The Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED is Nikon’s ultra-wide zoom for Nikon DX cameras. It has a field of view equivalent to the field of view of a lens with a focal length of 15 to 36mm in FX-format. It is the perfect companion for a 24-70mm and a 70-200mm lens kit. The widest end of the zoom range, with a focal length of 10mm, covers an impressive 109° angle of view. It offers an incredible Field Of View (FOV) range with a large depth of field, short working distances, yielding dramatic perspectives to your photography.Although this lens is not intended for FX cameras, it will work from about 18 mm-24 mm.
Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED review @ Nikon D7100
Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED @ 10mm
A 2.4x zoom might not seem impressive nowadays, but a 10 mm focal length will offer you a much more spectacular perspective than a 12 mm lens than you would expect of the 2 mm difference in focal length.
Construction
The optical system consists of 14 lenses in 9 groups and features two ED glass and three aspherical lens elements. At only 460g, it is a lightweight lens, constructed using high quality plastics. In comparison with the Tokina 11-16 mm II lens, the Nikon feels less solid. Compared to the Canon EF-S 10-22 mm, I would say it’s a draw. As many consumer zoom lenses it shows “focus breathing”: this lens may gather dust in your camera as it pumps in and out. The Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED offers no Vibration Reduction.{insertgrid ID = 289}
Nikon 10-24mm @ 24 mm, f/8, 2s, 400 ISO
Autofocus
This lens has an internal focusing (IF) system, which means the lens barrel length does not change during focusing and the front lens dos nor rotate. Two focus modes are available: M/A (manual-priority autofocus) and M (manual focus). A Silent Wave Motor (SWM) ensures fast and quiet AF operation. The presence of this SWF motor also means you will still have AF on entry camera’s like the Nikon D3200 or the Nikon D5200.
Resolution
The Nikon 10-24mm DX produced excellent center resolution and shows very good partway resolution at all focal lengths. The center resolution is higher for 10 mm than for the other focal lengths, but at 16mm and 24mm the performance from center to edge is more constant than for the shortest focal length. The highest center resolution is obtained at f/5.6. The lens needs to be stopped down at least one stop to improve corner resolution. The corner resolution at a focal length of 10 mm is very poor wide open, as you can see in the 100% crops of test images below.
For a wide angle zoom lens the amount of vignetting is relatively low, but it may be visibly present in some situations. For our lens reviews, we try to apply as many in-camera corrections of lens aberrations as possible. Apparently we’ve not applied enough in-camera correction for vignetting. Possibly even better results will be obtained by choosing the “High” setting, in stead of the “Normal” setting we’ve used for this review.
Distortion
Distortion is common with ultra wide-angle lenses, but it is dramatically reduced in jpg files by the Nikon D7100 in-camera correction. At a focal length of 10mm, the uncorrected RAW file shows a clearly visible (-5%) barrel distortion, which is still not bad for an ultrawide angle zoom. But the jpg file shows no visible distortion. Move your mouse over the image for the distortion measurement data. By the way: Often, it’s not the distortion (caused by the lens) which will be clearly present, but it will be the perspective (caused by the photographer). As soon as your camera is not kept perfectly perpendicular to your subject, the perspective of your image will tell you. With ultra-wide angle lenses, extra care may need to be taken to avoid a distorted perspective as shown in the image to the right.
Bokeh Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED
The Nikon 10-24mm DX has a seven-blade rounded diaphragm, giving you nice rounded bokeh. The Out of focus (“OOF”) areas are much smoother at a 24mm focal length than at a 10mm focal length. You don’t buy this lens for its smooth and creamy bokeh, you’ll buy it for its sheer endless depth of field! At 10mm and f/8 you can focus at a 3m distance and everything between 0.5 meters and infinity will be sharp.
Flare
The Nikon 10-24mm DX lens sports Nikon Super Integrated Coating to prevent ghost and flare, and it is reasonably resistant against flare and ghosting, indeed. Prevention of ghost and flare is more difficult, but at the same time more important, for wide angle zoom lenses. The wide field of view make it much more likely that there will be a light source in sight. Only if you point the camera straight towards a strong light source, you may encounter slight flare or ghosting. Which is a very good result for such a wide angle zoom lens. The image to the right shows some flare – a purple spot with reduced contrast in the center of the image – at a focal length. At the 10mm focal length we saw a rainbow like ghost.
Chromatic aberration
Because of the in-camera correction for chromatic aberration, you will no see any chromatic aberration in the Nikon D7100 jpg files. But in the RAW files you might encounter some red and green fringes in the utmost corners, as you can see in the image to the right. This is easily corrected using the lens-profile correction in Lightroom or Photoshop.
Conclusion Nikon AF-S DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED review
Pros
- Excellent sharpness in the center
- Very low vignetting for an ultra-wide
- Impressive Field of view range
- Lightweight
Cons
- Softness in corners
Its construction is not as solid as, admittedly – more expensive zoom lenses like the Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8. Nikon’s ultra-wide zoom for Nikon DX cameras, the Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED, offers a nice image quality, an incredible FOV range, a large depth of field, short working distances and dramatic perspectives. Softness in the corners, especially at 10mm, is the only disadvantage for this lens which should be – along with the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 and a 24-70mm lens- in the camera-bag of every light traveling DX Nikonian.