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Nikon
24-85mm AF-S G
FX, DX and 35mm (2002-2006)
©
2002-2012-2023 KenRockwell.com
Intro Specifications Performance Compared Recommendations
Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S. (FX, DX and 35mm coverage, 67mm filters, 14.520 oz./411.7 g, 1.2'/0.38 m close focus, about $125 used). enlarge. This free website's biggest source of support is when you use these links, especially this link directly to them at eBay (see How to Win at eBay), when you get anything, regardless of the country in which you live. Thanks! Ken.
September 2023 update: Used on the FTZ or FTZ II it should work great on mirrorless. While the lens has no VR, it should work great with in0camera VR.
July 2012 update: I just shot this on my D800E, and it's just as sharp as the newest 24-85 VR and 24-120 f/4 VR, with the same easy-to-correct but strong distortion. Most of this review below is from shooting this lens on film in 2002. Only some of it has been updated for use on FX, on which it works great as well.
September 2023, July 2012, 2002 Nikon Reviews Nikon Lenses All Reviews
See also:
24-85mm VR (2012-today)
24-120mm f/4 VR (2010-today)
24-85mm AF-D (2000-today)
Sharpness Comparison to all other 24mm lenses August 2010
Introduction top
Intro Specifications Performance Compared Recommendations
Adorama pays top dollar for your used gear.
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This is a tiny, fun and easy-to-use cheesy plastic (it was cheesy in 2002, but in 2012, its the same as everything else from Niikon) zoom lens that is also the best performing midrange zoom I've ever used! It is clearly superior to the older 24-85mm f/2.8-4 AF-D, 24-120mm Streetsweeper and 28-105mm AF-D lenses I also bought or tried before I bought this one.
Even Moose Peterson loved it, saying it was optically the equal of his huge professional 28-70mm AF-S that cost four times as much! (scroll down halfway, or click the 24-85 link towards the top.)
The weird thing is that this les was so good and inexpensive that Nikon discontinud it in 2006, keeping the older and more expensive 24-85mm AF-D version!
This superior, new AF-S lens was introduced at PMA in February 2002. See the press release here. Moose Peterson loved it, saying it was optically the equal of his huge professional 28-70mm AF-S that cost four times as much! (scroll down halfway, or click the 24-85 link towards the top.)
I have not compared it directly against the 24-120VR. If the 24-120VR works as well as this 24-85AFS and if the 24-120VR has no vignetting problems with a 77mm step-up ring at 24mm on film then, for twice the price, I'll probably prefer the 24-120. Note that many mid-range zooms don't really make me that happy, so until I get my hands on a production 24-120VR for a full film test I cannot be sure.
I bought mine in September, 2002, to replace my previous favorite, the 28-85 AF that I wore out. Nikon ran a $50 rebate through June 30, 2003 so it effectively cost me only $310 back then. In 2007, it sells for about $300.
Oddly, the manual focus ring and overall specs, size and performance of this lens seems almost identical to the very popular Canon EF 24-85mmm f/3.5-4.5 USM.
Compatibility
Everything works perfectly on every digital Nikon ever made, both FX and DX, from the best D4, D800 and D800E to Nikon's cheapest digitals like the D40, D40x, D60, D3000, D3100, D3200, D5000 and D5100.
It's also perfect on decent or recent AF film cameras like the F6, F100, F5, N80 and N75.
The incompatibilities for older or cheaper 35mm cameras are that:
1.) It won't autofocus with the cheapest new AF 35mm cameras like the N55, but if you focus manually, everything else works great. Even if you lose autofocus, these cameras have in-finder focus confirmation dots to help you.
2.) Late 1980s ~ early 1990s AF cameras like the N90s, N70 and F4 will focus just fine. You'll have Program and Shutter-priority modes, but lose Manual and Aperture-priority since you have no way to set the aperture on the camera or on the lens.
3.) You're really pushing it with the oldest AF cameras like the N2020, N6006 and N8008. You'll have no AF, confused exposure modes, and no VR. Manual focus is fine, along with electronic focus indications.
4.) Since it has no aperture ring, it's just about useless with manual focus film cameras. It will shoot every shot at its minimum aperture.
See Nikon Lens Compatibility for details with your camera. Read down the "AF-S, AF-I," "G" and "VR" columns for this lens. You'll get the least of all the features displayed in all columns, since "G" (gelding) is a deliberate handicap which removes features.
Nikon 24-85 G AF-S. enlarge.
Specifications top
Intro Specifications Performance Compared Recommendations
Nikon 24-85 G AF-S.
Optics
Fifteen elements in twelve groups.
Two Aspherical elements.
Diaphragm
It has a rounded seven-bladed diaphragm and stops down to f/22 - 29.
Close Focus
It focuses directly down to 15 inches (0.38 meters or 1.2 feet) at all focal lengths. This is great because there are no idiotic macro lock out switches like on all the other lenses.
