Nikon NIKKOR Z 24mm F 1 8 S Review | 54 Data compared

The Photography Life review deems the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S an "advanced, killer wide-angle prime" and arguably the best 24mm prime Nikon has produced, boasting extraordinary sharpness across the frame, low focus breathing, and high-performance weather sealing. While it outperforms older F-mount options and rivals, it is noted for a high $1,100 price point, a relatively long physical length, and a minimalist design lacking extra, customizable buttons. Optically, it suffers from poor sagittal coma flare control, which is detrimental to astrophotography, along with occasionally unpleasantly rendered, busy bokeh. Despite these compromises, the lens is lauded for its exceptional, class-leading sharpness and minimal field curvature, making it a stellar performer for landscapes. Its robust construction and advanced anti-flare coatings contribute to a professional-grade shooting experience. For the full, detailed review, visit Photography Life.

Despite its top-tier optical quality, the lens has a few notable drawbacks. It is relatively expensive at a list price of $1,000 USD, especially when compared to F-mount alternatives like the Nikon AF-S 24mm f1.8G. In terms of physical dimensions, it is neither remarkably small nor lightweight, which limits its portability advantages over DSLR lenses unless you factor in the necessity of an FTZ adapter for older glass. Other minor cons include visible longitudinal color aberrations under certain conditions, a variable focus gearing that cannot be switched to a linear mode for precise focus pulling, and a disappointing, flimsy storage pouch that lacks pull strings to keep the lens secure.

The Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8 S is a compact, lightweight wide-angle prime lens designed for full-frame Nikon Z-mount mirrorless cameras, functioning additionally as a 36mm-equivalent street lens on DX-format bodies like the Z 50. Built with robust, weather-sealed plastics and a metal mounting plate, it features a customizable, electronically coupled control ring to silently manage aperture or exposure compensation. The lens lacks built-in optical stabilization, relying instead on the camera body's sensor-shift system, which leaves DX users without vibration reduction. Optically, it utilizes 12 elements in 10 groups—including four aspherical elements and Nano Crystal Coat—to minimize ghosting and flare while achieving a tight minimum focusing distance of 0.25 meters. Performance testing reveals spectacular corner-to-corner sharpness and contrast even when shooting wide-open at f/1.8, reaching its peak clarity between f/2.8 and f/5.6. The lens's primary pros include this exceptional, elite image quality, a virtually silent and fast autofocus system, a highly customizable control ring, and negligible levels of lateral chromatic aberration or distortion. On the downside, the cons highlight the absence of a physical focus distance scale, a modest maximum aperture...

The ePHOTOzine review awards the Nikon Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8S an "Editor's Choice," highlighting it as an outstanding prime lens with excellent edge-to-edge sharpness, minimal chromatic aberration, and high-quality, weather-sealed construction. Key pros include a lightweight, 450g design, fast and silent autofocus, and a customizable control ring for smooth operation in both photo and video applications. While offering exceptional optical performance, the review notes that the primary drawback is its high price point, which sits at the premium end for an f/1.8 lens. Despite this, the lens is lauded for its superb handling and overall image quality, resulting in a very high recommendation for Z-system users.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8 S is a highly-rated, pro-level prime lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras, though it can also be used on APS-C bodies where it delivers a 36mm equivalent focal length. Weighing 450g, it offers a lighter and significantly cheaper alternative to heavy pro zooms like the 24-70mm f/2.8, making it an excellent choice for landscape, interior, and street photographers who explore locations on foot. Its optical design consists of 12 elements in 10 groups, utilizing 1 ED element, 4 aspherical elements, and a Nano Crystal Coat to curb internal reflections. Physically, it features extensive weather sealing, a large customizable manual focus ring, a simple AF/MF switch, and a 25cm minimum focusing distance that allows for dramatic close-ups with an expansive background view. The review highlights exceptional image quality as a primary strength, noting remarkable sharpness across the frame that peaks when stopped down to f/2.8 or f/4, along with practically non-existent chromatic aberration. The lens produces smooth, pleasing background blur and attractive 18-ray sunstars at smaller apertures, backed by a quick, near-silent stepping autofocus motor....

The Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8 S is a mixed-bag wide-angle prime lens featuring a minimalist, weather-sealed polycarbonate and metal body with a customizable control ring and a quiet stepping motor. On the positive side, it delivers an impressively smooth bokeh quality for a wide-angle lens, featuring circular highlights due to its 9 rounded aperture blades. Additionally, it provides excellent image sharpness in the broader center straight from the maximum f/1.8 aperture, features well-controlled lateral chromatic aberrations, and exhibits moderate image distortion that is easily corrected via software. However, the lens suffers from notable downsides, making it the weakest performer among Nikon's Z-mount f/1.8 primes. The outer image field is comparatively soft wide-open, requiring users to stop down between f/4 and f/8 to achieve very good sharpness in the corners. It also displays a high amount of vignetting at large apertures—reaching nearly 3EV at f/1.8—alongside visible bokeh fringing (longitudinal chromatic aberration) that persists until f/4. Ultimately, given these optical compromises, its steep launch retail price of 900 EUR / 1000 USD yields a low price-to-performance score.

