I spent last weekend leading a photography workshop to one of my favorite places, Carhenge. We specifically set out to shoot star trails and the Milky Way, and I thought it would be a great test for the new Nikon 20mm f/1.8 AFS G Nikkor lens. Here are some example images. After looking at my files, I’m exceptionally pleased with the performance of this lens. And for less than $800, it’s a great value, in my opinion.
More samples after the jump…
Here’s an example of the shallow depth of field that can be had with the 20mm f/1.8 Nikkor:
When stopped down (in this case, I used f/16), the 20mm f/1.8 Nikkor produces nice sunbursts:
The Nikon 20mm f/1.8 lens is available from B&H Photo here.
nice….
Hi Jason,
is this at 1.8? Any in camera CA supression?
Thanks.
Alin
Alin-
I shot the milky way image at 20s f/1.8. CA correction in Lightroom 5.
thanks Jason. It looks much better than the old 20:2.8 @ F:4 :).
i’ll look into this one.
It’s a beautiful lens and, in my opinion, the best of the new f/1.8 line of primes Nikon makes. The sunbursts of this lens are a great bonus, and really versatile…. I’ve shot some environmental portraits/ candids capturing sunbursts between people, for example, and they seem to be best between f/8-11 in particular. The sharpness of this lens – especially for an ultra-wide prime – is stunning, even when unsharpened (straight from camera), and the coma correction is terrific: pretty much all gone at around f/2.5, which makes this a superb astro lens. Sharpness seems to optimise at around f/4-5.6, towards the latter being the sweetspot, I think, but even wide open at f/1.8, centre sharpness is terrific and not a great deal less than smaller apertures. Distortion is also well controlled in this lens. The only downside I can see: vignetting is pretty pronounced at f/1.8 (but, I kind of expected as much on an ultra-wide fast prime – my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art has similar traits wide open), but is easily corrected in latest software RAW convertors. All in all, this lens represents a bargain: sure, not ultra-cheap but, optically, a triumph for Nikon. It really does make the f/2.8 D version look positively poor in comparison, no joke on that. Another bonus is the ultra-lightweight (about 350-360 grams), which makes it a pleasure to carry around, and not at all imposing or conspicuous. It has a very handy 77mm filter size (just like most of the other pro-Nikon glass), and I really am in love with this lens: thoroughly fun to use. I recommend it to any Nikon shooter as an essential tool in the arsenal for those who love ultra-wide shooting.