Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED

Product Information

Consensus:The Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S isn't cheap (though this deal seriously helps) but it's a fantastic lens. It made our best lenses for astophotography guide where we said, "For astro, this lens gives premium performance."

Although it has no direct rivals on the Nikon Z-mount, the Z 14-24mm F2.8 is the spiritual successor to the wildly popular – but famously large and unwieldy – AF-S 14-24mm F2.8G ED, which made its debut for F-mount DSLRs in 2007. Optics: The Nikon Z 14-24mm f2.8 S has 16 elements in 11 groups including 4 special dispersion elements and 3 aspherical elements. This is similar to the F-Nikkor (14 elements in 11 groups) but with a higher number of special elements. To reduce reflections causing flare, glare and ghosting both Z-Nikkors and the F-Nikkor employ Nikon’s Nano-coating but only the Z 14-24mm f2.8 S profits from the new “ARNEO” anti-reflective coating. Both Z-Nikkors also have fluorine-coating on the front element to repel water, dust, and dirt and make cleaning easier. [+] On the other side there are a lot of wide-angle zooms that cover 24mm plus give you the enormous flexibility to cover more shooting opportunities due to their variable focal length. Only one of them offers a faster maximum aperture than f2.8: the Sigma AF 24-35mm 2.0 DG HSM Art (around 1100 EUR). Then there are a lot of f2.8 zooms with one of them offering image stabilization which can compensate for the slower maximum aperture: The Tamron SP AF 15-30mm 2.8 Di VC USD (around 1000 EUR, see my Tamron 15-30/2.8 VC review). However, if I had no choice and nothing was coming to the market and I had a big hike coming up, then I would absolutely splurge for this lens brand new. Wow.

Scoring

The Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 has a reasonably complex design with 16 lens elements in 11 groups, of which three are aspherical and four use extra-low dispersion glass. It has Nikon’s high-end construction for a Z-series lens, with two control rings, a custom function button, and an EL display for things like distance and depth of field information. NIKON Z 7 II + NIKKOR Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S @ 18mm, ISO 64, 1/125, f/8.0 Obviously, 14mm is a highly specialized focal length. So in which situations might a wedding photographer decide to shoot ultra wide? Unfortunately, though, the current crop of Nikon Z-mount bodies doesn't allow you to switch from speed-sensitive response to linear response for the focus ring, meaning it's going to be difficult to make repeated manual focus pulls with precision.

The 14-24mm isn't a macro lens, but with a minimum focusing distance of 0.28m (11"), it will yield a similar magnification to equivalent lenses on other mounts, and will get you just as close. That maximum magnification of 0.13x (1:7.7), you won't be focusing in on individual flowers, but it will certainly suffice for classic 'wildflowers at sunset' landscapes and the like. There is a reason why this is classed as one of Nikon's holy trinity of zoom lenses, it's sharpness is just fabulous I've not pushed its maximum aperture yet, but I'm pretty sure it will deliver given the results that I have seen so far. This lens replaced my lovely Sigma 17-35mm f2.8 and for me the extra couple of mm at its widest is a real bonus, the slight downside is the fact that it only goes to 24mm, but teamed with the Nikor 24-70mm f2.8 it makes a perfect travel kit particularly for architectural wor k. There’s little reason to ever need to turn Auto distortion control off, but doing so reveals the lens exhibits prominent barrel distortion at 14mm, which is accentuated the closer you get to subjects. There’s also some pincushion distortion at the 24mm end, however the distortion correction that’s applied to JPEGs and the automated lens correction profile that’s applied to Raws does help to keep the distortion at either end of the zoom under control. Nikkor Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S: VerdictHowever, the lens does fall short ever so slightly in a few areas; mainly, in terms of astigmatism and distortion in the corners when compared directly to the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 Art lens. While the Nikon seems to have the advantage at 14mm, the Sigma looks to perform a little better once you start zooming in. 20mm, in particular, seems to be the Nikon lens’s weak point, and for me personally, this was a bit of a letdown as it is one of my favorite focal lengths to use when shooting the Milky Way.