The ePHOTOzine performance review of the Nikon Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8S highlights the lens as an elite-tier wide-angle prime, delivering outstanding central sharpness from f/1.8 through f/11 and excellent edge-to-edge clarity. The lens offers robust construction, featuring excellent flare resistance and virtually zero chromatic aberration, alongside a lightweight 450g design and a silent control ring. While the optical performance is superb, the review notes a high price point as the main drawback, alongside standard, easily corrected wide-angle distortion and vignetting. Despite these minor factors, the lens is praised for its flawless handling and superior image quality, making it a premium choice for Z-series cameras.

The Nikon Nikkor Z 24mm f/1.8 S is a top-tier wide-angle prime lens designed specifically for Nikon's full-frame mirrorless camera system. Tested on the high-resolution 45MP Z 7, it delivers excellent resolution and strong clarity from the center to the edges of the frame, even when shooting wide open at f/1.8. Its autofocus is quick and silent, and it exhibits almost no focus breathing, making it an excellent option for both still photography and video capture. Additionally, the lens features a solid build with dust and splash protection, and it limits barrel distortion, making it perfect for architectural imaging. Despite its superb optical performance, the review highlights a few design drawbacks. The manual focus ring can be reprogrammed via the camera body to control the aperture or exposure value, but the control ring is way too sensitive to be practically useful. Furthermore, while the lens features anti-reflective coatings, it omits a grease-repellent fluorine coat on the front glass element. Priced at just under $1,000, it stands out as a svelte, native solution for Z-mount users, though budget-conscious photographers can still...

The LensTip review of the Nikon Nikkor Z 24 mm f/1.8 S concludes that while the lens features a solid, weather-sealed casing and delivers brilliant, highly useful image resolution in the frame centre even at wide-open apertures, its overall performance fell short of high expectations. On the positive side, the lens benefits from negligible lateral chromatic aberration, minimal distortion issues, and an exceptionally silent and accurate autofocus system. Furthermore, it demonstrates commendable, highly efficient performance against bright light, showing a noticeable improvement over its DSLR predecessor by making it very difficult to catch ghosting or flares. However, the lens suffers from several prominent drawbacks that prevented a positive overall assessment from the reviewer. The primary cons include distinct vignetting on full-frame sensors, a high presence of coma-related optical problems, and noticeable astigmatism. Most critically, the image quality on the edges of the frame is weak near the maximum f/1.8 relative aperture. Because it underperformed in many areas compared to older, cheaper F-mount equivalents and lagged behind the exceptional standards set by its 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm Z-system siblings, LensTip ultimate...

The Nikon 24mm f/1.8 S is a solid wide-angle prime lens for Z-mount cameras that delivers exceptionally fast, precise autofocus and superb sharpness in the center, especially when stopped down to f/4. It features robust weather sealing, a durable build with Nano and fluorine coatings, and well-controlled flare for a wide-angle optic. However, at nearly one pound and 4 inches long, it is quite bulky for a 24mm prime, and its wide focus ring paired with slippery plastic barrels can make unmounting the lens frustrating. Furthermore, its inconsistent 72mm filter thread forces photographers carrying multiple Z primes to pack extra step-up rings. Optically, the lens compromises on edge performance, exhibiting clear astigmatism, coma, and visible acuity falloff in the corners when compared to its stellar center performance. It suffers from heavy vignetting that approaches 3 stops wide open and requires stopping down to f/5.6 to become acceptable, posing a challenge for landscape and architectural shooters. It also displays roughly 2% barrel distortion with a slight mustache pattern and minor purple edge fringing in high-contrast corners. Ultimately, while it is a...

Ken Rockwell’s review highlights the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S as an optically spectacular lens offering exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness at f/1.8, low distortion, and excellent performance for video and night sky photography. Its primary pros are outstanding image quality and silent, fast focus-by-wire technology, which challenges top-tier lens performance. YouTube · However, the review notes that cons include its relatively large size, heavy weight, and a plasticky exterior, making it less compact than older 24mm lenses. Rockwell points out that because it lacks physical, non-electronic focus capability, the lens is less durable in the long term, and with performance comparable to Z-series zooms, it is best suited for those requiring the extra stop of light.