Overview
Lately, Nikon has been busy releasing great and affordable fast prime lenses. First, it was the excellent Nikon 50mm f/1.8G, which turned out to be a better buy than its bigger brother, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4G. Then Nikon surprised us with the Nikon 85mm f/1.8G, which also turned out to be a phenomenal lens. And now we have the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, which despite a difference in focal length could be a great alternative to the very expensive, but superb Nikon 24mm f/1.4G.
The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens is a professional-grade lens for enthusiasts and professionals that need high quality optics of a fixed wide-angle lens with a large aperture of f/1.8 for low-light situations and shallow depth of field to isolate subjects from the background. The lens is designed for both FX and DX sensors (equivalent of 42mm on DX). Nikon has incorporated the latest technology and optical formulas to this lens, including AF-S silent-wave focus motor and Nano crystal coating. With its focal length of 28mm, the lens is not as wide as the 24mm f/1.4G, making it a little more suitable for general everyday photography.
In this review, I will provide a thorough analysis of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens, along with image samples and comparisons to the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G.
1) Lens Specifications
Main Features:
- Prime wide-angle perspective and fast f/1.8 aperture delivers great low-light performance.
- Nano Crystal Coat effectively reduces ghost and flare.
- 2 Aspherical Lens Elements virtually eliminate coma and other types of aberration.
- Rear Focus (RF) provides smooth and fast autofocus while eliminating front barrel rotation and lens length changes.
- Quiet focusing with built-in Silent Wave Motor (SWM).
- Two focus modes selectable – M/A and M
- Rounded 7-Blade Diaphragm renders natural appearance of out-of-focus image elements.
Technical Specifications:
- Mount Type: Nikon F-Bayonet
- Focal Length: 28mm
- Maximum Aperture: 1.8
- Minimum Aperture: 16
- Maximum Angle of View (DX-format): 53°
- Maximum Angle of View (FX-format): 75°
- Maximum Reproduction Ratio: 0.22x
- Lens (Elements): 11
- Lens (Groups): 9
- Compatible Format(s): FX, DX, FX in DX Crop Mode, 35mm Film
- Diaphragm Blades: 7
- Distance Information: Yes
- Nano Crystal Coat: Yes
- Aspherical (Elements): 2
- Super Integrated Coating: Yes
- Autofocus: Yes
- AF-S (Silent Wave Motor): Yes
- Minimum Focus Distance: 0.85ft.(0.25m)
- Rear Focusing: Yes
- Filter Size: 67mm
- Accepts Filter Type: Screw-on
- Dimensions: (Approx.) 2.9×3.2 in. (Diameter x Length), 73×80.5mm (Diameter x Length)
- Weight: (Approx.) 11.6 oz. (330g)
- Supplied Accessories: LC-67 Snap-on Front Lens Cap, HB-64 Bayonet Lens Hood, LF-4 Rear Lens Cap, CL-0915 Semi-soft Lens Case
2) Lens Handling and Build
Similar to the recently introduced Nikon prime lenses, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G has a solid build, with a plastic exterior and a metal mount. Weighing almost half of the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G, it is a relatively small and lightweight lens that is easy to carry and handle. Like its other f/1.8G counterparts, it also comes with a rubber gasket on the lens mount, which provides good sealing against dust making its way into the camera (the rubber gasket definitely helps not only in reducing sensor dust, but also in reducing the amount of dust that could potentially end up inside the lens). It has a much smaller and less round front element than the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G and a thinner barrel, making the lens less bulky in comparison. A smaller barrel also means a smaller filter thread – the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G takes 67mm filters. Thanks to the rear focus feature, the front of the lens never extends or rotates during focusing, which means that you can easily use polarizing filters without worrying about constant readjustment. The lens comes with the HB-64 bayonet lens hood, which sits tight and does not wobble once mounted. The M/A and M switch on the side of the lens allows autofocus with manual focus override and full manual focus operation. The latest Nikon DSLRs like Nikon D3200 immediately recognize the focus position and provide notifications on the information (“I” button) screen.
As expected, the lens balances well on Nikon DSLRs (I tested it on Nikon D3200, D700, D800E and D4), although it might feel a little too light for high-end heavy DSLRs like D4. The focus ring is very wide and smooth, making it easy for manual focus adjustment. On the flip side, it feels a little too loose and not damped enough when compared to other modern AF-S lenses. There is a little lag between when you turn the focus ring and when the focus actually moves, which is especially noticeable and annoying when trying to focus in live view mode.
Here is how the lens compares to the highly acclaimed Nikon 24mm f/1.4G:
3) Autofocus Performance and Accuracy
Similar to other f/1.8 lenses, the autofocus speed on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens is good. I would say comparable to the AF speed on the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G. Thanks to the Silent Wave Motor (SWM) technology, autofocus operation is also pretty quiet, much better compared to old and noisy screw-type AF-D lenses. I tested this lens in both daylight and low-light situations on multiple DX and FX cameras and autofocus was accurate at the maximum aperture of f/1.8 (make sure to fine tune your lens if needed). Be careful with this lens when stopping down, since the lens has quite a bit of focus shift (see Focus Shift and Field Curvature section below).
As with any other lens, keep in mind that shooting at very large apertures in low light situations can be challenging for the AF system of your camera. If you cannot consistently get accurate focus in daylight, your lens sample might have a front/back focusing issue.
4) Lens sharpness, contrast and color rendition
Something new that we will be doing going forward, starting from this review, is assess the performance of lenses using Imatest software. I had the pleasure of visiting Norman Koren, the founder of Imatest in Boulder, CO this week. After a lengthy conversation and product demo (I will be publishing his interview within the next few days), I purchased Imatest software with a very large test chart that is specifically designed for high resolution sensors like the one on the Nikon D800/D800E. Now we will be able to put some numbers to our tests, although we will still continue to provide 100% crops of images for reference. Measuring things like distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting will now be much easier, thanks to Imatest.