Filter-thread: 72mm. That’s one step smaller than the professional standard 77mm filters. So those filters are cheaper, but you may have to get new ones or use a 72>77mm step-up ring. The Sigma 24/1.4 uses 77mm filters. [0]

The results on the full-frame D3 have now been posted, and the story is no less dramatic; while there is a bit more corner softness at 14mm and ƒ/2.8, it's not much to write home about (1 blur unit in the center, and 2 in the corners) and overall sharpness is outstanding. Curiously, what doesn't show up on the APS-C tests is some slight softness specifically at 18mm, more pronounced at this focal length than at either end (14mm or 24mm). Again, its performance is still excellent here - 1 unit in the center and 2.5 in the corners - it's just interesting to notice the better performance on either side of 18mm. Performance at other apertures and focal lengths echoes the performance on APS-C. This 14-24mm AF-S G works perfectly on every digital SLR. It is a waste to use it on a DX camera, since you are paying a huge price, filtration and weight premium for the fact that it covers the full FX and film format. For DX cameras, the 12-24mm f/4 DX is a much better idea. Plus if one were to consider the AF-S 14-24mm F2.8G ED as an alternative to the Z-mount 14-24mm, you'd need to factor in the weight and size of the Mount Adapter FTZ. That would add another 31mm (1.2") in length and 135g (4.8oz) in weight, giving the mirrorless lens a much more significant advantage over its DSLR sibling. A lens' ghost, flare and contrast performance depend on many, many many factors. It depends more on the wisdom of the lens designer than a coating on one surface of one element. The other zillion surfaces have Nikon's traditionally excellent Super Integrated Multicoating (SIC). The performance of the uncorrected D3 testing in relation to chromatic aberration is very similar to that of the test results for the D200, though as you zoom in further towards 24mm, there is a greater presence of CA, especially at the larger apertures. The uncorrected D3, at 24mm and ƒ/2.8, shows 9/100ths of a percent of frame height, while the D200 shows just 4.5. Our sample pictures don't reflect this, as they are showing the CA-corrected versions of the test chart.

Shooting against the sun on pretty much any lens will typically result in some ghosting and flare, which is normal. However, every lens is designed differently to handle ghosting and flare, thanks to differences in optical design and different types of coating applied to lenses. While the 14-24mm f/2.8G sports Nikon’s proprietary Nano Crystal and Super Integrated Coating technologies, which do a fantastic job of reducing the effect of ghosting and flare, if the source of light is bright and large enough, it might end up doing some damage to your images, as can be seen below: NIKON D700 + 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 14mm, ISO 200, 1/320, f/8.0 So in conclusion a great lens to use I have two fx cameras and I am loving the results that I have got so far just be prepared to feel the effects after a full day's shooting. I'll say this very plainly: when focused on stars at a rule-of-thirds point, you can expect nearly pin-point perfect stars across the entire image, with minimal coma or loss of overall sharpness in the extreme corners. I give Nikon very high marks for this. Few photographers would have been surprised if this lens had weighed at least a couple hundred grams / half a pound more. Yet somehow Nikon found a way to make it the lightest lens in its class by a substantial amount. Flare and ghosts seem well tamed, with just a dot or two if you've got the sun shining on the lens.Distance information is relayed to the camera, so the Nikon body can do all the advanced exposure-related stuff with this lens. Same with the competition. [+] As for the rest of the build quality features, the Nikon Z 14-24mm f/2.8 S has excellent weather and dust sealing, including a rubber seal along the lens mount. Nikon has been publishing x-ray style illustrations of the weather sealing for their recent Z lenses, including for the 14-24mm f/2.8 S: Image by Nikon Optics: 12 elements in 9 groups. The lens features two extra-low dispersion elements, two aspherical elements, and Nano-coating. The Sigma 24/1.4 has 15 elements in 11 groups. [+] As with other Sigma Art lenses that we’ve tested, sharpness and contrast are very impressive, even when shooting wide-open at f/2.8. For such a wide-angle lens, the new Sigma is particularly excellent at retaining sharpness towards the edges and corners of the frame.