Review by Markus Stamm, published November 2017

Introduction

With the Nikkor AF-S 24mm f/1.8 G ED, Nikon closes the last obvious gap in its range of affordable f/1.8 primes and at the same time likely completes the renewal of this part of their portfolio.

If you know or have handled any of the new f/1.8 primes, the Nikkor looks and feels familiar. The outer body is made from high quality plastic, based on a metal mount. For it's size, the lens feels pretty light-weight - also something it shares with its siblings.

The large rubberized focus ring is nicely damped and operates smoothly. Focus throw is quite short, though.

Talking about the focus ring... please allow that we just copy the text here from a different review, because by now we run out of ideas of finding new or different words for the same annoying symptom: there's a little play, not in the focus ring itself, but the coupling with the actual focus unit. When changing the focus direction, it takes a few millimeters of movement until the focus unit actually follows the focus ring. If you primarily rely on autofocus, it's not something you need to worry about. But if you sometimes appreciate or simply need the ability to carefully focus manually, this behaviour has the potential to drive you nuts.

Thanks to an IF (inner focus) design the length remains constant regardless of the focus setting and the front element does not rotate. So, using a polarizer is therefore no problem.

The lens features a Silent Wave ultrasonic drive allowing for a near-silent autofocus and manual override at all times. As another consequence, the AF speed is quite fast.

The AF-S 24/1.8 is a G-type lens and thus does not offer an aperture ring.