Verdict: This wide-angle from Nikon is very highly regarded, offering great image quality at an affordable price. It offers fantastic sharpness, it’s lightweight and the AF performance is impressive too.
The plastic construction makes it extremely light (only 355g) and the large focus ring is easy to use. The side of the body also includes a focus switch, perfect for changing from auto to manual in an instant.
The lens consists of 12 elements in 9 groups, and includes 2 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, 2 aspherical elements and a Nano Crystal coating to keep ghosting, fringing and distortions down. The minimum focusing distance of 23cm allows you to compose some very creative shots, with an 85° field-of-view on full-frame or 61° on APS-C. The AF is quick and quiet.
Vignetting is noticeable at f/1.8 but virtually disappears by f/4, and chromatic aberration is controlled excellently. Central sharpness is superb, even at f/1.8, though corners are a little soft until f/4.
This lens feels well-balanced on either full-frame or APS-C cameras, making it a great choice for any Nikon photographer.
Pros
Lightweight
Image quality
Sharp at f/1.8
Cons
Feels very plasticky
Limited use
Hard to get bokeh from 24mm
Spec
Max aperture: f/1.8
Min aperture: f/16
Elements/groups: 12/9
Min focus distance: 23cm
DxL: 78x83mm
Weight: 355g
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Kirk Schwarz is a tech-addicted photographer with over a decade's experience; Kirk’s used to putting new gear through extreme field testing. He's previously written for Practical Photography.