Who loves ya, baby? I was supposed to be one of the first people in the world with the new Nikon 24mm f/1.4, but it came while I was on a work holiday in Jamaica. I’m still one of the first to sample its goodness, but instead of a sunny week in Jamaica, you get a rainy day in New York. Thanks to the people at Adorama for being so great, again and again.
I’m a nice guy, so to anyone who’s really curious about this new lens, I’m including some RAW samples. These are D3s RAW files, so make sure your RAW converter is updated so it can open them.
Initial impressions (full review after this weekend’s wedding): Sharper and more contrasty than it has any right to be. AF is not world-class in speed, like the 24-70 and 70-200, but still speedy and very accurate. If Nikon makes a 35mm like this, there will be nothing left in the Canon camp that makes my skin crawl with envy.
Nikon has some new, hyper-shock resistant packaging, which I really appreciated given how pricey this darned lens is.
Sharp, colorful, love it. RAW sample.
f/1.4 isolation makes the buildings pop through the foreground in this puddle reflection.
Can you say flare resistant? Heavily backlit statue. Still contrasty. RAW sample.
Mmmmm isolation. Not generally a tight portrait lens, but this guy doesn’t mind. RAW sample.
Water droplets in a cab window show the quality of foreground and background bokeh.
Also, you can see those qualities here, in a quick video. Also shows the focus throw and the sound of the manual focus, for video geeks. 720p version here. 1/50th, f/1.4 ISO 1600 on the D3s:
UPDATE: One from night-time:
by Ryan Brenizer
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