Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Nikkor Ultra-Wide Angle Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras

by Nikon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.2 x 3.2 x 4.3 inches ; 1.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0013BEEUW
• Item model number: B0013BEEUW
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

The PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5 ED ultra-wide, Perspective Control (PC) lens features tilt, shift and rotation capability which is perfect for architectural and nature photography. The lens gives a wide shifting range of plus or minus 11.5mm, with a tilting range of plus or minus 8.5-degrees. In addition it has a revolving capability of plus or minus 90-degrees for versatile tilt/shift shooting effects. A rounded 7-blade diaphragm gives out-of-focus image elements a more natural appearance. Nikon utilizes 3 ED-(Extra-low Dispersion) glass elements and 3 aspherical elements to provide superior sharpness and color correction by effectively minimizing and eliminating coma, chromatic and other types of lens aberrations, even at the widest aperture. Nano Crystal Coat and Super Integrated Coating technology offers superior color performance and greater image clarity by substantially reducing ghosting and flare and virtually eliminating internal reflections across a wide range of wavelengths.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but I'm impressed., December 24, 2008

By 

Coronet Blue (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Nikkor Ultra-Wide Angle Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras (Electronics)

I previously reviewed this lens. I now have second one and it appears the first was either defective or they vary wildly. Lens #1 came from eBay, due to Nikon's "we're backordered, but don't buy gray" policy. Naturally I wanted a lens with US warranty but Nikon US had none. As usual, they were all over Hong Kong but not one in the USA. So I bought a USA one used/mint condition to get a lens that Nikon would service if necessary. Cosmetically, the lens was flawless but something was amiss so please disregard my previous review.

Lens #2 is quite good or great, depending on what you want it for. The photo I see most often is a field of flowers with the lens tilted. I don't have much interest in tilting a 24mm lens but from what I see, its great for this and image quality should be super.

For architecture, the shifting is a bit of a different story. In theory, its possible to shift this lens 11.5 mm when the camera is oriented vertically. In practice, you can do this if the top of your subject occupies only the top center of the frame. If you are a critical user and your subject fills the entire top of the frame you'll probably find the top corners disappointing. (As with the previous lens, f/13 seemed to be best when shifted although f/11 was very close).

The good news is that if you restrict your shift to about 8-8.5mm the corners clean up, the illumination falloff disappears and things are sharp everywhere. If this sounds bad, it really isn't because previous Nikon PC lenses have a similar limitation where you can physically shift them further than advisable. (When the camera is horizontal you can shift as much as you want).

Mechanically, the lens is sound. Its a little front heavy and movements have to be locked which irks me because this is all due to the tilting business which adds size, weight, cost and complexity. But Canon started this and its tit for tat.

If you have a use for one of these and take the time to test it out I think you'll be pleased. Its hands down better than the Canon 24 TS (version 1) and ridiculously better than the Nikon 28PC. I still have to see if it can beat the Olympus 24 shift but haven't gotten around to it yet.

By the way, with regard to the comments that this is a "very technical" lens that takes practice or tutorials to master, nothing could be further from the truth. You point it at the subject, tilt or shift as neeed, focus, lock the movements down, lock the mirror up and trip the shutter. If you want to make things complicated you can read about Scheimpflug but since you get both visual confirmation and auto exposure, its hard to see how you could make a mistake.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best 24mm tilt/shift lens yet, July 11, 2008

By 

Lloyd L. Chambers "http://diglloyd.com" (Portola Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Nikkor Ultra-Wide Angle Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras (Electronics)

Shift lenses are headed in the right direction, getting better and better. The Hartblei/Zeiss offerings out out of the reach of many (price) but Nikon's current offerings include the 24 f/3.5, a 45mm f/2.8 and an 85mm f/2.8. Canon has a similar line. Discontinued are Nikon's 28/4, 28/3.5 and 35/2.8 PC-Nikkors (no tilt). Schneider's 28mm PC-Super-Angulon remains available for Nikon or Canon users. All of the latter lenses are "covered" in28mm Shift Lenses on DX frame.

The Nikon 24 T/S is a very nice handling lens and built to similar standards as the several-year old 85 f/2.8D PC-Micro-Nikkor. However, it now offers electonic aperture control, a boon for usability, but a disappointment for those of us who like to shoot Nikon lenses also on Canon via an adapter.

The good news is that optical performance is very high. Having used the Canon 24/3.5L T/S and the Olympus 24/3.5 shift (but not owning either at the moment) I can only hazard the following experience-based opinion: the Nikon offering appears to be the best yet available in the 24mm tilt/shift realm. Congratulations Nikon! A future in-depth report will have to speak to the details of this fine lens, but stitched images certainly are one good use of this lens, like this 19 megapixel example below.


The bottom line for me is that when the budget cooperates, the Nikon 24 T/S is a lens I want to own. I expect that the 45mm and 85mm offerings will afford even better performance.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you need one, this is the one to get, July 19, 2011

By 

Busy Executive (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Nikon 24mm f/3.5D ED PC-E Nikkor Ultra-Wide Angle Lens for Nikon DSLR Cameras (Electronics)

This is my second tilt/shift lens from the current Nikon crop. I use the 85mm for macro and product photography, and it's been a terrific addition to my collection. When I wanted something more for nature and architecture, I decided to head to the other end of the scale and go with the 24mm, and I've been completely happy with it so far.

In terms of construction quality, the lens doesn't disappoint - it's smooth in operation and seems as rugged as anything in Nikon's pro line. Feels like it's built for the long haul, and I don't doubt that with proper care, most of these lenses will outlive their owners.

Ergonomically, it's also okay for a tilt/shift lens. I tend to leave it on the camera with the tilts locked at 0, and it makes a credible manual focus 24mm lens. Because of the great depth of field on short focal length lenses, the lack of autofocus is no big deal...if you put your camera on aperture-priority and set the lens to f/8 or so, you can just dial in the hyperfocal distance and do very little focusing indeed...at this combination, you get about 4 feet to infinity in acceptable sharpness. Of course, when you want to use the tilts, all that changes, and you find yourself making a purposeful set of adjustments to get just the shot you want.

On both DX and FX, the 24mm is sharp, contrasty and capable of great images. I'd say you loose a bit of the value on DX cameras though - to me, it's much more valuable on FX bodies, but to each his own.

I suppose I'd also agree with the other reviewer who suggested that you don't really need lots of special instruction on using this sort of lens - just get out and use it, and pretty quickly you'll find you get the knack. For example, I spent an hour with a local real-estate person, and she quickly saw the value in the shots she does for her listings. It's really more a question of how far you want to go to get a certain look...if you're willing to spend a bit of time mastering tilt/shift lenses, you can get some wonderful results pretty quickly.

Definitely recommended to those who have the need for perspective control in architecture or nature photography.