Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Home โ†’ Reviews โ†’ Cameras and Lenses โ†’ Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED Review

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED Review

By Nasim Mansurov 65 Comments
Last Updated On August 11, 2020

«»

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G vs Nikon 24mm f/1.4G

Here is how the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G compares to the professional-level Nikon 24mm f/1.4G:

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G MTF Performance

Nikon 24mm f/1.4G MTF Performance

As you can see, the 24mm f/1.8G starts out sharper than the 24mm f/1.4G at the same aperture of f/1.8, showing slightly better center and noticeably better mid-frame sharpness performance. Both lenses peak out at f/4-f/5.6, with the 24mm f/1.8G showing better overall sharpness in the center. Both lenses more or less even out at f/5.6, although the 24mm f/1.8G still produces sharper corners.

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G Image Sample (26)
NIKON D750 + 24mm f/1.8 @ 24mm, ISO 100, 6/10, f/11.0
Nikon 24mm f/1.8G Image Sample (20)
NIKON D750 + 24mm f/1.8 @ 24mm, ISO 200, 1/40, f/16.0

In short, the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G overall delivers better value when compared to its bigger brother, particularly when stopped down to f/5.6 and smaller apertures.

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G vs Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art

Let’s now take a look at how the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G compares to the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art:

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G MTF Performance

Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art MTF Performance

If you score a good copy of the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art, boy, it is a sharpness monster. As can be seen above, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art significantly out-resolves the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G at maximum aperture in the center, delivering stunning sharpness. However, it does have a rather serious drawback – it has a very noticeable field curvature, which seriously impacts everything outside the focused area.

As a result, the lens starts out with pretty weak corners at large apertures and requires the lens to be stopped down to around f/4 to start yielding sharp corners. By f/5.6, both lenses have similar sharpness in the center, with the 24mm f/1.8G doing better in the extreme corners. Another disadvantage of the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art, when compared to the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G, is its larger size and heavier construction. At 665 grams, it is even heavier than the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G!

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G Image Sample (29)
NIKON D750 + 24mm f/1.8 @ 24mm, ISO 100, 1/30, f/11.0

Note: It is important to point out that the two lens samples of the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art produced drastically different resolution numbers, which indicates potential issues with consistency and QA. The second lens sample had a decentered element and scored much lower than the above numbers.

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G vs Samyang 24mm f/1.4

The Samyang 24mm f/1.4 is the only manual focus lens in the group. Made by a South Korean optical company, the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 is the cheapest option among fast aperture 24mm primes. Let’s take a look at how it compares to the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G:

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G MTF Performance

Samyang 24mm f/1.4 MTF Performance

The two copies of the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 that I tested behaved somewhat similarly, showing rather poor wide-open performance. At f/1.8, the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G showed better overall performance in the center and the mid-frame, but the corners looked about the same as on the Samyang 24mm f/1.4. The Nikon 24mm f/1.8G showed better center-frame performance at all apertures, but once stopped down to f/5.6, both lenses were yielding pretty even sharpness all the way into the corners, which makes the Samyang 24mm f/1.4 another good value lens for architecture and landscape photography.

Nikon 24mm f/1.8G Image Sample (18)
NIKON D750 + 24mm f/1.8 @ 24mm, ISO 100, 1/60, f/8.0
Nikon 24mm f/1.8G Image Sample (14)
NIKON D750 + 24mm f/1.8 @ 24mm, ISO 100, 1/80, f/11.0

Table of Contents

  • Overview and Specifications
  • Optical Features
  • Lens Comparisons
  • Summary
  • More Image Samples
  • Reader Comments
«»
Looking for even more exclusive content?

On Photography Life, you already get world-class articles with no advertising every day for free. As a Member, you'll get even more:

Silver ($5/mo)
  • Exclusive articles
  • Monthly Q&A chat
  • Early lens test results
  • "Creative Landscape Photography" eBook
Gold ($12/mo)
  • All that, PLUS:
  • Online workshops
  • Monthly photo critiques
  • Vote on our next lens reviews
 
Click Here to Join Today
 
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 ยท Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment