24mm f/2.8 AF-D: My Favorite 35mm/FX Lens

Camera: Nikon D80      

Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G

Focal Length: 55mm

Shutter: 1/60

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Flash: SB-600

View my Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF-D.

Here it is, the 24mm f/2.8.  When I was shooting film I couldn't wait to get this lens.  You could buy it for a reasonable price used, I think I paid $250 for mine.  At the time it was the single most expensive piece of camera gear I had ever bought.  I'll admit it, I am a cheapskate and pretty much buy everything used.  I had a 28mm leans, and it just wasn't wide enough for my tastes.  This lens on 35mm/FX gets close, in fact when I shoot at car shows with this lens I typically have to wait for people to get out of my shot since they don't realize they are in it.

Camera: Nikon F4     

Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D

Focal Length: 24mm

Shutter: N/A

Aperture: N/A

ISO: 100 (Ilford Delta 100)

Flash: None

In the shot above, I am typically less than 2 feet from the car, sometimes only 1 foot.  People won't realize you are getting the whole car in, so you'll have to wait.  But, for shooting at car shows this lens is perfect.  All the cars are right on top of each other so to single one out you have to get close.  Also, living in Arizona, we do a lot of car shows in the very early morning or in the evening.  A short focal length and a loose aperture allows for some nice slow hand held shooting.  This lens does not have VR but the reasonable sized f/2.8 aperture and short focal length can let you do some fairly low light hand held shots.

Camera: Nikon D80      

Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G

Focal Length: 55mm

Shutter: 1/60

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Flash: SB-600

This lens is small light and perfect for carrying all day.  I would go on hikes with only this light little lens and a 100mm f/2.8 Series E lens and never want for anything else the entire trip.  I shot this tree on a hike in Colorado, and the low position I took for the shot combined with the short focal length allowed me to pull the tree out of the background so it dominates the focus.

Camera: Nikon F4     

Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D

Focal Length: 24mm

Shutter: N/A

Aperture: N/A

ISO: 100 (Ilford Delta 100)

Flash: None

It still works wonderfully on my D80, but it is equivalent to a 35mm on DX which honestly is a focal length I have never used much, so since my D80 is my go to camera nowadays, this little 24mm has seen a lot less use.  One other concern if you are going to use one, it will not auto-focus on the lower tier cameras like the D3200, D5200, and D40.

SPECS:

• Focal Length: 24mm
• Aperture: f/2.8 - f/22, 7 blades
• Close Focus: 12"
• Lens Type: AF-D
• Filter Size: 52mm
• Weight: 8.8oz (248g)

Here are some test images for comparison.  This is the overall image and is shot at the closest focus distance, so only about 9 inches or so from the target.

Camera: Nikon D80     

Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D

Focal Length: 24mm

Shutter: 4 seconds

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Flash: None

Quick inspection shows some barrel distortion.

The next image is the very center at full resolution.

Camera: Nikon D80     

Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D

Focal Length: 24mm

Shutter: 4 seconds

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Flash: None

To my eye this image looks very clean and sharp, but that is pretty much as expected.

And this final image is from the left corner at full resolution.

Camera: Nikon D80     

Lens: 24mm f/2.8 AF-D

Focal Length: 24mm

Shutter: 4 seconds

Aperture: f/8

ISO: 100

Flash: None

The corner shows just how good this lens is.  This image is very crisp and clean, and I cannot see anything here to complain about.  This just shows why this lens became my favorite, it looks great.

In the end, for me, I am still trying to find a use for this on DX.  For shooting FX it is my favorite lens and I use it 95% of the time on FX.  If you want to shoot close and in your face photos and you are using FX, get it and learn how to use it, and it will help you create masterpieces.  On DX it has for the time being been replaced by my VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G.

View my Gallery of photos taken with the Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AF-D.