So how did the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G perform? Here are some sharpness numbers for your reference (move the mouse over each bar to see the values):
As you can see, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G starts out pretty sharp wide open, even in the corners. The corners improve significantly stopped down to f/4 and get very close to the center sharpness, although the mid-frame does look worse in comparison. This is due to the donut-shaped field curvature issue the lens exhibits – sharpness is good in the center, gets a little worse in the mid-frame and is good again in the corner.
Compare the above result to the excellent Nikon 24mm f/1.4G, which shows no signs of field curvature issues:
5) Focus Shift and Field Curvature
The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens was somewhat of a pain to test, because it has several optical problems. First, it has a focus shift issue. While focus shift is normal in fast aperture prime lenses, the bad news is that this lens has a combination of focus shift and field curvature. The donut-shaped field curvature is fairly evident at all wide apertures, all the way to f/8 (as evidenced by the above chart, which shows weaker mid-frame performance).
I have now tested three samples of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G (which is why this review took forever to complete) and all three showed the above optical issues, with slightly varying results.
What does this mean for field use? Since cameras acquire focus with lenses at their maximum aperture (in this case f/1.8), stopping down the lens to f/4-f/5.6 will put your focused subject slightly out of focus, moving the focus plane back – result of focus shift. In addition, the area that appears sharp in the center will not distribute evenly across the frame – result of field curvature. This is generally not a huge problem for landscape photography (most of these issues are gone by f/8-f/11), but could definitely be problematic for other uses.
Take a look at this sample image that shows focus shifting from the center to back when going from f/1.8 to f/2.8:
Keep in mind that focus shift actually gets worse at f/4 and f/5.6 when compared to f/1.8.
6) Bokeh
Despite the fact that the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is a wide-angle lens, the shallow depth of field at f/1.8 yields good looking bokeh. Although the quality of bokeh is not as great as in some Nikon portrait lenses, it is still quite good when compared to the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G:
Wide open, the bokeh on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G looks less busy than on the 24mm f/1.4G. The outer edges of background highlights seem to be smoother and less defined. Stopped down to f/2.8, both lenses look about the same. I like the rounded 7-blade diaphragm, which looks better than the straight 9-bladed diaphragm used on older Nikkor lenses.
Here are some image samples showing the bokeh rendering of the lens:
7) Vignetting
Most prime lenses heavily vignette when shot wide open and the same is true for the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, so no surprises here. The good news is that as you stop down to f/2.8, vignetting decreases significantly. At f/4.0 vignetting is decreased to about half a stop in the extreme corners. The bad news is that from there on it stays about the same, at about half a stop no matter how much you stop down. Take a look at lens vignetting at different apertures (the below numbers are computed as a mean value from all four corners of the frame):
And here is a a graph that shows the spread of light falloff across the image frame, when shot wide open at f/1.8:
Fortunately, these vignetting issues can be quickly corrected in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, so it is that big of an issue.
8) Ghosting and Flare
Thanks to Nano Coating and clever optical design, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G handles ghosting and flare as good (if not better) as the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G. Take a look at the below comparison samples:
One important thing to note here, is the sun star characteristic of both lenses here. The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G is known to produce busy-looking sun stars (thanks to the 9-blade diaphragm), while the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G has much less points in comparison, which in my opinion, looks better.
9) Distortion
As expected from a wide-angle lens, there is some visible barrel distortion on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G. Imatest measured 1.25% barrel distortion, which is better than the 1.48% barrel distortion exhibited by the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G. It is really nothing to worry about and the problem can be easily fixed in Lightroom using the Lens Correction sub-module (the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is already supported by the latest version of Lightroom). Here is a sample uncorrected image taken by the D3200 that shows slight distortion:
10) Chromatic Aberration
All chromatic aberration tests were performed using RAW images (CA correction turned off both in camera and in post-processing). The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G exhibits lateral chromatic aberration in the range of 1.75px wide open to 2.07px at f/8 in the extreme corners. Here are some results from Imatest:
I would not worry much about lateral chromatic aberration, as it can be fixed in Lightroom using the Lens Correction module.
When it comes to Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration (LoCA), the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G handles it really well. Take a look at the below LensAlign crop that shows a small amount of LoCA:
Stopping down the lens to f/2.8 and beyond completely gets rid of LoCA.
Let’s now move on to the good stuff – Sharpness tests and comparisons. Select the next page below.
Sharpness Test
Sharpness Test
Some technical junk:
- White Balance: Auto
- ISO: 100
- EXIF information is preserved in the images
- Lens was mounted on Nikon D800E FX Camera and Gitzo tripod
- Focusing was performed through Live-View Contrast Detect. After each successful focus acquisition, focus was switched to manual to prevent camera refocusing
- Mirror Lock-Up mode with Exposure Delay set to “On” and remote cable release to completely eliminate camera shake
- Long exposure NR: Off
- Image Format: RAW
- Lightroom settings: Default settings, no lens corrections or extra sharpening applied
- Lightroom export: sRGB JPEG Quality 80
- Testing was performed at f/1.8, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0, f/11.0 and f/16.0 apertures, but the last two are excluded from all comparisons due to diffraction
- Nothing was moved during testing
11) Sharpness Test – Nikon 28mm f/1.8G Center Frame
The center frame starts out a little soft wide open. Stopped down to f/2.0, sharpness does not significantly increase, but the amount of vignetting does decrease, as can be seen below:
At f/2.8, we see a sudden spike in sharpness in the center. Vignetting is reduced significantly at this level. Sharpness is increased further when the lens is stopped down to f/4.0:
Stopped down to f/5.6, the image is already very sharp and we do not see a dramatic improvement, although f/8.0 does seem like a sweet spot for this lens in the center.
