Customer Reviews

Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED AF-S RF SWM Prime Wide-Angle Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In few words, an excellent chunk of glass. Don't know technospeak, so I don't know the science that created it, just that it's fast great for shooting sans flash. And when you buy a 24mm lens on an FX body, you're getting 24mm, not 36 as you would on a DX body.

When you have no tuition to pay for, no alimony, no funeral preparations (you'll find my casket at Lowe's in the garbage can aisle). And you have a niece that will go nuts inheriting something this nice.

Too expensive, but I don't care. I love it...

Apologies for the non-review review.

I bought the 24 1.4 for the sole purpose of being able to shoot wide at 1.4. I dont think I have taken one picture with this lens that is not at 1.4. IMO, if one wanted to shoot at anything higher than 1.4, there are plenty of other alternatives that cost less than this lens and give more flexibility eg 24-70, 14-24, 16-35vr etc. On DX, the lens is equivalent to a FX 35mm 1.4.

The performance of this lens at 1.4 is simply incredible. At 1.4 this lens is just as sharp as my 70-200 VRII. Not just in the center, but corner to corner. After a week of using the lens, my jaw still drops everytime I look at pictures taken with this lens and I cannot help but marvel at the clarity, contrast and sharpness of pictures using the 24 1.4.

The bokeh is quite pleasing. It doesn't compare to the classics like the 85 1.4 or the 135DC, but it not bad by any means (see the sample picture I uploaded of a flower and shrubs to get a sense for the bokeh).

There is really only one shortcoming of the 24 1.4: chromatic aberration. You do see CA in in high contrast situations, but this is relatively easy to fix in post.

In terms of weight and feel, the lens is about the same weight as a Tokina 11-16. It feels slightly front heavy on my D90 without a grip and feels great balanced on a D700. If you are using it with a film camera, note that there is no aperture ring on the lens. This doesn't affect me because I use an F100.

The lens is not cheap, but my qualms about spending $2k+ are somewhat quashed after seeing the photos it can help me produce. Further, it's likely that a lens of this calibre will retain its value over the coming years so if you sell it after some time, you'll really only be out about 10-20% of the cost. Hence, the main issue potentially becomes one of cash flow..

I have owned and tried most of Nikon's fast (low aperture) gems (58mm f/1.2 Noct, 28mm f/1.4, AF 85mm f/1.4, 105 and 135mm f2 DC, 200mm F2 VR, etc), and this lens ranks among the best.
Great build quality, super sharp wide open at f/1.4, great bokeh (creamy background blur) and very low flare (especially when compared to my 14-24mm zoom). Less distortion and noticeably sharper than the older 28mm f/1.4.

This is THE lens to own for low-light / nighttime photography!

I have a d7k. I had an opportunity to buy this lens or a d700. I figured the d700 will soon be replaced and that this lens' price may go up in the future. I hesitated at first thinking that this would just seem like a waste on a dx body. Was I wrong!
This is my favorite lens! And mind you i have the siggy 30 and 50 1.4 as well as the nikon 85 1.4d and 135 f2dc. This lens is amazing! It is so sharp wide open, has great bokeh, has great contrast so even on a dx it gives that 3d pop that people who lust after FX talk about. It has minimal distortion (i'm sure less noticeable because of the crop factor). My only issue is the focus speed seems slow, but that is minor issue really because it is very accurate and wide angles have more DOF anyway.

My only fear is that when i move up to FX, this lens will be too wide. If so, i'll just trade it for the 35g and maybe get some change along with the trade.

Do not hesitate to use this on dx.

Others have said it better, more eloquently and in more detail but I wanted to toss my two pennies in. Phenomenal glass if you can justify the price tag. As a wedding photog I shoot a lot at 24mm (wide shots of the ceremony and a lot during reception dancing) and I really wanted the shallow DOF for subject isolation. Autofocus speed won't win any sprints but is plenty adequate. Stupid sharp from corner to corner, even at f/1.4. Love it!

I've owned this lens for over a year now, and I'm still positively surprised every time I look at 1:1 magnification of a shot taken with it - the sharpness of this gem is breathtaking. But the sharpness is only the beginning. The OOF characteristics (bokeh) as well as flare control and contrast - even wide open it's blowing most other lenses I've used out of the water. In fact, as a photographer I feel humbled by my equipment and spurred on to learn how to better utilise its power - a feeling no other lens I've owned has given me since I started learning photography.

