Hi,

Good news ! This lens will be perfect for those who like wide angle prime lens. Aperture at F1.4 is excellent !
Let's see if it is sharp.

Wow...I didn't see the price...2500 ?
outch !

http://www.pixelistes.com/download/prive/actualite-photo/Nikkor_AFS_24mm_f1.4G_ED.png

I saw this yesterday!

It is expensive..... will be interesting to read some reviews on it.

Some tests :

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/af/wideangle/af-s_24mmf_14d/sample2.htm

http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/lens/af/wideangle/af-s_24mmf_14d/sample1.htm

It looks like a good lens but not for me for sure:)

And what about the 16-35mm f/4? Would you lose 1 stop of light over the old 17-35 f/2.8 for street?

Regardless of the price another problem is that it is big for a prime (not that smaller than many WA zoom). That is the price for f1.4 of course, but I guess it makes it more specific rather than "perfect", especially suited for low light condition and maybe also for portraits with that focal length. Don't think you need f1.4 for 24mm that often otherwise. Am I wrong ?

I like to shoot by night very much, so my aperture is almost always at 2.8, but I also often have choose high ISO, so 1.4 would be nice for me. But the price.... I cannot afford it !

I had the Canon equivalent, the new 24 f/1.4L II. Just loved it! And I almost used it at aperture 2 or wider. It has a great bokeh and that's really what you are after. Wide angle and short dof. It creates a presence and intimacy that you just can't get with either longer focal length or greater dof. The combination is great! You really need to stick your face into the situations, but it is rewarding!

Looking forward to see more tests, the samples above look really nice. If it can stand up to the Canon I can only congratulate all Nikon users!!!

Yep, good point. That is a little of why I mentioned portrait. But indeed there should be other situations when wide angle + short DOF can be great, such as proxyphotography.

The lens is primarily targeted on news photographers working indoor (i.e. press conferences and such). Hence the price tag and the extreme aperture.
U

Nikon Europe says: ?The new 24mm lens continues to strengthen Nikon?s professional lens line up which already includes a range of award winning NIKKOR zoom lenses such as the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED. The shallow depth of field and bright viewfinder image offered by this new fast aperture prime lens will appeal to many photographers, particularly in the photojournalism community.?

Ken Rockwell writes:
"This Nikon 24mm f/1.4 is the world's best wide f/1.4 lens."

http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/24mm-f14.htm
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/24mm-f14.htm

I will be very pleased when this lens comes to me :-)

/soeren

I would be very please to have that much money free to spend getting to and shooting some great locations...oh, btw, and the time...

I'm happy to stay with my f 2.4 24mm lens. FOr the money, I'd rather travel.

I don't think you will have many sitters coming back for a second portrait session with a 24mm lens.

The Nikon 28mm f/1.4 sells used today for four times what people paid for it!

/soeren

So, are u suggestion that some should buy this expensive lens as an investment? Again, in my waning years, I would rather invest in memories...

I am not proposing anything. I note that good lenses retain their value. I like memories. In particular memories that have a high quality.

Ah but a photograph isn't a memory. . . It is a trigger for the memory, and a dusty instamatic print from 1975 can do that ;-) But you do have a point. .

A couple of weeks ago I tried the AF-S 1.4/24mm on my D700.

Astonishing quality even wide open!
Quite some vignetting, but that was to be expected.

I'm so glad 24mm feels a little bit too wide for me... ;-))

I stick with my old AF 1.4/28mm, specially after reading what Lloyd Chambers wrote out about AF consistency problems with the AF-S 1.4/24mm G:
http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/index.html

When aperture goes so wide AF may be a pain and even MF is not so easy. You have to consider the minimal depth of field you attain with f/1.4. With these wild lenses you have to shoot at least 4-5 pix in order to attain at least one in focus, remember ...