Please note that all of the above shots have been compensated for focus shift (focus was reacquired on each image). Without focus shift adjustments, images at f/2.8, f/4.0 and f/5.6 are visibly softer and show signs of aberration.
12) Sharpness Test – Nikon 28mm Corner Frame
Let’s see how the lens behaves in the extreme corners. Aside from a high amount of vignetting and visible amounts of lateral chromatic aberrations, the corners seem to be a little soft wide open and at f/2.0, as seen below:
Stopped down to f/2.8 we see much less vignetting, but as sharpness slightly improves, chromatic aberrations are now even more visible. At f/4.0, however, we see a dramatic improvement in corner sharpness:
At f/5.6 and f/8.0, sharpness is improved, but not by a huge margin as evidenced in the below crops:
Let’s now see how the lens compares to the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G. Click the next page below.
Lens Comparisons
Compared to Nikon 24mm f/1.4G
The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G (see my Nikon 24mm f/1.4G Review) has been my reference lens for sharpness ever since it was released back in March of 2010. It has amazing clarity, colors and sharpness across the frame that no other Nikon lens can match. Although I have provided the test results from Imatest on the first page of this review, let’s take a look at how the actual crop samples look like in comparison.
13) Nikon 28mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 24mm f/1.4G Center Frame
Here are some image samples taken at various apertures from f/1.8 to f/8 (Left: Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, Right: Nikon 24mm f/1.4G):
At f/1.8, you can see how sharp the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G is in the center when compared to the 28mm f/1.8G. If we compare the wide open performance of both lenses, then the 24mm f/1.4G is only a bit sharper in comparison.
By f/2.0, there is a noticeable difference in sharpness between the two lenses.
The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G improves dramatically at f/2.8, but it is still not even close to the amazing crispness and clarity of the 24mm f/1.4G.
By f/4.0, we can see that the difference shrinks quite a bit and the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G starts to catch up.
And even more so at f/5.6.
By f/8.0, the sharpness difference between the two is fairly small.
14) Nikon 28mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 24mm f/1.4G Corner Frame
Now let’s see how both compare in the extreme corners (Left: Nikon 28mm f/1.8G, Right: Nikon 24mm f/1.4G):
Although the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G has more pronounced vignetting at f/1.8, it clearly has less lateral chromatic aberration in the extreme corners. As a result, the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G appears worse in comparison. I played with the Lens Corrections module in Lightroom and removed CA from both images, then compared the crops side by side. The Nikon 28mm f/1.8G still appears sharper. Let’s see what happens when both lenses are stopped down more.
Stopping down to f/2.0 does not help the 24mm f/1.4G as much – it still appears softer in comparison.
At f/2.8, however, the lenses change places. Although the 24mm f/1.4G still shows a rather significant amount of lateral CA, the overall sharpness of the corners is better on it. You can see this yourself by importing both images to Lightroom/Photoshop and removing CA. I must, however, acknowledge the fact that the 28mm f/1.8G has a much better control of chromatic aberrations in comparison.
The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G improves its corner sharpness even more at f/4 – now it is noticeably sharper, especially after CA is removed.
The Nikon 24mm f/1.4G suffers from CA at f/5.6 and f/8.0, but still offers slightly superior sharpness.
15) Nikon 28mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 24mm f/1.4G Summary
As you can see from the above crops, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is clearly inferior to the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G in the center and yet often matches or beats it in the corners. The lens starts out somewhat sharp in the center, then gets a little worse in the mid frame, then gets better again in the corners, thanks to a donut-shaped field curvature problem.
When looking at lens performance, one needs to be very careful on how sharpness data is assessed. Had I solely based my review on crops from the center and a single corner, I would have highly praised the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and said that it is almost as good as the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G at one third the price. It clearly isn’t.
16) Compared to Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR
Some of our readers have requested that I provide a comparison between the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and the Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR at 28mm, to see how close or far the performance would be. Here is a sharpness comparison between the two lenses, measured by Imatest:
As you can see from the above charts, the Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR does not even stand a chance at 28mm against the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G prime. That’s what the performance difference typically looks like when you compare zoom and prime lenses.
Summary and Image Samples
17) Summary
Many of us got pretty excited when Nikon announced the 28mm f/1.8G lens earlier this year (April of 2012). Not only because wide-angle fast aperture lenses have been long overdue for updates, but also because Nikon has been releasing excellent, yet affordable f/1.8 lenses lately, like the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G and Nikon 85mm f/1.8G (both have been highly praised by us and many other photographers).
At just $699, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G costs three times less than the excellent, but extremely expensive Nikon 24mm f/1.4G and offers overall relatively good performance. It handles distortion, longitudinal and lateral aberration, ghosting and flare extremely well and in some ways even better than its big brother, the 24mm f/1.4G. It produces beautiful images with excellent colors and despite its 7 blade diaphragm, it actually renders bokeh a little better than the 24mm f/1.4G at largest apertures.
During the extensive lab testing process, I discovered that the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G suffers from several optical problems. It has pronounced focus shift, as noted earlier in this review (clearly visible at f/4 and f/5.6 apertures). While there are some ways to get around the focus shift problem (by fine-tuning the lens to a specific aperture or by using live view for focusing), all those workarounds can be painful to deal with in the field. Focus shift is not a new optical problem – it has been there on many Nikkor lenses (in fact, I will be updating all lens reviews on our site with focus shift tests). However, what worsens the focus shift problem on the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is pronounced, dougnut-shaped field curvature that is clearly visible when photographing a flat surface. I tested three samples of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G and all three showed these optical problems. So at this point, I strongly believe it is an optical design issue with the 28mm f/1.8G, not a sample variance.
