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Nikon 24mm f/1.8 S Lens

Is It Worth It

TrueToad

Nikon has released for Pre-Order their new 24mm f/1.8 lens designed for Z mount camera bodies. The question I receive most is it even worth updating if you already own a legacy f mount f/1.8 Nikkor lens or a 3rd party 24mm lens?

At a whopping $1,000.00 ($996.95) I have hesitation at dropping almost a grand on an f/1.8 lens because knowing Nikon will eventually release the Pro-Level Z mirrorless cameras and along with that will begin to appear faster lenses such as a 85mm f/1.4 S lens and a 24 f/1.4 S lens.  So the question begs: If I already own a legacy F mount 24mm f/1.8 lens should I purchase the newer S lens or wait for the faster f/1.4 and spend my money then.

Even Nikon makes a comparison to their legacy 24 f/1.8 (on sale for $679.95) with the new S lens and below is the readout of that comparison.

  24mm f/1.8 S Lens 24mm f/1.8 F mount
AF MOTOR NOISE Virtually Eliminated Near Silent
APERTURE BLADES 9 7
ASPHERICAL LENS ELEMENTS 4 2
MULTI-FOCUSING SYSTEM Yes No
CUSTOM CONTROL RING Yes No
MINIMIZED FOCUS BREATHING Yes No
MOUNT ADAPTER REQUIRED No Yes
MOUNT DIAMETER / FLANGE DISTANCE 55mm / 16mm 47mm / 46.5mm

 

From my point of view the decision to purchase the new 24mm f/1.8 S boils down to the factors below assuming you already own a Z camera.

  1. Do you already own a Legacy 24mm f/1.8 and an FTZ adapter? If so consider the next two considerations below.
  2. Do you need weather sealing if so the 24mm S lens is superior to the legacy 24 f/1.8
  3. Do you need near-silent operation with no focus breathing - if so the new S lens is superior for video work
  4. Do you get annoyed swapping lenses using the FTZ adapter? if so the S lenses eliminate the hassle.
  5. Finally, the S lens has superior stabilization on 5 Axis.

The one other consideration mentioned earlier is do you drop the money for this f/1.8 lens or wait until Nikon releases the faster f/1.4 version?  Since I do not own a 24mm f/1.8 I went ahead and pre-ordered mine mainly due to the fact I want to eliminate using the FTZ adapter as much as possible.