Pekka Buttler, 09/2022
Specifications
The table below summarizes the lens’ key specifications:
| Brand: | Nikkor | Lens name | 24 mm 1:2.8 |
| Focal length 1 | 24 mm | Angle-of-view 2 | 84° |
| Maximum Aperture | f/2.8 | In Production | 1981–2020 |
| Lens mount | Nikon F | Subfamily (if applicable) | Ai-s |
| Length 3 | 46,1 mm | Diameter 4 | 63,1 mm |
| Filter ring diameter | 52 mm | Weight | 270 grams |
| Lens element count | 9 | Lens group count | 9 |
| Aperture blades (S/R/C) 5 | 7 S | Focus throw | 80 ° |
| Minimum focusing distance | 30 cms | Maximum magnification | 1:8,8 |
| Has manual aperture ring | YES | Has Manual focus ring | YES |
| Aperture mechanism type | Automatic | Aperture click stops 6 | 2.8-4-5.6-8-11-16-22 |
Further notes:
• This lens is a ‘Nikon Classic’. It stayed in production for almost 40 years (throughout the AF years), and was discontinued only in 2020. During that time it was produced in decent numbers (≈170 000 copies), which is a lot once one considers that (unlike many early AF lenses) the AF-replacement used the same optical design (and not one that was inferior compared to the state-of-the-art Ai-s Nikkors).
• This lens features Nikon’s Close Range Correction (CRC) system for optimizing close-up IQ.
• The dedicated Nikon lens hood for this lens is the HN-1 steel lens hood.
A brief genealogy of Nikon SLR lens types
Nikon is undoubtedly one of the great names in 35 mm SLR photography. The Nikon F mount has been in continuous production since 1959. During that time, the mount has developed/changed in some detail, however without ever fully sacrificing compatibility.
In short (a longer version is here), the development of Nikon’s SLR lenses can be traced as follows:
• 1959–1977: Pre-Ai. Manual focus lenses that use ‘rabbit ears’ to communicate selected aperture with the camera body. Pre-Ai lenses can further be subdivided into
• F-type (1959–early 1970s: metal focus ring and single-coated),
• C-type (early 1970s–mid 1970s: metal focus ring and multicoated), and
• K-type (mid 1970s to 1977: rubber focus ring and multicoated).
A significant share of remaining Pre-Ai lenses have since been converted to Ai-spec (Ai’d)
• 1977–1986: Ai and Ai-s. Manual focus lenses that may have ‘rabbit ears’ for backward compatibility, but are designed to communicate selected aperture with the camera body through indentations in base of aperture control ring.
• 1986–today: AF and AF-D. Autofocus lenses that do not have a focusing motor within the lens, but rely on the focus motor within the camera. All AF and AF-D lenses are simultaneously Ai-s lenses (they are Ai-s lenses extended with AF) 7
• 1996–today AF-S and AF-P. Autofocus lenses that have an internal focusing motor and do not rely on the body having a focusing motor.
For Nikon the 24 mm f/2.8 is a classic lens, and Nikon has a strong reputation in this category of ultrawides. Since the introduction of the original 24/2.8 (this lens), Nikon has produced altogether 8 variants divided into two somewhat different designs:
• 1967–1972 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 7 groups) (F-type) [data sheet]
• 1972–1975 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 7 groups) (C-type)
• 1975–1977 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 7 groups) (K-type)
• 1977–1981 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 9 groups) (Ai)
• 1981–2020 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 9 groups) (Ai-s) (this lens)
• 1986–1991 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 9 groups) (AF)
• 1991–1993 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 9 groups) (new AF)
• 1993–2020 24 mm f/2.8 (9 elements in 9 groups) (AF-D) [data sheet]
Adapting
Besides adapting, this lens can be used natively on all current high-end Nikon dSLRs and several earlier medium-to-high-end older Nikon dSLRs 8. Likewise, if it still has its rabbit ears, it can be natively used on all Nikon F-mount film cameras ever produced (without the rabbit ears, it is limited to post 1977 bodies).
Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable dumb adapter (and such adapters are easy to find). Moreover, a large range of special adapters (helicoid adapters, tilt/shift adapters, speed boosters) for using Nikon F lenses on most mirrorless systems are available.
Using Nikon F lenses on non-Nikon SLRs and dSLRs is likewise a distinct possibility. Thanks to the relatively generous flange focal distance of the Nikon F mount (46,5 mm), adapter rings for all dSLR mounts are available as well as for a goodly portion of film-era SLR mounts. Such rings may not allow for auto aperture, but even then the lenses can be used in stop-down metering mode.
Footnotes
- Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
- Picture angle is given in degrees and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
> 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
< 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎ - Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at infinity. ↩︎
- Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
- S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
- Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎
- There is a further sub-class of AF-D lenses called AF-I lenses that are otherwise AF-D lenses (meaning, fully Ai-s compatible), but have an internal focus motor. Only long tele lenses were made in AF-I variants. ↩︎
- As of this writing, the following Nikon dSLRs fully support Aperture priority and manual metered modes on Nikkor Ai lenses: D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D200, D300, D300s, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D780, D800, D800E, D810, D850, D7000, D7100, D7200 ↩︎