One important thing to note here, is that I performed all tests on the Nikon D800E DSLR (which I will be using for all lens reviews going forward). With a high-resolution 36.3 MP sensor, the Nikon D800E shows many lens flaws that might not be as evident on lower resolution DSLRs like the Nikon D4. While these optical issues can be clearly seen on the D800/D800E, they are not as noticeable on a lower-resolution camera. Before the Nikon D800, I used the Nikon D700 and D3s camera bodies to test all lenses. Things like focus shift and field curvature were not looked at with so much detail, as I have done in this review. I will soon be updating other lens reviews with more data from detailed tests and I will also use Imatest for lens performance analysis, similar to what I have done here. I am sure I will find some serious flaws in many popular Nikkor lenses.
So if you were thinking of getting the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G as a wide-angle lens for your D800, keep the above notes in mind. If your intent is to print large at maximum resolution and have good center to corner performance at large apertures, then the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G will clearly be a better, but expensive choice. For landscape photography (where you will be shooting primarily between f/5.6 and f/11) or if you will often be down-sampling your images to 10-12 MP, the 28mm f/1.8G could be a great addition to your bag. I shot most landscape photos you see in this review at f/8 and they turned out to be very sharp, center to corner (obviously, good technique and understanding of DoF is always important). I applied a little bit of sharpening in Lightroom and the images look superb. In addition, Lola and I used this lens in a couple of events and as you can see from some of the image samples in this review, the lens performed quite well in those environments as well. For DX cameras, with an equivalent focal length of 42mm, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G could be used as a great general-purpose lens, offering a wider field of view than the popular Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX lens.
Would I recommend this lens? Absolutely. Despite its optical flaws (which many other lenses have as well), the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G is a great addition to the f/1.8 family. Once you understand its limitations and learn how to work around them, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G could produce beautiful images.
18) Where to buy and availability
You can order your copy of the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G lens for $699 from B&H (in stock as of 07/25/2012).
19) More image samples
All Images Copyright © The Mansurovs, All Rights Reserved. Copying or reproduction is not permitted without written permission from the author.
About Nasim Mansurov
Many thanks for this careful in-depth review of the 28mm f1.8. I thought about getting that lens but cast away that idea now. Truly helpful.
However, I would still be interested in how that lens compares to the phenomenal 24-70mm f2.8 @ 28mm. I am, of course, aware that the former has a one stop advantage and the advantage of being a fixed lens compared to the latter. But nevertheless, a comparison might be quite interesting.
Christian, I have all the data to do a comparison, but I have not had a chance to post it yet. I compared it to the 24-70mm and the new 24-85mm lenses. A review will soon be up that will show performance differences.
Oh, great, Nasim! I am looking forward to that comparison! Thanks in advance.
Hi Nasim,
another great review. I agree, it’s very nice lens. Not as wide as 24 mm, so it’s very useful for enviromental portraits, also. I did couple of events using this 28 mm and 85 mm lens for over 90 % of shots. Didn’t miss anything else.
Using it on D700, focus shift isn’t so noticable, at least haven’t any problems wit this in field use. But, I didn’t do any extensive tests and I’m not a pixel peeper.
I completed my gear with Nikon 1.8 trinity and am more than satisfied with every one of them.
Uroš, all of the new f/1.8 lenses are excellent. Especially the 50mm f/1.8G and the 85mm f/1.8G. I am sending the 50mm f/1.4G for service and I already bought a 50mm f/1.8G that Lola and I will be using for our work. Love that lens!
Thanks for the great review again. I was wondering if you will be testing other already reviewed lenses with Imtest. It seems that the results looks very natural compared with some other review websites. It would be great for us readers to make decisions in buying new gear, knowing better what extra money is spent for. Thanks!
Scott, that’s the plan – I will be very busy updating the existing reviews, some of which are quite dated :)
An excellent review Nasim. I am impressed by the extra information that you have added to the test format that you use. I look forward to seeing how other lenses perform as you update the reviews. The d800 is also an interesting camera. It brings out aspects of lens performance which was not obvious with other cameras. The images look great with the 28mm 1.8. It is clearly good value for money.
How does it compare with the 16-35mm F4 at F4, 5.6 etc at the same focal length? I have a D800 and I am looking for lens for both landscape and architectural photography.
Martin, in all honesty, I would snatch the 16-35mm f/4G in place of 28mm f/1.8G for landscape photography needs. The 16-35mm is an excellent performer on the D800 and the convenience of the zoom is unbeatable when photographing landscapes. Sometimes you want to go wider and sometimes you want to zoom in and quite often you might find yourself unable to move to accommodate a single focal length lens…
Thanks for the reply. I will take the advice. I have noticed claims in some tests that some Nikon zooms can have performance which is equal to prime lenses at comparable settings. Is that accurate in your experience?
Martin, very few Nikon zooms can truly achieve that…the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G is one of those.
However, guys, be aware of that the (superb) 14-24mm f/2.8 lens does not work with polarizing filters unless you use a special filter holder like the one of Lee. This is a major drawback for landscape work…
Entirely. Hence my interest in thr F4. I live by the coast, close to the start of “the great ocean road” one of the best scenic areas in Australia. The ability to use a polarizer is very high on my list.
I believe that 24-70mm also can be use as prime lens.
What a great area you live in, Martin. Must be a great pleasure to do photography work there… The Twelve Apostles are along that road, aren’t they?
I would love to read your comments comparing the 28mm Nikkor on a D4, to the Fuji 18mm on the X-PRO1. They have very similar specs, but of course the APS-C sensor means that f2 DOF is roughly the same as f2.8 on FF.
Never the less, as both are quality prime lenses with similar specs, I would be interested in a comparison.
Thanks,
Hi Nasim,
I currently have the Nikon 35mm 1.8G on a DX house and I feel that it’s slightly to long for my taste. How does this 28mm compare to the 35mm?
