Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED Prime
Earlier this week Nikon USA announced two newly designed professional wide angle lenses. For anyone who needs to match up their latest Nikon DLSR with a fast, light weight wide angle prime, there is the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED. This should be a really excellent street photography lens, capable of bringing in large structures and other surroundings, and in very low light. It’s not cheap though, at over $2000. B&H is listing no ship date as yet.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about prime lenses. On the one hand they can produce slightly cleaner and sharper images than the equivalent focal lengths on competing zoom models. (In this case the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, or the lens I’m about to discuss below, also new from Nikon this week). The other obvious advantage is that they’re much lighter and allow you to be more nimble with your DSLR. Anyone who has lugged around a backpack or Pelican case full of Nikkor Zooms knows how nice it would be at times to walk around unencumbered by packs or cases, shooting as you find things. Less to worry about in terms of theft as well, especially in urban areas.
The downside is, if you realize you can only get so close to a subject or you want to abstract away some of the background, you’d be better off with a zoom in many cases. Convenience and some extra clarity vs. creative flexibility and extra weight, that’s what it boils down to. One of my photography professors also used to note that sometimes, to really learn to see things with one lens, and really explore with that lens, can make you a better photographer. You don’t rely on the zoom capability as a “crutch” for getting close to something or choosing a better angle. I’ve found this to be true at certain points in my career. Zooms can make you lazy, even as you’re walking around, exploring a given area.
AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G
The other new wide angle lens Nikon announced this week is the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, which can be seen as an alternative to the popular ultra-wide AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED. The newest offering is about $600 cheaper, while offering arguably a more practical focal range for things like street photography, landscapes and the documentary work. Also the VR capability is huge when you’re in tight spaces where a tripod just isn’t practical. I think I’d go for 16-35 and VR at one less stop, vs 12-24 in most shooting scenarios….
The only minor drawback is that you lose a stop, making this perhaps a less practical choice when photographing in dimly lit areas or at night in the city. Then again, it’s very easy to push DSLRs like the D700 and D3 series to ISO 1600 and beyond, and achieve really clean looking results even in low light. Add a bit of judicious noise reduction in ACR or Lightroom and perhaps losing that extra stop doesn’t mean as much as it used to for certain types of photography. This lens is definitely on my B&H watch list. If I make the purchase I’ll be reviewing it right here, probably in late spring. Will keep you guys posted.
