Rodney Campbell's Blog

I just purchased a second hand Nikon 20mm f/2.8 AF-D.

With the move to a full frame camera (Nikon D600) I essentially lost all my wide angle lenses so I’ve been looking for some new wide angle lenses to add to my kit.

The 20/2.8D is an old school Nikon prime lens sporting an aperture ring and none of the modern goodies like AF-S ultrasonic focus motor or nano crystal coating and it’s optics date back to the original AIS design from 1984. This latest version is however still in production and is a very light (270g) and tiny (69mm diamater and only 42.5mm long) lens. On a full frame camera it provides an ultra wide 94 degree angle of view (you’d need to be using something like a 13mm lens on a DX camera for a similar field of view).

I am still intending on purchasing something like the new 16-35/4 (or 17-35/2.8) (both of which are sharper, have less chroma, less vignetting, are wider and longer and better in most ways) for my normal landscape and indoor work but I wanted something small and light to just put on the camera or chuck in the bag when I didn’t want to lug the huge zoom or (in the case of the 16-35) need an extra stop of light (e.g. for stars at night).

Here are a couple first shots with the lens (soon after I bought it)…

Roots

NIKON D600 + 20.0 mm f/2.8 @ 20 mm, 1/50 sec at f/4, ISO 100

A quick portrait with my youngest – my what big feet you have 🙂

NIKON D600 + 20.0 mm f/2.8 @ 20 mm, 1/100 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

Wide open – you can’t see it here but at 100% crop the bokeh (what little you get at 20mm) is fairly nervous and even a little donuty

NIKON D600 + 20.0 mm f/2.8 @ 20 mm, 1/400 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100

and a little Trey Ratcliff moment (sorry had to try it…) – this is a blend of two exposures (0EV and -3EV)

NIKON D600 + @ 20 mm, 1/160 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

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