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I am glad to have the FF D700 because my lenses can now shoot at their full capability at the wide end. My Nikkor 18/2.8 served me well on the crop body D1x. It is tiny, light (18/2.8 takes standard 77mm thread filters, measured 3.2 x 2.3 inches in diameter and length, weighted only 13.6 oz.), the entire lens barrel has been coated with professionally-look hammered-metal finishing.
AF on 18/2.8 is very responsive (but noisy and I don't understand why Nikon makes the focus ring rotated when it works in AF mode) because it has a rather very short rotation for focusing. This is a great convenience too if you prefer to run in manual focus, just rotates the focus ring in 90 degrees by my thumb and that already covers from nearest distance to infinity.
18/2.8 on D700 has nice center result, but corners are rather disappointed and running into some vignetting. I set the vignette control to High on D700 and it looks working pretty nice, CA and distortion effects are also under very well control when 18/2.8 is loaded on D700.
18/2.8 had not received good comments on the web, but my copy is delivering very good contrast, colors (I find it turns a bit to the cold side) and sharpness. In fact, I am surprised to see in the sample shots that it delivers very nice corners sharpness even wide open at f/2.8, perhaps I am luck enough to have a good copy.
18mm f/2.8 and D700 Vignette Control High (left) vs Off (right)
18/2.8, though it was discontinued, has a relatively high price point matching Nikkor 14-24/2.8 and Zeiss 18/3.5. Is it worth? I got my copy 7 years ago at about USD1,000, Yes, it certainly worths that for a good copy with the advantages:
- Tiny and light profile
- High speed AF & short rotation for focusing
- 77 mm filter thread
| Nikon 14-24/2.8 | Nikon 18/2.8 | Zeiss 18/3.5 |
| Value/ Price | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Features/ Capabilities | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| Portability | 3 | 5 | 5 |
These features and high speed performance at f/2.8, 18/2.8 is great lens for dynamic and low light environment, in addition to landscape work. Now, I would only consider the bulky 14-24/2.8 for its widest 14mm and versatile zoom convenience. Though I prefer 18/2.8, who needs 14mm and zoom capability should definitely go to 14-24/2.8, in fact, 14-24/2.8 is one of the most valuable lens Nikon ever made.
For the manual focus Zeiss, that would be probably the choice of its royal enthusiast. If you are looking for an ultra wide solution on FF, the Nikkor 18mm f/2.8 AFD is definitely one of the good choices, but managed to get a good copy today, you may also need some luck?!
Well, I don't have the award winning 14-24/2.8 and Zeiss for comparsion, but I would expect my 18/2.8 has matching performance at 18mm if not better? Someone may help to check (click the sample image for the full size jpeg straight from the camera), 100% crops at different zones from f/2.8 to f/16 are available for review.
18/2.8 at f/8
100% crop in different zones from f/2.8 to f/16, for my eyes, it is optimal at f/5.6 & f/8 for center, f/8 & f11 for mid frame and corners
Life sample 18/2.8 at f/2.8
Life sample 18/2.8 at f/11
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