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Review by Markus Stamm, published July 2009
Introduction
Since 2003 Nikon has been offering a DX wide angle zoom lens, the Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24/4 G, which is highly regarded, but unfortunately not the most affordable wide angle option.
Six years later now Nikon surprised us with another wide angle zoom, the Nikkor AF-S DX 10-24/3.5-4.5, slightly extended in range at the wide end, but no longer a constant aperture zoom. The new lens is cheaper than the DX 12-24 (which at the time of this writing is still in production), however at around 750 EUR it's far from being cheap.
The lens body is made of high quality plastic, which is in line with other higher grade (but not top notch) Nikkor consumer lenses. Both the focus and the large zoom ring operate smoothly.
The lens features a silent wave drive (AF-S) and thus is compatible with all current Nikon DSLRs including the entry level offerings which no longer feature an internal AF drive within the body. Some of the recent consumer lenses feature rather slow AF-S drives, however this is not the case here: the AF works fast and is very silent.
Being a G lens the AF-S 10-24 doesn't feature an aperture ring.
The lens extends a little when zooming. It's shortest at around 14 mm, slightly extended at 10 mm and at maximum length at 24 mm. The moving tube is very solid, there is no wobbling. The front lens does not rotate while focusing so using a polarizer is no problem.
| Specifications |
|---|
| Equiv. focal length | 15-36 mm (full format equivalent) |
| Equiv. aperture | f/5.3-f/6.8 (full format equivalent, in terms of depth-of-field) |
| Optical construction | 14 elements in 9 groups inc. 2 ED and 3 aspherical elements |
| Number of aperture blades | 7 (rounded) |
| min. focus distance | 0.24 m (max. magnification ratio 1:5) |
| Dimensions | 82.5 x 87 mm |
| Weight | 460 g |
| Filter size | 77 mm (non-rotating) |
| Hood | Nikon HB-23, petal shaped, bayonet mount (supplied) |
| Other features | Silent wave AF motor, lens provides distance (D) information to the camera. |
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