled chromatic aberration and low levels of barrel distortion (.5% on full-frame). The built-in AF-S focusing motor operates fast and nearly silently with seamless manual override capability. Physically, it features a lightweight 355g build, a metal lens mount with a weather-sealing gasket, and high-end optical components including a Nano-Crystal coating, two aspherical lenses, and two ED lenses. Despite its high quality, the review highlights several notable drawbacks, particularly regarding full-frame vignetting, macro performance, and cost. When shot wide open on a full-frame camera, it suffers from heavy...

The Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.8G ED is a highly capable FX-format lens that delivers exceptional performance when paired with DX-sensor cameras like the Nikon D7200 and D500. Operating as a 35mm full-frame equivalent, it excels as a high-brightness documentary and street photography lens, offering incredibly high sharpness in the center after stopping down just one stop. Because DX sensors utilize only the center of the glass, common optical issues like vignetting, distortion, and chromatic aberration are virtually nonexistent in everyday shooting. Physically, the lens features a plastic housing to save weight, but remains extremely solid, boasting a beautifully dampened focus ring and an accurate autofocus system with a repeatability of just over 5%. The review highlights several distinct strengths and weaknesses for potential buyers. On the positive side, its pros include premium build and image quality, a broadly usable focal length across both FX and DX bodies, superb low-light performance with high brightness, and the inclusion of a soft lens bag. Additionally, it features a rare distance scale that is ideal for fast street shooting. Conversely, its main con is...