Filters, Caps & Hoods
It takes 67mm filters and comes with an HB-28 hood and unique new 67mm lens cap designed so that you can get it on and off from the front with the hood still on.
Rated MTF
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MTF at 24mm, 10 and 30 cyc/mm |
MTF at 85mm, 10 and 30 cyc/mm |
Size
It's 2.9" (73mm) around by 2.9" (72mm) long.
Weight
It weighs 14.3 oz. or 415g. This is really light; it's one of the smallest midrange zooms Nikon's ever made.
Announced
21 February 2002.
Price, USA
September 2023
About $125 used if you know How to Win at eBay.
July 2012
About $300 used if you know How to Win at eBay.
Performance top
Intro Specifications Performance Compared Recommendations
AF action is fast and silent. Well, it was on the first day I had it. As dust collected inside after the first day of use I now get a slight squeak as it focuses. Ditto for the smoothness of the zoom; after the first day stuff collects inside and it's no longer as smooth. This is a cheap lens and nowhere near as slick as the $1,000 AF-S lenses.
This lens feels like driving a ordinary modern car as opposed to car from the 1950s: it works a lot better at everything but it's all plasticy. The heck with my whining; I love this lens.
The front never rotates, regardless of focus or zooming.
It does not have a black index screw on the lens mount as some AF lenses have. You'll have to look for the smaller white index dot on the lens body.
Distortion
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24
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30
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35
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50
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70
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85
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The brick wall with film or FX.
24mm: strong barrel.
28mm: none (better than other lenses at 28mm setting).
35mm: slight pincushion at far distances and none at 3.'
50mm: pincushion.
70mm: pincushion.
85mm: strong pincushion (worse than 28-85).
This is where there is no free lunch. In exchange for the sharpness and tiny size we get this distortion. It will be very annoying if you are shooting architecture and are not careful to select a focal length with little distortion. Set the lens to 28mm if you need no distortion, and use the 35mm setting at close-up distances. No, there is no 28mm marking, just set it between 24mm and 35mm.
If distortion is important to you then instead get the 28-105 which was not as sharp for me due to AF errors but had much less distortion than of any of these similar zooms.
On a Nikon Digital SLR at 2k resolution the way to correct barrel distortion in Photoshop at 24mm is to
1.) Increase canvas
size from 2,000 x 1,312 to 3,000 x 2,000 pixels
2.) Filter > Distort > Spherize at -7 to -8%
Sharpness
Surprise! It's the sharpest midrange zoom I've used. It is sharp and contrasty, even wide open, at all focal lengths. It's a little less contrasty in the corners on film wide open, which cleans up a stop or two down. The performance is similar at all focal lengths.
On the wide end there is a little secondary lateral chromatic aberration, or very slight green-magenta color fringes in the corners.
Criminy, it's even sharp in the macro range!
On the D1H of course it's sharp at all apertures and focal lengths and positions on the image, but so what, most lenses are. It's easy to be sharp in digital.
Auto Focus Accuracy
AF is dead on at all apertures and focal lengths, which is why it's sharper in real use than all the other modern midrange zooms I've tried. This, along with its size and ease of use, are why this lens is the clear winner.
Remember that all the other tests you read elsewhere are done on a test bench and are focused manually for best results. Those dry lab tests don't show up the sharpness-robbing AF errors I've seen on many of the other lenses.
On the other hand I go out and blew $100 on real film to see what this lens really does, and it shines consistently.
Focus Hold while Zooming
The focus holds fairly well while zooming. This means you're usually OK focusing at one focal length and zooming to another without refocusing. It's not perfect, so for anything critical focus at the final zoom setting.
Ease of Use
It's probably Nikon's easiest to use lens.
This mostly comes from the fact that it's super light and small and the AF-S feature means you can just grab the focus ring at any time and adjust the focus manually, and just press the shutter release lightly to autofocus. There is no need to adjust any M/A switch to do this as with all other non-AF-S lenses.
The only other AF-S lenses are huge, and therefore not exactly fun unless you don't have to carry them. I work in the field so I have to tote everything.
The M/A - M switch only prevents the lens from autofocusing. It allows you to lock the lens in manual focus if you prefer.
There are none of the annoying range limiters or macro lockout switches like the 24-85mm f/2.8-4 has. The close focus range is available at all focal lengths.
All the wide focal lengths are squeezed together at one end of the zoom range making fine adjustment at the wide end difficult. This is the biggest flaw I can find with this lens!
Falloff of Illumination (corner darkening)
It has some light falloff wide open at 24mm on film and FX. Stop down a stop or two and it's gone. It's very mild, even wide open, at longer focal lengths.
On DX digital, since only the center of the image is used, I have seen no falloff.
Here are shots of an expodisc on my D3 in full-frame FX mode. This greatly empasizes any falloff.
