AF-S NIKKOR 28mm f/1.8G

I purchased this lens when it was first introduced back in 2012. In combination with D8__ cameras, it was my favorite of more than 11 Nikkor lenses that I owned, with highest resolution when viewed at 200% on the screen.Due to a tripod mishap, this first lens was lost to water damage. I repurchased the same model 6 months ago from my local Nikon dealer, and Nikon has taken an already very good lens and improved it significantly, with better lens coatings, a major reduction in aberations such as field curvature, less lateral CA and internal flare, with even better color output (I thought this was not possible) and the ability to manage very high contrast light with an exquisitely refined image. Fine detail and point source light management is now extraordinary; in fact, I have to turn down contrast and sharpening settings with this lens in NXD; it is that good. Having used Nikons for almost 40 years and 3 versions of this lens, it is clear that Nikon listens to its customers, but more importantly, takes steps to make something that is already exemplary better. It is light enough to work beautifully with Z series cameras. Well worth the investment still if you are using the Z7ii or Z9 and prefer a prime 28mm focal length.

I´m seriously happy with this lens. It´s a bit expensive but 100% worth it imo. The only negative thing I can say is that it´s a bit slow to focus in low light, but I guess that´s expected. But for sure it´s a great lens and if I had to buy it again, I would. For sure the 1.4 would be great to have, but that one costs more than double the price and I simply cannot find a single reason to go for it when this 1.8 is just fantastic already

I love the feel, look and how quiet this lens is. Superb on the D800. Fast, accurate and images are sharp and beautiful in tone and contrast. I´m not a zoom lens type gal so this lens fits so many needs from landscape, to portraits...its just wonderful!

I needed a wide-angle lens that was fast and sharp. The 28mm focal length works perfectly for most of my wide-angle applications. The lens is well-built, fast auto-focus, smooth focus pull and the nano-crystal coat works great! I just used this lens for some landscape work in Tennessee and the results were gorgeous. I have posted a photo of its use on the street using my Nikon D610. I highly recommend this lens for someone that demands the highest quality 28mm f/1.8 prime.

The Nikon 28mm f/1.8 wide angle lens is compact, optically superb, and great for nighttime hand held photography. Below are two photos taken at night, hand held, at a shutter speed of 1/125 of a second, an aperture of f/1.8, ISOs of 450 and 3200, Auto White Balance, and Matrix Metering.

This lens is very sharp. The size is nice for holding. The weight is light. The price is reasonable. If that were not enough, the DXO on this lens is up there with the 24mm 1.4 which costs about $1500.00 more.

I just purchased this lens, ran a bunch of tests at high ISO at f1.8, 2.8 and 4, all available light at several distances - everything sharp as a razor. Used it on an assignment and very pleased with the images, clear, crisp and good color. When I opened the box, I was concerned because this lens is so light - the results are there, that is what counts. My work is primarily for publications, available light photography is the norm.

My favorite focal length for 35mm/Full frame has long been 28mm, and I have owned several 28mm lenses from Nikon and other manufacturers. The Nikkor 28mm/2.8 AFS-G lens is one of the best I have used, and once I got the best AF fine tune value set for my lens on my D800E (-15 for my equip, yours may vary), the lens has met most of my expectations. It is well suited to my landscape photography style. I tend to shoot vertical frames most of the time, and the slight field curvature of the Nikkor toward the camera in the corners helps keep the bottom foreground corners sharp. In this respect it´s superior to the Zeiss 28mm/2, which has the opposite pattern of field curvature, with corner focus shifting toward infinity. This makes the ZF2 28mm render landscape foreground corners out of focus, even at f/11, and is worse in many vertical orientation shots where the foreground is usually closer to the camera than in horizontal shots. The Zeiss does seem to suffer less flare in backlit situations than the Nikkor, despite the fancy Nano Crystal Coating. Coatings can´t solve all flare problems and the 28mm/1.8 shows slight textbook flare. The lens hood for the Nikkor is a nice bayonet mounting tulip design made of plastic. On my lens it does not stay super tightly locked, and if bumped in the right way, can rotate and fall off, or if partly rotated can vignette two corners of an image. I plan to keep a better eye on the hood now that I know.

AFS works well on the Nikkor 28mm/1.8, focusing rapidly. Manual focusing is good, but has too short a focus throw despite the geared focusing mechanism, so it´s not as nice to manually focus as a real MF lens like the venerable 28mm/2.8 AIS Nikkor or the Zeiss 28mm. Another disadvantage of the 28mm/1.8 is that it´s a G lens, so it has limited back compatibility with Nikon film cameras. I could use it in P or S mode on my old F4, but not M or A, and lack of an aperture ring means it could only be used wide open on my F3. Too bad, but honestly I would just use my Zeiss 28mm on those bodies. So in short, this is a very good lens, but you need to know how to work within its limitations to get the most out of it.

Distortion is well controlled and sharpness is maintained from f/1.8 wide open. I have tested many lens´s and they all are pretty soft at wide open aperture. Not this lens. I also dont see any focus issues at f/1.8 as well. Color and contrast is superb and images are sharp from edge to edge.