Nikkor 24mm f/2.8 AIS Manual Focus Wide
Angle Lens. Mint. Tested. See Test Images.
This is a pristine
and mint example of one of Nikon's high quality lenses from the 1970's and
1980's Nikon didn't make anything except high quality pro lenses. This one,
lens number 795919, was number 95,852 in a total manufacturing run of around
157,144 units of the last and best AIS version of the Nikkor 24mm lens made by
Nikon Japan between August 1981 and 2005. We can, therefore, we can be pretty
confident that this lens was made just over half of the way through the
production run around November 1995; relatively young for an AIS lens.
See hi res
images taken with this lens here on Youtube.
Key features
It has
fantastic optical and mechanical performance (see the pictures attached and at
the Dropbox link further down) in a light, compact package. It weighs just
250g. This 24mm is extremely well made, having far better optical and
mechanical properties than the more modern AF lenses Nikon makes today.
See full
review of this lens on Ken Rockwell's lens review page.
Lens
compatibility
Use on
Digital Cameras
It works on
all digital cameras with varying ease.
On the D810,
D800, D800E, D750, D700, D610, D600,D500, D300s,D300, D200, D7200, D7100, D7000
series cameras, it can give full matrix metering and aperture-preferred auto
(A) and manual (M) modes, and encodes the shooting aperture and focal length in
the EXIF.
The lens
works on the lesser cameras like the D80, D70 and D40, but without any metering
- you'll have to use an external meter or guess using the LCD.
Use on Film
Cameras
The lens is
ideal for manual focus cameras like the FA, FE, FM and F2AS.
The F100 and
most film cameras offer centre-weighted metering with this lens, while the F4,
F6 and FA are unique among film cameras in offering matrix metering with it.
For further
reading on the subject, please visit Ken Rockwell's most instructive website on
the subject
Overall Lens
Condition: Mint
Mechanical /
Cosmetic: Mint
The lens is
in pristine condition. It is unmarked and looks like new. The focus ring action
is premium Nikon; buttery smooth with no play at all in the action. It also
feels like new. The focus throw on this lens is brilliant; Infinity to 1ft in
about 60 degrees of rotation. The painted lettering is bright, clear and
completely intact. The aperture ring is free moving and the iris blades are
nice and snappy. The iris is in perfect condition and free of oil. The bayonet
mount is also in as new condition.
Optical: Mint
Not a great
deal to say here. There is no detectable dust in the lens. The optics are
otherwise flawless. This lens produces punchy, colourful and contrasty images
straight out of the camera. The front and rear elements are pristine.
Image
quality
Image
quality is excellent. The Ken Rockwell review explains the characteristics of
this lens in some detail. The images attached attest to the quality he sees. I
took the images on a Sony A7R II 42.4MP Mirrorless camera. It also works
flawlessly on my Nikon D7200, but I wanted to show off the astounding
resolution the lens is capable of and also to show its full-frame capability.
The 100% crop (when viewed on your PC screen at about 10" across would be
equivalent to a full-size print of about 8 feet by 5 feet.
The Ebay
Upload Images
The pictures
on the Ebay site were shot in the St. Pauls area of Birmingham UK. Some of the
test images have been cropped at 100%.
The first
image is of the St. John's Ambulance building adjacent to Great Charles Street.
It was shot wide open at f/2.8. The next two images are 100% centre and corner crops
of the first. It's dead sharp in the middle and CA is nonexistent. It’s also
very good at the edge and into the corners. The next two images are of the same
scene, but this time they are centre and corner crops at f/5.6. The lens is
sharp across the whole frame from f/5.6 on and very good wide open. See video.
The next images of the parking meter and a building on the other side of Great
Charles Street were also shot wide open at f/2.8. They are again cropped at 100%.
Again, they are dead sharp and Chromatic Aberration is almost completely
absent. The final image of the parking sign and wall were shot at f/5.6. It
shows the super perspective that this lens generates.
The Youtube
Images
I've taken a
sequence of images of the St. Johns Ambulance building from f/2.8 all the
way to f/22. I've included some 100% centre and edge crops as well.
What is
instantly obvious is how good this lens is wide open. It's as contrasty and
sharp wide open as it is everywhere else. Chromatic Aberration is very well
controlled; none in the centre but a bit at the edges. There's a tiny bit of
vignetting wide open, but it's gone by f/4. By f/5.6, it's perfect. The level
of detail in these images is amazing. What's even more remarkable is the way it
stays dead sharp up to and including f/22. There's normally a bit of falloff in
sharpness due to internal lens reflection at very small apertures. Not much
with this lens.
I've also
included an f/2.8 sequence for your perusal as well as some other shots. The
lens has CRC (Close Range Correction) technology and it will close focus to
300mm.
What's in
the box?
Lens, Nikon
front and rear lens caps.