Very nice and quite well made lens with great performance overall, but for many of us already ‘covered’ in the wide-end with either 24 prime, 14-24 and/or 24-120 wide-zooms, totally unnecessary. Kind of a middle-of-the-road lens, neither wide nor ‘normal’ prime.
That said, I’m sure it will find it’s followers and become a great seller.
Thanks for the review, Nasim.
I must say I am a bit disappointed by this lens… I was expecting it to be almost as excellent as the 50mm and 85mm 1.8g. I guess it’s back to 16-35mm vs 14-24mm for me. Still undecided between the two. I would love the 14-24mm quality with the 16-35mm VR.
Hi Nasim,
Thank you very much for the excellent review. I was planning to buy this lens for my d7000 and use it at low light events (between F1.8-2.8). I figured the 42mm focal length on APS-C would be good, especially indoors. The optical problems you describe threw me off a bit. I usually set my camera focus system to continuous mode, with 21 focus points active around the given focus point. Do the problems you describe mean that I should avoid using off-center focus points? Would you still recommend this lens for this type of photography? Will I get too many out of focus shots?
Nasim,
Now this is what I always like from your blog. Clear, detailed, and supported with lots of test result, great review as usual.
Without taking into account the FX/DX factor, which one do you think will perform better, in terms of sharpness at wide open, the 35mm 1.8 or this 28mm 1.8 in crop sensor camera?
Thanks,
iqb
Hello Mister Mansurov
So which nikon lenses are the best for making wedding portrait pictures
Greeting
Thank you for this review of the 50mm f/1.8. I recently bought it and am very pleased. Thanks to your review, I’ll also buy the 85 f/1.8 because I’m slowly accumulating FX lenses for when I can afford the D800. Now I have the D7000. With the 50 1.8 I have a roughly 75mm DX lens and with the 85 1.8 I’ll have a roughly 105 DX lens.
I’m fairly new to your newsletter/blog, and would like you to know how much I appreciate it. In the past, I’ve gone to dpreview, but your site offers much more. Thank you!
Thanks for the great review; one thing I’d love to see is a consistent caption under /every/ picture that shows the aperture, iso, shutter speed, lens, camera, and whether post-processing was done.
That would be a huge help for beginners like myself. Often I’ll see a picture you’ve taken, and wonder what settings you used to get the subject isolation to look so good. Being able to reliably see the photos characteristics right below the picture would be awesome!
I have the same request.
Thanks for this great review Nasim!
One week ago i went on a wedding and i saw this lens with D700 in action!
Thank you Nasim for your very detailed review, even for my D700 this lense would rock, it’s good to know that for a D800/D800E you have to workaround some optical issues;
Great!
Thanks for efforts!
/Karl
This is much anticipated review for me. Thanks for adding additional useful information. I did not expect your conclusion – the optical flaws. Probably, this may not be an issue in the D700.
I am also very interested in the comparative performance with 24-70mm @ 28mm/f2.8. I can buy only one of them. Cost: 28mm is half the price of 24-70mm in England (we can never understand the pricing here).
Based on your earlier review on 50mm f/1.8g, I bought that lens. Lovely lens.
When we post, why do we have to take arithmetic lessons! LOL!
Hi Nasim,
Great review. For me your site is one of the most reliable sites, especially concerning Nikon gear.
As wide lens are discussed here, can you please, advise if 16-35/4 performs better than 14-24/2,8 on D800. I consider buying a wide zoom lens for D800.
10x.
One more thing, did your D800E receive left AF repair?
Nasim,
Your reviews are some of, if not the best out there. I really appreciate your multifaceted approach that includes real world use as well as the Imatest results. I do have a question regarding the Imatest results. Photozone has reviewed both the 24/1.4G & 28/1.8G (on a D3X) … while their results for the 24/1.4G seem to be in line with yours their results for the 28/1.8G seem to be markedly different. In fact their results show the 28/1.8G to be the equal of the 24/1.4G in most cases. I do realize that testing on the D800E (I just got mine … yippee!) should result in differences from the D3X but not that much IMHO. Is it possible that this is indicative of significant variances in the production runs??
Ed, to my knowledge, Photozone specifically focuses on one extreme corner of a frame when assessing corner performance. As I have already pointed out in this review, had I done the same, the Nikon 28mm f/1.8G would have scored as high in the corners (see the corner lens comparison page, where you can see the actual samples as proof). However, my testing was based on assessing all four corners of the frame, not just one, then providing a mean number, or average of these corners. In addition, I did not specifically focus in the extreme corners, so the corner data was definitely affected by the nasty case of curvature of the field. If you focus in the center and in the corners separately, then you are completely ignoring curvature and other optical problems…
Nasim,
I went back & checked Photozone’s web site …. they measure at all 4 corners as well see (http://www.photozone.de/lens-test-faq). As I am interested in buying the 28/1.8G for my D800E I am just trying to grasp how such a huge difference in the Imatest results could occur. As an example @ f/8 Photozone measures an MTF50 of Center 3712, DX corner 3471 & FX corner 3470 … you measure 2969, 2705, 1876 respectively. That is indeed a dramatic difference. Is it possible you got a bad lens?
Ed, here is what I found from the page you linked to: “If a lens suffers from field curvature and/or residual aberrations (see below) this is taken into account – in this case the corners are measured independently from the center using different reference images. Depending on the degree of these problems the error margin may increase though”.
I am still thinking about the correct way to measure border sharpness for a lens. How practical is it to measure corner sharpness separately from the center? What are the chances that you will be focusing your lens on its extreme corner with live view? Although I measure both (as evidenced by the comparison page of this review), I currently think it might be best to measure corner sharpness by focusing in the center, instead of separately focusing on the corners. By doing that, field curvature problems get accounted for and they will negatively impact lens performance numbers.