I use it on my D700 and while it's true it's sometimes difficult to achieve focus lock in really low lighting (I've set the camera to only take a picture once it has AF lock - it's in the custom menu) it most often helps just to move AF area to the centre sensor, lock and recompose the image. While using the centre AF sensor I rarely if ever have any AF troubles. I have not bothered to put in any AF fine-tune since my copy of the lens seems to be spot-on without it, even at f/1.4. Using this lens wide open - as have been mentioned before - is opening up a completely new world of creative opportunities for the photographer. It's about rediscovering the joy of photography once again!
Having said that it often pays off to stop it down to f/2.8 or something similar when taking close-ish portraits since if the eyelashes are in focus the eye itself isn't at f/1.4 which kind of looks ridiculous - and background separation is still phenomenal at f/2.8. In fact, this lens although a wide-angle feels like a telephoto in terms of background separation. Since the main object is so insanely sharp, even ever so slightly OOF elements look quite blurry by comparison. (Example: I took a group portrait at f/4 from several metres away and while the first line of people is so sharp you can tell what fillings they have in their teeth, the second line looks so blurred even at low magnification that it's quite unusable for anything but illustration purposes.) You'd better double check where you focus because if it isn't on the main object you may end up disappointed, even stopped down.

The combination of having a fixed focal length lens and the extreme sharpness means you will have to work harder at your technique (both framing the shot and putting the focus in the right place) - but you will discover many new things along the way. This lens is not for casual holiday snaps - it's for rediscovering the world around you and seeing it in a new, exciting way. It's hands down the most exciting piece of photographic equipment I've ever bought. Whether you need it or just want it, consider yourself forewarned. This lens will rock your world. If you can use it...

I sold my 24-70 and 16-35 to get this lens and I can honestly say, it's worth it. It's sharp at 1.4. Stop down to 4.0 and it's super sharp. This lens along with the d700 can see in the dark. Simply amazing! Buy it if you have the money, you will not regret it.

Kudos to Amazon as well, my package arrived on time and it's well packed.

I nearly had an anxiety attack after I pressed the "Place your order" button knowing that a couple of thousand dollars was soon going to disappear from my checking account. But when I attached this thing to my D700 and took my first few shots with it I was absolutely blown away by the image quality. They say a picture is worth a thousand words but not even that will do the pictures this lens produces any justice. I am a semi-professional photographer; I primarily do equine photography and weddings. My other lens is the 70-200 f/2.8 VR and I thought nothing could ever beat that lens. This lens is so sharp at 1.4 you need to see it to believe it. I would say this lens @ 1.4 is as sharp as the 70-200 stopped down to 3.5. I actually used this lens for a wedding recently (along with my 70-200) and the images were so sharp and crisp they actually showed too many details on the subjects' faces - to the point where you could too easily see too many imperfections. I was able to use this lens at the reception with no flash at all and get incredible pics. A few important things to keep in mind: Supposedly there are some faulty lenses out there that have focusing issues. The first one I ordered was faulty (so I think anyway) but the 2nd was perfect. There is a definite learning curve to this lens because when I first got it I was having a hard time getting ultra sharp pics in low light situations, but now I can do it nearly every time. With this thing on the D700 I have found that in low light situations (where you'd have a high ISO and wide open aperture) it does seem to struggle a bit getting a perfect focus. I have been able to almost eliminate blurry pics by keeping the focus target on my subject and "pumping" the shutter release button 2-3 times to make sure it really locks on to what you want. Also you need to know how your AF system works, ie which focus points employ cross type vs horizontal type contrast detection. The other thing to remember is that 1.4 is a razor thin depth of field and if you don't have good focus technique your subjects will appear out of focus not by any fault of the lens. Also for such a high-end piece of equipment I would definitely calibrate it. Mine required a +5 AF fine tune value. This lens is definitely a serious piece of glass, but it's my favorite lens now and never comes off my camera. Like one of the other reviewers here, mine also stays at 1.4 nearly 100% of the time. If you have the $$ and are thinking about buying this lens, DO IT. Believe me, you will not regret it.

This lens is an example of why I went Nikon. There are issues which could be said to detract from the outstanding performance of this lens, but let's all remember that this lens is fantastically sharp, wide open, and keep that in mind. My biggest complaint is the autofocus speed. Whereas the older af-d mechanical drive systems depended on the body for their af speed, af-s lenses are all the same speed with all bodies. It's faster than the 50 f/1.4G, which is quite slow, but this won't win any races. It's tended to be very accurate, just slow. I've gotten some out of focus shots, but I'm pretty sure I just clicked before the af system was locked in in very low light.

That said, this is a fantastic lens.

To me this lens opens up a lot of potentials. Not to repeat many Pros that others have commented (great low light, sharp wide open, nice background separation, etc.), this lens demands some learning curves from me. The focus is tailored more for precision than speed and seems to be fast enough in actual usage. I have learned to be steady on the focus before pressing down the shutter. The focus on F100 camera works fine so far. For some shots when the subject was running toward me (left no time for checking the focus), I was surprised that the focus was pretty snappy and dead on. Besides, to get a nice portrait with creamy blur it would require the camera / lens to be pretty close to the subject, which can be a bit of challenge for some. Anyway, this is one great prime and has become another go-to lens besides the 105 DC.