|
Page 1 of 2
Review by Markus Stamm, published October 2011
Introduction
The Nikkor AF-S 14-24 f/2.8 G ED lens was introduced when Nikon entered the FX market and it has since gained a very high reputation and is widely considered the reference ultra wide lens, resolution wise even beating many primes in this range.
The AF-S 14-24 is a full frame lens, however due to its very wide field of view it doesn't leave its scope on DX cameras, where it behaves like a moderate wide angle zoom. In this review we'll have a look at its performance on our current DX test camera, the Nikon D7000.
The lens is primarily targeting the professional market and thus the
build quality is accordingly high. The outer lens barrel is made
of a metal alloy and there are seals for dust and moisture protection.
The broad rubberized focus ring operates exceptionally smooth whereas the zoom
ring has more friction - a side effect of the immense weight of the zoom group.
Talking about weight - at around 1kg it is the most heavy ultra-wide angle
zoom lens around.
The optical design of the AF-S 14-24mm f/2.8G is a bit related to the old AF 14mm f/2.8ED.
Reads: it has an immense front element, almost bulb-style, which protrudes significantly.
Consequently there's no filter thread and it's also not possible to attach a filter to the
lens cap like offered on the Sigma 12-24mm EX for instance. This is a
bit of a worrisome thought because the naked front element is quite vulnerable.
During zooming, the physical length of the lens remains constant but the inner lens tube moves a little
according to the focal length (see below). Thanks to an internal focusing system (IF) the inner tube
remains static during focus operations though and the front element does not rotate (which is mostly irrelevant, since there is no filter thread anyway).
For those who nonetheless want to use filters on this lens, 3rd party alternatives are nowadays available. They do, however, add even more bulk and weight to the lens and, since they require large square filters, quite some cost, too.
The Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 is a G-type lens so it does not offer an aperture ring
anymore. Thanks to an AF-S drive (Silent Wave Motor) AF operations are fast and
basically silent. In addition, this makes the lens compatible with any current Nikon DSLR, including the motor-free entry-level models.
| Specifications |
|---|
| Equiv. focal length | 21-36 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/4.2 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 14 elements in 11 groups inc. 2x ED and 3x aspherical elements and 1x element with Nano Crystal Coat |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.28 m (max. magnification ratio 1:6.7) |
| Dimensions | 98 x 132 mm |
| Weight | 1000 g |
| Filter size | no front filter thread |
| Hood | build-in, petal-shaped |
| Other features | dust and moisture sealing |
|
