Nikon NIKKOR Z 24mm F/1.8 S

Nikon introduced this 24mm wide-angle prime in 2019 for the Z mount, and it remains in production today. It covers full frame, so the 24mm framing acts as a true wide angle. Landscape, architecture and interior shooters form its natural audience, and the F/1.8 aperture reaches into dim evening and night-sky work.

The trade-off is fixed framing. One focal length means you move yourself rather than a zoom ring to change the picture. There is no in-lens stabilization either, which the Features section covers. Against that, the sealed body and bright aperture cover most wide-angle work.

The lens weighs 15.9 oz (450 g) and stands 3.8 in (96.5 mm) long with a 3.07 in (78 mm) body. That is a moderate size for a fast wide prime. The 72mm front thread takes screw-in filters directly, so a polariser can cut glare on water.

At 24mm, this lens frames wide scenes in one shot. Rolling landscapes, building facades and furnished rooms all fit without stepping back. The wide view also lets a near foreground anchor the picture, which suits rock formations in front of distant peaks. People need care at this length, because faces placed near the frame edge can stretch.

The F/1.8 aperture is the real working tool. Indoors it keeps shutter speeds usable under evening window light, and at night it gathers enough light for star fields over a dark horizon. Stopped down, depth of field easily spans a deep scene. Set against a near subject, F/1.8 also narrows depth of field enough to separate a doorway or window frame from its background.

Focus reaches to 0.8 ft (25 cm), so door hardware or a window latch can fill the lower frame with foreground context. Nine aperture blades help keep out-of-focus highlights round. That close reach suits travel, where wide scenes and small details share one day. The optics specification scores 85 here.

Weather sealing is the headline feature. Nikon seals this lens against dust and moisture, so coastal wind, night dew and dusty trails pose less worry. For landscape shooters who work at golden hour and after dark, that matters more than a long feature list.

The rest is thin. There is no in-lens stabilization. A 24mm view allows fairly slow handheld shutter speeds before shake shows. Even so, the lens adds nothing to steady video or long exposures. A tripod still does that work. Its features score is 32.

The front glass also lacks a fluorine coating, so rain spots and fingerprints need a little more care to remove.

Nikon includes aspherical elements in the design. Their specially shaped surfaces help correct distortion and spherical aberration, which matters when building edges should stay straight in a wide frame. Low-dispersion glass also appears; it helps reduce chromatic aberration, where colours focus differently and leave fringes along high-contrast edges. The full count of 12 elements in 10 groups sits in the specification table.