Nikkor 24mm f/2 Ai-S!!!

[richardHaw]

https://richardhaw.com/2021/02/18/repair-nikkor-24mm-f-2-ai-s/

finally got one

[Birna Rørslett]

I have had a very mixed reaction to the 24/2 Nikkor over the years. In the mid '80s I fell into the trap of believing one always should prefer faster lenses, so replaced my trusty 24/2.8 with a brand new 24/2. That move was an unmitigated disaster. The overall rendition lost the vivacity of the f/2.8 and took on a greyish, dull appearance as well. I bit the bullet, sold off the f/2 after a few months, and returned to the f/2.8 to reinstate happiness. A then close friend acquired another 24/2 that he was immensely proud off, I did test it and there was the same greyish dullness to the images.

Fast forward to the early '10s when in London, I visited Grey's and found what looked a pristine 24/2. I briefly shot a few frames on my digital camera (D3 if memory serves) and they looked very nice, so I purchased the lens. After a while that strange flat, dull, and greyish quality to the images returned. Apparently the CRC group had worked itself out of position and I could easily tighten it -- all of a sudden the lens was transformed and delivered crisp imagery.

My current understanding is that there are quality issues with the design of the 24/2 that sometimes severely degrade the image quality. That is a very possible explanation why people rate this lens so differently.

As of now, I mainly use the 24/2 on my Df cameras. It likes the Df, I like the Df, so what is not to like?

[richardHaw]

the CRC could easily be misaligned if the focusing ring was turned too-much (key bent).

I noticed that vignetting covers the whole frame wide-open, this may be what you're experiencing

Mine was also dull until I cleaned it, there's a very thin film of grease on the glass. after reassembling it performed A LOT BETTER...
it may be due to the greasy film or I may have gotten lucky when I reassembled it.

so far, i am sort of fine with what I have. i find it temperamental in the way that it produces nice images but not all the time, depending on what's in the frame.
this is of course, all wide-open, strictly speaking

[richardHaw]

I just checked some of my photos, some of them do appear flat, could this be caused by having too many lens elements?

[Birna Rørslett]

My all-time favourite shot by the Nikkor 24/2 AIS.

[richardHaw]

well, at least this one looks nice

[Erik Lund]

Thanks for the write up and congratulations on the new to you lens!
Birna, that is nice use of that lens!

[richardHaw]

been looking for it for many years (right price)

[David H. Hartman]

I have a 24/2.8 AI that perhaps in a couple of years had so much debris from the iris blades inside that I opened the lens and cleaned it. I removed the bayonet, carefully scratched a reference line for correct reassembly then removed the CRC group. Then I cleaned the glass surfaces and reassembled the lens, problem solved.The dulling of the image was even apparent in the viewfinder before cleaning. I wonder how many lenses have this problem of the iris shedding? I wonder if debris on the glass is the cause of the gray look mentioned.

The HN-1 lens hood provides minimum physical protection but little in the way of protection from stray light. In a discussion of protection UV filter v. none I noted that using a hand or hat made more of a difference than using a filter or not. With a filter if the sun is in the corner of the frame I get 13 small, hot ghosts and without I get only 12, not a great improvement. If the sun is just outside the corner of the frame and I use my hand to shade the front element I can avoid the small, hot ghosts all to gather.

Vignette is another issue with the 24/2.8. I don't like strong dark corners. I use the Distortion> Lens Correction> Vignette> feature in Photoshop with values of Amount -10 to -20 and Midpoint -15 to give a subtle vignette to direct the eye to the subject. Dark corners are best hidden in night photography or reduced in day photography by stopping down.

Even though I like the 24mm focal length I have little incentive to use my 24/2.8 AI Nikkor. I wonder if I'd be happier with a 24/2.0 AI as I find flare and especially ghost with my 24/2.8 AI disgusting. 

Dave

[MEPER]

An idea could be to get a cheap AFS 17-35/2.8. Maybe one that "squeaks" and does not autofocus well and then just use it with MF. Then set it to 24mm and use is as a 24mm lens. I think it performs very well at 24mm and much better than the AF 24/2.8 I had. The disadvantage is that 17-35 is a bit heavy......but if it is very cheap......

[Birna Rørslett]

At least one of the "grey dull" 24/2  Nikkors I have been blessed (sic) with was brand new and arrived in the sealed factory box.

[MEPER]

In another thread I showed that my AIS 24/2 copy seems to be ok. I used it on Z50 with an AF-adapter. Aperture was 5.6. Now a DX sensor only use part of the image circle. An example of how it performed:

[MEPER]

A couple of 100% crops of above image:

[David H. Hartman]

At least one of the "grey dull" 24/2  Nikkors I have been blessed (sic) with was brand new and arrived in the sealed factory box.

Well that weakens my theory substantially.

[richardHaw]

i am curious about this "dull" look...if anybody has a sample I would like to see that and share in the site to educate people
does it go away when stopping the iris down?