Which is a better lens, the one that has a very small amount of field curvature and its sharpness is spread more or less evenly across the frame but has slightly less overall resolution, or a lens that is very sharp in the center, but soft in the corners (and vice versa) due to field curvature? That’s a tough question to answer. If I give excellent numbers for a lens that suffers from heavy field curvature, would you be happy to find out that your images are soft in the corners when you are out shooting in the field?
As for numbers, don’t pay attention to numbers themselves – there are lots of variables that impact the Imatest numbers. Photozone uses a completely different chart for testing than I do. Their chart size is also probably smaller in physical size (I use a massive 74×42 test chart specifically designed for high resolution cameras like the D800) , so their numbers will be different. What I would pay attention to, is how the sharpness graphs are charted in terms of uniformity and comparison between center and corners. Another thing to add, is that I measure the mid-field area as well, while Photozone measures Center, border and extreme corner.
There is no “right” way to measure lens sharpness. Every method is flawed, to a degree.
I am not the only person who reported significant focus shift and field curvature issue with this lens, so I doubt that it is a sample issue. Also, keep in mind that I tested two 28mm lenses and both showed similar behavior.
Nasim, Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this. It is now much clearer to me that there are way to many variables involved to draw any conclusions from comparing tests from different sources. Again thank you for all the hard work that you do for all of us that read & enjoy your site.
Forgot to say … that black & white portrait of the five men – that’s brilliant, one of the best I’ve seen.
Yes,indeed! Truely impressive,yet peaceful.I think it might be “laying hands” as a blessing in some churches.
Hi Nasim,
Thanks for you test and review. I purchased this 28mm this evening and the lens seems quite sharp. I cannot afford the 24mm for now, I have a D800E. But I always shoot in Live view mode with a Zacuto Z-Finder Pro 3X. Does that mean that shooting in live view mode get rid of the focus shift thing ? Or do I have to shoot in LV mode and in manual mode as well as I do with my Samyang 35mm and my Voigtländer lens ?
Thank you
Michel
Michel, if you use Live view to focus your 28mm lens, then focus shift is not going to be a problem.
Nasim,
Thanks for this nice review. I have experienced field curvature with my AFS 35mm 1.4 on a D800 when shooting at subject at 60m and at f4. The field curvature of this lens is huge and you really have to be careful with that.
Concerning Imatest, let me give you my 2 cents. I still have limited knowledge on lens testing and sharpness but my experience so far is that sharpness depends upon:
- Position in the frame
- Aperture
which are obvious to anybody. But the following parameters seems to be very important:
- Subject distance (On that matter, the is a very interesting article on lensrentals blog where they get totally different results with the 105 VR macro lens depending if they shoot at macro distance or at 50 times the focal length)
- Field of curvature (Do you focus in the corner when you test corner sharpness ? For instance, photozone.de does that, but I have no idea on what other people do, and I have no opinion on what is the “best” thing to do.)
So, if you want to do “scientific” testing, it is going to be a pain. Even DxO it not completly clear when it comes to field curvature.
All these things can drive you crazy when you test a lens “as a scientist”. I’ve been coming and enjoying your website because there was no such thing as Imatest, and DxO numbers, but real opinions by someone taking real pictures. Therefore, I really would be glad if you continue that way and refrain to use these tools that (I think), drive you away from photography.
I really enjoy your website, and I wish you the best for it.
François
François, looks like field curvature is a common problem in many lenses out there. In some lenses is is not as bad, while others show a very pronounced effect of field curvature.
I am aware of potential problems with using Imatest or any other similar testing methodologies that rely on using a test chart at a certain distance. Some lenses do not show optical problems until focused at infinity, while others are perfect at infinity and yet are really bad at close distances. However, it is often not practical to assess lens performance with so many different criterion, which is why most testers resort to a controlled lab environment. Testing at infinity can be often problematic (typically must be done in outdoor environments, where ambient light is impossible to control), especially when doing lens comparisons. There is no perfect testing methodology. I can tell you that there could be a huge variance in test data between reviewers, simply because there is no consistent and right way to test optical performance. Reviewers pick what works for them and what’s practical. If I only look at two parts of an image frame when assessing a lens (let’s say center and top left corner), I am clearly not telling you the whole picture. A more appropriate test would be to look at the center, 4 mid-field points and all four corners. But if I start spending time doing that and showing you all those, it would take me forever to complete a review. Worst of all, inconsistent results in some areas could lead to wrong conclusions, etc.
How useful is my corner performance data, if only use one corner for comparison and I use live view to focus on it? How often are you going to shoot an image by focusing on an extreme corner using live view? There are so many potential flaws with all these testing methodologies…it gets pretty crazy.
That’s why the very first thing I do when I pick up a lens is shoot with it. I will use it for my personal photography, use it for commercial jobs and only look at its performance characteristics at the very end. Sometimes these lens tests are completely meaningless and any lens reviewer will probably admit that. Some lenses can show excellent field performance and really suck in the lab. Others will rock all the test charts and be bad in the field. And then there is production and sample variance on top of that.
How does one properly test lenses? That’s a million dollar question that you will never find a good answer to. I am planning to continue to use lenses for my photography and talk about real world experience. However, people do ask for performance characteristics of a lens and it is often too difficult to properly compare lenses without doing these lab tests. Imatest has gotten better and provides plenty of tools for more or less a balanced approach to testing lenses in a lab. I like the idea of looking at the entire picture to assess lens performance, rather than looking at a specific point. As I have already said, had I only looked at the center and one extreme corner, I would have said that both the 28mm f/1.8G and the 24mm f/1.4G have very similar optical performance, which they obviously do not. You can see for yourself that the corners on the 28mm f/1.8G do look excellent when they are in focus. If it was not for Imatest, I might have never looked at the mid-frame, which suffers quite a bit in comparison to the center or the corners (field curvature). That’s why going forward, my testing methodology will be to look at mean data that is gathered from multiple points of an image frame. For example, corner data will not be presented only for one corner alone, but rather as a mean number derived from all four corners, which I believe is a more meaningful and accurate way to show lens performance (at least in the lab).
