The Nikon AF-S 12-24/4 delivers pictures with a dramatic wide-angle effect (18-36mm full-frame equivalent) on Nikon small-sensor digital SLR cameras such as the D40 and D300. The Nikon 12-24 is great for use in landscape photography, photojournalism and, to some extent, architecture. The short end of the zoom allows you to show a subject in context, even in tight quarters. This is the highest quality wide-angle zoom available for Nikon's small sensor cameras and impatient shoppers may want to stop reading and buy the lens at amazon.com, $899.
Images in this article were created with a Nikon D200, $1289 (review). All photos were recorded as RAW/NEF files and converted to JPEG using Adobe Camera Raw 3.7. Some photos have been edited, but the images link to large, straight-from-RAW conversions to show what comes straight out of the camera.
The Nikon 12-24/4 is small and lightweight with a plastic barrel. Like all G-type lenses, it lacks an aperture ring. Nikon does not make any claims about the lens being weather-resistant; subjectively, it feels fairly rugged.
The included plastic HB-23 bayonet lens hood reduces flare and attaches to the exterior of the lens, leaving the 77mm filter and lens cap threads free. The diaphragm consists of 7 rounded blades, which improves the appearance of out-of-focus elements, particularly highlights. The zoom ring, rather than the focusing ring, is the front-most ring on this lens. This may take a little getting used to.
The Nikon 12-24/4 weighs 1.07 lbs (485 grams). Lenses with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and coverage of the full 24x36mm frame weigh roughly twice as much. Restricting coverage to the DX format and sizing the lens for an f/4 maximum apertures makes the Nikon 12-24/4 ideal for travel photography.
This lens uses Nikon's Silent Wave Motor, comparable to Canon's USM system. It offers very fast, quiet autofocus. Using a D200 camera, focusing is instantaneous. The lens has a "M/A - M" switch, which allows autofocus with manual touch-up (M/A) or manual focus (M). The current focusing distance is shown through a small window. No depth of field markings are provided.
Using AF-S lenses on a modern autofocus body, there are only a few situations in which you would want to use manual focus, such as when dealing with reflections, tracking an animal through tall grass, taking pictures from aircraft or doing macrophotography. Most of the time I find single-area AF with this lens quick and reliable. Manual focus doesn't feel as nice as it does on older lenses from the film era.
The optical performance of the Nikon 12-24/4 lens is very good. You can use it wide open without problems, although there is a noticeable improvement in sharpness if you close the aperture one or two stops, e.g., to f/8. It has 11 elements in 7 groups; 2 of these elements are made of Extra-low Dispersion glass and 3 are aspherical elements.
Extreme wide-angle lenses are often prone to distortion as are zoom lenses. The Nikon 12-24 is no exception to these rules. At 12 mm, barrel distortion is significant. You can still use it for architectural photography, but budget some time using Photoshop to correct the images. In CS2, the Filter, Distort, Lens Correction command offers options to correct distortion (from barrel to pincushion), chromatic aberration ("purple fringing") and vignetting, as well as options to alter the perspective. Perspective correction is useful if you tilted the camera backwards to include an entire building. The straight vertical lines of the building are being projected onto the tilted-back surface of the sensor, which results in unwelcome convergence. In the old days, a photographer would fix this with a view camera or a "PC" lens that can shift up. Today, this can be repaired digitally.
The Nikon 12-24 is resistant to flare, which is good given that creating an effective lens shade is difficult at such short focal lengths. With the sun in the frame, you will see some unwanted artifacts; otherwise, flare is seldom noticeable.
The f/4 maximum aperture of the lens is a full stop slower than a typical f/2.8 professional zoom and two or three f-stops slower than the fastest wide-angle prime lenses. In the field, the slow maximum aperture did not prove to be a problem. The type of photography for which this lens is most suited rarely requires a large aperture to blur the background. In lower lighting conditions, the f/4 maximum aperture does result in a noticeably dim dim viewfinder. Autofocus performance suffers a bit in low light as well.
Overall, the lens performs best at its longer focal lenghts: better corner sharpness and less distortion. At the short end, you can see some chromatic aberration, particularly towards the edges of the frame.
FiltersThe regular, non-slim version of the B+W UV filter can be used on this lens without vignetting, even at the wide end of the zoom range. When using a polarizing filter, it is best to pick the slim version, as well as to remove any other filters before attaching the polarizer. The regular B+W Circular Polarizer shows minor vignetting at the widest zoom setting.
The Cokin P system can be used without vignetting from 18 mm onwards. At 14 mm and shorter, this system cannot be used on this lens. (I tested this without any other filters attached).
Using a polarizing filter on an extreme wide-angle lens may not yield very good results: the effect of the filter varies greatly across the frame.
This lens provides a perfect example of the limitations of flashes built into camera bodies. The lens hood casts a big shadow. Using the flash of a D200 camera, a shadow is clearly visible at all focal lengths. With the hood removed, the shadow is present only from 12-18mm. The best solution, however, is to use an external flash such as the Nikon SB-800, $315.
In most available light situations, you're better off with a tripod than a flash.
Don't want to spend nearly $1000 on a wide-angle zoom for your Nikon digital camera? Consider the Tokina AT-X 124 AF Pro DX 12-24mm f/4, $479 (review). Note that this lens does not have a built-in focusing motor, which means that it won't autofocus on D40 body.
Want an even wider lens and don't mind sacrificing speed? Look at the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM lens, $479.
Using an old film body or the full-frame Nikon D3, $4999 (review)? The appropriate lens is the Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S, $1500.
This is a highest quality wide-angle zoom lens for Nikon's small sensor digital SLR cameras, wonderful to use for landscape, travel and photojournalism.
This lens is available at amazon.com, $899.
| Focal Length | 12-24 mm |
| Maximum Aperture | f/4 |
| Picture Angle (Nikon digital SLR) | 99-61° |
| Lens Construction | 11 elements in 7 groups, consisting of 2 Extra-low Dispersion and 3 Aspherical elements |
| Minimum Shooting Distance | 11.8" (30 cm) |
| Maximum Reproduction Ratio | 1/8.3 |
| Minimum F Stop | 22 |
| Aperture Blades | 7 rounded blades |
| Filter Size | 77 mm |
| Dimensions (Diameter x Length) | 3.2" x 3.5" (8.1 x 8.9 cm) |
| Weight | 1.07 lbs (485 grams) |
This lens does not cast a large enough image circle to cover a 35mm film frame or the digital sensor on a full-frame SLR such as the Nikon D3.
A few more pictures from Berlin:
And some from the construction of a new office building:
Text and photos copyright ©2007 Patrick Hudepohl.
