Whats the sharpest Nikkor SLR MF Wide Angle?

In my limited Nikon experience so far (I'm primarily a Canon shooter) I have been more than pleased with my AI 24mm f/2.8. I find it to be plenty sharp and a great lens overall on both my FM2n and F3 bodies.
 
35 1.4

35 1.4

I'll vote for the 35mm f 1.4 AI or AIS (mine is AIS)
Good at 1.4, super good from 2.8 to 5.6.
Bonus: engraved, enamel filled numbers, smooth as silk focusing. Beautifully built.

Mine lives on a black, non-metered straight F, summers on a D700.
 
I like my Nikkor-O 35/2.0, and the 24/2.8. I have personally found that the sharpest lens is the one that's mounted on a camera that's mounted on o good tripod.
 
ferider said:
I have often wondered how good the relatively new 28/2.8 Color Skopar is compared to the 28/2.8 AIS or the ZF 25/2.8 ?

Anybody know ?
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I'm interested in the CV 28/2.8 as well. I haven't seen any reviews/tests of this lens on the web yet. Anyone using it?
 
Flat Twin said:
Below is the Ais 35mm f2.0, its sharp and really growing on me:-


Wells, Somerset. February 2013 by Flat Twin, on Flickr
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In my careful side-by-side tests on Kodachrome with a heavy, well-damped tripod (and, on the Nikon, mirror lock), the 35/2 AIS was very good from f/4, and every bit as good as the M 35 Summilux ASPH from f/5.6 on. At wider apertures the Summilux was (unsurprisingly) clearly better. I've used both lenses for 10-20 years. If you want a 35 you can't go wrong with that AIS lens, and it's not expensive given the quality.

Ken Rockwell says the 35/2 AIS has ghosting issues at night. I don't do a lot of night photography and did not notice that. For general use it's superb.

That said, I like the 28/2.8 AIS even better than the 35/2.
 
Easy to see how the Nikkor-N f1.4 became such a legend, but for me, your image from the 2.0 is just what I'm looking for. Glad to have that lens in my bag!
 
The sharpest Nikkor Ai / AiS wide, no question, is the 28/2.0. After that the two 35mm's discussed immediately above. I love my 20/3.5 as many here also love theirs but it's only sharp in the middle, which, on b/w film, I don't mind. Stopped down it's good, but then again stopped down most modern lenses are at least okay. Still that lens takes beautiful pictures.

As opposed to the 24/2.8. I suspect you initiated this inquiry because the 24/2.8 leaves you cold. I suspect this because I have had three of them, one AF-D and two Ai/AiS, and none of them impressed me. Sharp, not sharp, it's thoroughly lifeless and unexceptional in my experience. If you look at the three 35mm shots just above and particular the first and third you'll see two lenses with a great deal of distinguishing character.

I would also say that compared with Minolta in particular, Nikon's strength is not in its ultra-wide lenses. Those 35s are good, but not the best in that FL; only the 28mm f/2.0 is really competitive as the best 28mm among the major SLR mfrs, and the AIS 0.2 close focus 28/2.8 is only a little way behind it. Nikon's great strengths are in certain of its 50mm lenses and then from there up, often unbeatable. In the 85mm - 400mm range I can't think of a second-rate lens. Nikon offers astounding quality teles.

So finally I'd offer this: check out certain third party lenses, particularly the Zeiss 25mm. But if you're on a budget, the AIS 20/3.5 (unlike the Nikon 24mm lenses, 2.0 and 2.8 both) will never disappoint you: there is just something about the way that lens renders that is immensely pleasing.
 
I have a 28mm 2.8 AIS which is fairly soft at the edges on the D800, much worse than the 24-70mm 2.8G. I also have the 35mm f2 AIS which is better, but still soft in the far corners.
 
Vince,

Interesting what you say about the Nikkor 28's. I had the AiS f2.8 and sold it because I kind of got bored of it, not because it wasn't sharp. I also currently have an early Nikkor-N 28 mm f2.0 that I must use more as I have little experience of it.

I like your 20mm f3.5 shots also. That is a lens that I have heard great things about but never experienced. I must keep an eye out for one!

Simon
 
Am I the only one that likes the Ai 24mm? I've been really pleased with it. Maybe it's just because I don't have any other Nikon wides to compare it to lol.

