2020-05-01_N-Photo_the_Nikon_magazine

NIKON Z 24MM F/1.8 S

The manual focus/control ring is
comfortably large but, typically for an
electronically coupled ‘fly by wire’
mechanism, gives practically no mechanical
feedback. Even so, it operates smoothly and
enables very precise manual adjustments.

Performance
There’s little point in having a fast, wide-
aperture lens if sharpness and contrast
drop off horribly when shooting wide-open.
To its credit, the Nikon Z 24mm delivers
spectacular sharpness and contrast even at
f/1.8, right across the frame. It reaches
even dizzier heights of sharpness at
apertures of between f/2.8 and f/5.6,
returning to excellent values from f/8 to
f/11. Shooting wide-open at or near the
shortest focus distance, you can shrink the
depth of field sufficiently to make close
foreground objects stand out against a
blurry background.

N-Photo verdict

Nikon’s brace of Z-mount 24-70mm zoom

lenses for its full-frame mirrorless cameras

perform so well, that you’d be forgiven for

wondering why there’s a need for a 24mm

prime as well. Naturally, any prime lens is good

if you like composing shots with your feet, and

totting up your count of Fitbit steps, but the

Z 24mm is also faster than its zoom siblings,

with an f/1.8 aperture rating. What’s more, it

delivers drop-dead gorgeous image quality

even when shooting wide-open. Couple that

with a delightfully sturdy-yet-light build and

you’re on to a winner with the Z 24mm f/1.8 S.

Features

Build &

handling

Performance

Value

5.0

Overall

Features

1 Just a single switch on the lens barrel, as

vibration reduction duties are left to in-

body stabilization

2 Extensive weather sealing ensures the Z

24mm f/1.8 S is ready for anything

3 The focus ring can be customized for even

more flexible shooting

4 Nano Crystal Coat is applied to minimize

ghosting and flare

5 The 24mm is supplied with a petal-

shaped, bayonet-fit hood and a soft pouch

6 Sharing the same 72mm filter thread as

the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S zoom, the

24mm is also a similar size and weight

With a little help from automatic corrections,

there’s virtually no distortion to speak of,

with just the merest hint of pincushion.

Sharpness

Fringing

Distortion 0.14

The lens manages to bring out the

subtlest of details even in very dull

ambient lighting, aided by Nikon’s

in-camera Active D-Lighting.

There’s practically zero colour

fringing, even in the extreme

corners of the frame.

Centre-frame sharpness is excellent

from wide open right through to f/11.

Many wide lenses struggle to produce

high edge sharpness scores when shooting

our close-range sharpness test chart, but

edge-sharpness remains excellent in real-

world shooting at more typical distances.

Lateral chromatic aberration is entirely

negligible, even in the extreme edges and

corners of the image frame.