There is so much to talk about in terms of lens testing…it is a can of worms in a way.
Good review, Nasim. Thank you.
Sometimes my head spins looking at test reports of lenses. Different methods sometimes result in widely varying in numbers. But your review identifies important areas of concern, especially focus shift and field curvature, that are very important in real world critical use of a lens. You are making intelligent use of the Imatest findings, plus giving us the benefit of your own practical experience with it. I look forward to your updates of previous reviews and future reviews.
So the lens focusses sharp either in the center or in the corners. When reading your next article “Anatomy Of A Nikon D800 Repair” one could get the idea that there is a some relation. Of course I know that you have checked this before, but these focus issues in the top range of Nikon are kind of weird.
Thomas, the Nikon D800 problem is different than this. That one is a camera asymmetric focus issue, while this one is a lens optical design issue…
Thank you Nasim, I got it. I just had the idea that both issues could neutralize on Bob’s sample ;-)
Not seriously speaking, of course.
Thomas, I see, LOL! It would be nice, wouldn’t it? :)
Thank you Nasim !
Do you mean Live view and manual focus ? Or Live View with auto focus ?
Michel, either one should work well.
Nasim, Could you please share your thoughts on the Nikon 24mm f/2.8D lens. That seems to be a very cheap alternative for someone needing a wide angle prime. Clearly it doesn’t have the light gathering abilities of the f1.8 but does it perform well. Thanks!
I second Anand, it is so much smaller, there is always room for it in the bag. Obviously the 28mm 1.8G does not look like a “trouvaille” compared to the 50G and 85G 1.8.
thanks !!!
p.s Is-it true that all these lenses manufactured in China are made of cheaper materials (solder & electronics) that will degrade over the years compared to the “D” metal ones like the 24mm made in Japan ?
Dear Nassim, I am a french photographer from the south of France. To get my new nikon line-up complete, I was on to purchase the 28mmG…When, I red your review ( as I usually do since long )
I was on 28mm AI-S before. My request concerns 1- The sharpness 2- the focus shift issue.
On this link :http://www.photozone.de/nikon1/749-afs2818gv1?start=1
1-You will get the test report from the well regarded german site Photozone. The sharpness test are slightly different from yours. The french magazine ” Le monde de la photo ” ( the world of photography ) published as well the dXo optics tests for this lens and the sharpness report is as well different.( better sharpness in both cases )
2- Please read the photo zone conclusion about the focus shift issue ( they say they have heard about it, but their sample wasn’t concerned) .
The Word of photography stated that they had difficulties to focus correctly when the focus points were on the edges of the frame and that this could concern the first batch shipped in our country.
Therefore, before getting to my favorite dealer, I would like you to draw a second opinion and, maybe ( if holidays & family don’t take too much of your time ) to test another sample.
Thank you for sharing your expertise, once again, and please continue to feed the photographers the way you do.
Very best regards. Jacques
Hi Nasim,
Quick question, I really like the wedding photos that you add to your blogs and reviews (are they yours or your wife’s?). DO you use on camera flash for these photos? Or are they just good use of available light?
Many thanks for you reviews, although I cant afford any new lenses its good to get a feel for what’s an offer while I save up!
Mark
Very thorough and honest test, but I think you gave it too high score with this focus shift -problems – I ordered it as one of the first, and I really wanted to love this lens , but those
problems with focus shift I also found – no thank you.
Hi Nasim
Great Article.
I would like to kindly ask you, if you could add the same summary box (with the yellow stars for “optical performance”, “build quality”, …. ) in your review of the “Nikkor 24mm f1.4G”.
When both reviews feature this summary box, its much easier to quickly compare the two lenses. Therefore its enhances bozth reviews useability. That would just be great!
http://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-24mm-f1-4g
Hi Nasim
I guess you did test this lens with a full format camera.
1) Will the optical performance be much better on a DX camera?
2) Or to define it more precisely: When looking to your test chart “optical peformance (MTF 50)” with the orange, red and blue bars , would the following statement be okay and valid:
“When using this 28mm lens on a DX camera all blue bars (for corners) can be replaced with the red bars (for the middle)” ?
3) (In other words: the “middle” of the lens on a FX camera will be the “new corner” on a DX camera?)
Hi Nasim,
thx. for the good and helpful review. I think it must be a quite a good lense. For people who can’t spend
2-4 times more money for a lens like the “af-s 24mm/1.4″ or the “af d 28mm 1.4″ that cost between 2500-3500 USD it is the best choise I think. There is also no other alternative except somebody wants to buy the Samyang 24mm/1.4 lens.
The Nikon 28mm/1.8G will be the next lense I buy.
Thx.
All the best,
Istvan
Awesome review, been eyeing this new lens and the detailed review really help me make up my mind. Once I get the funds Ill purchase it to accompany my D800 :)
As a french people, I apologize for following mistakes in english. Thank you for that review about Nikkor 28mm f/1.8 G, about all the reviews I read, you are the best, both for design and content. Recently owner a D800, I enjoy with fixed lenses (I do best pictures than with zoom, because move my feet instead zoom-ring, it’s true for me, may be not for everybody), and with the D800 if you assigned the crop factor to the Fn button, you can easily and quickly have three lens in one, if you are ok for 25 MP with crop 1,2 and 15MP with crop 1,5, that decrease the worthwhile of zoom and let you enjoy with light weight/size lens and big apertures. I can’t make up my mind to buy that 28mm because optical problems (what practical consequence in the field ?) and hope a 35mm f:1.8 less expensive than the 1.4. Actually work with 180mm 2.8 and 85mm 1.8 G (so good !!), I need a 28 or 35 mm. :) :) :)
Claude
Réunion Island
Hi Nasim,
Have you compared this lens with Zeiss 28mm? I understand that this is much cheaper and also is an autofocus lens and Zeiss 28mm is a manual lens. What about the quality of images?
