Lens testing - Comparing some lenses at 24mm

Lens Comparison - Various Nikkors at 24mm - page 28

Non-scientific, seat-of-the-pants comparison shots with several Nikon lenses at 24mm on a D300 and a D700.

The purpose of this comparsion was to see how different my options were for shooting at 24mm, on both DX and FX formats. I compared my 24F2.8 AF-D to several zooms I had available. The zooms were: 12-24 F4 (DX), 18-135 (DX), 18-200vr (DX), 14-24 F2.8 and 24-70 F2.8.

I set the zooms to about 24mm as indicated on the lens and took shots from wide open to F22. Except for the 24F2.8, I used a remote release. I just used autofocus to focus initially. (I forgot the 24F2.8 and had to go back to get it, and the tripod position is slightly different from the other shots.) All shots were taken in Neutral, auto WB, RAW and converted to 100% quality JPG using Capture NX2 ver. 2.3.0. DX crop mode was disabled on the D700. For more information, view the EXIF data. Thumbnails created with Photo Mechanic. Click on the thumbnails for original-size JPGs.

AF Zoom 12-24mm f/4G, * Aperture: F22 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/50, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F3.8 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1600, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F4 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1250, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200
AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F4.5 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1000, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F5 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1000, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F5.6 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/800, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200

AF Zoom 12-24mm f/4G, * Aperture: F22 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/50, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F3.8 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1600, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F4 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1250, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200
AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F4.5 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1000, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F5 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/1000, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200	AF VR Zoom 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED, * Aperture: F5.6 * NIKON D300, shutter speed 1/800, focal length 24mm, effective focal length on 35mm film 36mm ISO 200