AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8G ED

With the introduction of the FX sensor sized D3, Nikon produced a new wide angle zoom to go with this great camera. And what a match it is, the 14-24 is mind blowing. I still remember when I received the D3 and 14-24 and how much I was blown away when I first looked through the viewfinder.

Having a 14mm lens is great for landscape work but what is even better is that it is attached to a zoom that is sharp across its range it is just such a versatile lens. It is a very big heavy lens but the handling and build quality is superb. The all metal construction and stiff focus and zoom action really give confidence that this was a lens to be used (and abused?) And after being caught out in the recent rains we have had here I can tell you that the dust and moisture sealing works a treat.

The front element of the lens is huge and bulbous and permanently attached is a sculpted lens hood. This dose mean that the lens won’t accept any filtration but I am using filters less and less all the time now. The shade is maxed out at 14mm so you cannot use any extra shading to avoid flare but this lens dose as good as any fixed focal length at dealing with flare, this is due to Nikon’s new Nano Crystal Coating. You cannot even use a Grad ND with this baby but we can always take two exposures and blend them in PS for an even better result. (This has been my preferred method for a while now anyway.)

And as for sharpness, well this lens in combo with the D3 is surely breath taking. The resulting image files are superb at every focal length from the closest focusing setting of 20cm to infinity. The edge to edge sharpness really does have to be seen to be believed, especially with such and extreme wide angle lens. Distortion is handled superbly as well. Not normaly a problem when shooting landscapes I tested this lens shooting cityscapes with straight lines pushed right up to the edge of the frame and the lines remained straight throughout the focal length. No hint of pincushion or barrel distortion. You still get some crazy distortion of the image due to the extreme wide angle of the lens. This cannot be controlled when shooting with any wide angle close to the subject or pointed up or down. That is just perspective.