Dear Nasim,
Thank you for this review and for your excellent website. I’ve become a fan since (finally) switching over to digital from film a few months ago and to Nikon for the first time. I’m learning my way around a D700 and building a small selection of lenses, to which the 28mm/f1.8G would make a good addition.
One thing that has struck me is how much more technical information is avaiable on lenses compared to the film days and how much more conversant everyone seems to be with optical theory and practice. In light of that, could you help me understand something about the focus shift issue, which you explain in this review and the linked article? I understand that the focus shifts backwards as you stop down, but would have thought that the increased DOF would “cover” it, particularly as the old rule of thumb was 1/3rd DOF in front of the subject and 2/3rds behind. I realise that increased DOF is not the same as a crisp point of focus, but if the CoC is small enough would you see the difference? You mention that this is going to be more obvious on a high MP sensor than a lower one and I wonder if the CoC changes with digital or with higher resolution sensors?
Thanks
Chaz
Насим, мне интересно ваше мнение – как вы считаете, эта линза подойдёт на роль основной и наиболее часто используемой в наборе с d700?
Как показала жизнь – именно это фокусное расстояние мне очень хорошо подходит, исходя из моей манеры сьёмки. Не особо нуждаюсь в зуме, даже в поездках – еще начиная с хорошей мыльницы canon ps s80 я редко пользовался зумом, предпочитая подходить поближе. По этому стараюсь ловить бонусы от использования фиксов :)
В данном случае несколько смущают описанные вами оптические проблемы – насколько они будут критичны?
Живу на краю географии – возможности самостоятельно ознакомиться нет. Хотелось бы услышать мнение “бывалого” человека.
Спасибо
Андрей
Hi Nasim,
Thanks for the great review. Despite the optical problems mentioned, your sample photos all look excellent, and in the end I think that’s all that really matters. Within reason, I think that any good photographer can pick up just about any camera and capture compelling images with it, whereas a less experienced photographer using top notch gear might still end up taking poor photos.
I think I’ll be picking up this lens for my D800! Looks like a nice purchase.
Take care.
Finally bought that Nikkor 28mm 1.8G. First shots with D800 looks great, superb 42 mm 1.8 with x1,5 crop factor (15MP enough for most usual prints). Not notice any optical problem (but I am not a professional tester), a little too much vignetting above f 2.8 (normal thing), top-contrast and color rendering. Very good choice, not too much expensive for all-in-all shots if you prefer light weight/size fixed focal lens. Great duo with 85mm f 1.8 for everything.
Hi Nasim,
In this review, on sharpness test tab, point non 12 says “12) Sharpness Test – Nikon 24mm Corner Frame
“. I think its a typo. It should be Nikon 28mm.
Prajakt
Thanks for pointing this out – I fixed it!
Hi Nasim,
How does the 28 f1.8 lens compare to the Nikkor 28 mm f2.8 AIS manual lens? I’m concerned about the focus shift of the new 28 f1.8, which the older f2.8 manual lens doesn’t have. Thanks!
superb review – are those sample pictures at the end your own? coz you probably take the best sample pictures in a review that i’ve ever seen :D haha. i was however disappointed to read about the optical flaws in the conclusion. i am planning on getting a D600 and thought of this as a good affordable wide-angle solution. now im having a few doubts
Dear Nasim,
I am still debating on a wide angle lens. I just got a D800e and am aware that this camera requires high quality lenses. I want to use the lens for landscapes. I have read a lot of your reviews on wide angle lenses, the last one about the 28mm 1.8G .
I don’t want to make any compromises on quality but am still concernde about the price vs value of a lens.
24 mm 1.4 G is probably still one of the best wide angle lenses but rather expensiv compared to this 28mm 1.8G. How does the 16 to 35 mm 4.0 compare in sharpness towards these two prime lenses? I am aware that zoom lenses are always weaker then prime. Would you still recommend the 28mm 1.8G regarding sharpness for landscape pictures if I am not willing to do any compromises regarding quality?
Thanks for your great reviews and lens tests.
I have tested (I am not to good at it) the 50mm 1.8G which got a very good review from you against the 105 Macro 2.0 . The 50 mm showed some rather poor results compared to the 105 Macro. Is that possible or did I do a major mistake (could send you the pictures)?
Thanks again for your great website
best Markus
Just bought this lens and received it today. After reading your review, very much looking forward to having a play with it tomorrow and using it at weddings this Friday and Saturday. It will be partnered with the Sigma 50 1.4 (better than the Nikon), the 85 1.8 and the 70-200 for good measure. I have a 16-35 in the bag somewhere for that occasional super wide!
Dear Nasim,
I want a wide angle for my D700 mostly for capturing my kids in dim lightening … I have the 50 1.8G but the problem with the 50 is when I use it wide open one of my kids will be in focus and the other will not be so that’s why I decided to get a wide angle because of its greater depth of field. So dear which would you recommend for my situation the 28 1.8G or the 24 1.4G and price doesn’t matter …
Would be grateful for your help …
Hassan …
Hi Nasim,
Did you compare the 24mm2.8d vs. nikon 28mm 1.8g using nikon d800e?
what would you recommend in terms of sharpness?
thank you
I just love this websight but I would like a response on the nikkor 28mm f/1.8g lens I like to use this lens on the D7000 I see u had issue with the it on the FX body now would it be worse on dx or use the fine tune to fix it and if u have use it on the D7000 what were your settings ? just wondering ?