I would hardly call it lifeless though, I think it's a fun lens.
 
x2.

The 20 & 24 2.8 AF-D I've used looked and performed similarly. They need to be stopped down to be adequate. (I kept the Minolta for their more appealing wides on film.)

The Zeiss are worth shooting digital, too, if you head that way.

- Charlie


sparrow6224 said:
The sharpest Nikkor Ai / AiS wide, no question, is the 28/2.0. After that the two 35mm's discussed immediately above. I love my 20/3.5 as many here also love theirs but it's only sharp in the middle, which, on b/w film, I don't mind. Stopped down it's good, but then again stopped down most modern lenses are at least okay. Still that lens takes beautiful pictures.

As opposed to the 24/2.8. I suspect you initiated this inquiry because the 24/2.8 leaves you cold. I suspect this because I have had three of them, one AF-D and two Ai/AiS, and none of them impressed me. Sharp, not sharp, it's thoroughly lifeless and unexceptional in my experience. If you look at the three 35mm shots just above and particular the first and third you'll see two lenses with a great deal of distinguishing character.

I would also say that compared with Minolta in particular, Nikon's strength is not in its ultra-wide lenses. Those 35s are good, but not the best in that FL; only the 28mm f/2.0 is really competitive as the best 28mm among the major SLR mfrs, and the AIS 0.2 close focus 28/2.8 is only a little way behind it. Nikon's great strengths are in certain of its 50mm lenses and then from there up, often unbeatable. In the 85mm - 400mm range I can't think of a second-rate lens. Nikon offers astounding quality teles.

So finally I'd offer this: check out certain third party lenses, particularly the Zeiss 25mm. But if you're on a budget, the AIS 20/3.5 (unlike the Nikon 24mm lenses, 2.0 and 2.8 both) will never disappoint you: there is just something about the way that lens renders that is immensely pleasing.
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I have two pre-ai manual focus wides, a 28mm f2 and a 35mm f1.4, both converted to Ai, one by me and one a factory conversion. The 35mm is a very nice lens, sharp wide open but with a characteristic glow to the image. The 28mm is surprisingly good as well but I have not compared it to a f2.8
 
Check out Bjørn Rørslett's comments. He raved about the 28 f2.0, and made comments similar to previous posters here about the 28 f2.8 AIS. It seems that the best Nikkor wides are in their zooms: 14-24 and 17-35.

I bought a 28 f2.0 and quite like it. I don't test, however, and don't even shoot enough, but look at Vince's comments (sparrow6224).

Vince, are you using the 20mm f3.5 UD, or AI/AIS? I've got a UD, and am not giving it up, even though I splurged crazily on a Zeiss ZF.2 21. I really feared I was acting irrationally, though I did give up a Nikkor 17-35 zoom for the Zeiss. Great zoom, but big enough that it was awkward to carry around with another lens. I also realized that almost all of my decent shots with the zoom were somewhere around 20mm. The front of the Zeiss is big, like the 17-35 zoom, but the waist is slender, so it goes in a bag. Even the shots I have so far, which I would have to be waterboarded to show anyone, demonstrate that the big bucks actually went for stuff I could see.

I'm hoping to travel a bit this summer, in a manner completely opposed to FrankS - put all of my photo gear in the car, then see if I can use everything before I get home.
 
I would humbly enter the Nikon 20 mm f/4.0 AIS...

It vignettes wide open... but its spectacular. My flickr is covered in examples.
 
N.delaRua said:
I would humbly enter the Nikon 20 mm f/4.0 AIS...
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That rare elusive lens... ;-) There never was a 20mm f/4 AI-S - the f/4 was introduced with the K type lenses, a year or two into AI (and some three before AI-S) they updated the design to f/3.5.

That said, all of the 20mm Nikkors are very sharp, at least if we ignore the edge performance.
 
Is this not an AIs? I always thought it was... Still an awesome lens.
 

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N.delaRua said:
Is this not an AIs?
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Nope, that is a AI lens, or more precisely and going by the serial, a factory AI-converted K. Nikon's catalogue aside, AI-S lenses have the smallest aperture marked in orange - and a couple of extra tabs to mechanically signal the FA that they can cope with its aperture control. IIRC the FA was the only camera ever to utilize AI-S, for two of its modes only, so it is a somewhat negligible feature.
 
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