Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S.

The Gavler Review.

Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S Review: Sharp, Sealed, and Sparse on Controls

The Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S ranks number 8 on Gavler's Best Wide-Angle Prime Lenses list with a 8.4. It's the wide-angle Z shooters buy when the 24mm f/1.2 S is more lens — and more money — than they need. Digital Camera World's field testing and Photography Life's lab testing broadly agree on the sharpness story, but Photography Life also flags a real handling gap: for an expensive S-series lens, the control layout is unusually bare.

What it is

Announced in 2019 as, at the time, the widest professional-grade prime for the Z mount, the 24mm f/1.8 S packs 12 elements in 10 groups — 4 aspherical and 1 ED element with Nano Crystal coating — into a 450g, weather-sealed body. It uses a fast stepping-motor autofocus system, a customizable control ring, and a single AF/M switch. At 72mm, the filter thread matches its F-mount predecessor, the Nikon 24mm f/1.8G ED, though the Z-mount lens is noticeably longer.

In use

Digital Camera World's field testing praised cross-frame performance in strong terms: it "delivers spectacular sharpness and contrast even at f/1.8, right across the frame," climbing further between f/2.8 and f/5.6. Amateur Photographer found the autofocus "smooth, near silent focusing that is precise and assured." Weather sealing held up under genuine field stress — Digital Camera World tested it "during a mighty hailstorm" and was "glad of these" seals, while Photography Life's Spencer Cox reported using the lens "in very cold and sandy weather conditions in Death Valley National Park as well as rainy conditions in southern California," finding no problems with the sealing in either environment.

Where Photography Life diverges from the field-praise consensus is handling. "The Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S has a very sparse set of controls, with just the single manual/autofocus switch and the large focusing ring. This is somewhat disappointing handling for an expensive S-series lens," Cox wrote. "I would have liked to see at least one custom function button on the side of the lens, but unfortunately, Nikon went with a very minimalist approach." It's a build-quality nitpick rather than an optical flaw, but a notable one on a lens priced above $900.

There's also a genuine split on corner sharpness between field and lab reviewers. Where Digital Camera World's real-world shooting emphasized cross-frame consistency, OpticalLimits' bench testing rated this "the weakest" of Nikon's current f/1.8 S primes, finding corners "fairly soft at large apertures" until stopped down to f/4-f/8, with strong wide-open vignetting. The gap reflects two different testing philosophies — real-world shooting versus pixel-level lab charts — and the practical takeaway is that this lens excels for everyday and environmental work but rewards stopping down for corner-critical landscape or astro use.

Strengths

Build quality is genuinely robust despite the sparse control set. "Similar to other Nikon Z primes, the Z 24mm f/1.8 S is built very well, thanks to its solid metal base, a tough plastic shell, metal focus ring, and weather-sealed construction," Photography Life found, with "a total of four locking ears for a very secure and tight attachment to the camera body" and "absolutely no detectable wobble on the mount." At 450g, it's dramatically lighter than the alternatives — Photography Life's own comparison table lists it against the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G ED (620g, $1,999) and the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art (665g, roughly $849), making the Z lens the clear choice for photographers prioritizing portability. The lens hood "does a great job of blocking sun rays" and can be reverse-mounted to shrink the lens's storage footprint.

The trade-offs — who should skip it

Photographers who lean on lens-side customization — assignable buttons for AF-lock, exposure, or other functions — will find the single AF/M switch limiting compared to competing S-line lenses. Corner-obsessed astro and architecture shooters should also budget for stopping down, since OpticalLimits' bench data shows real softness and vignetting wide open at f/1.8 that only resolves in the f/4-f/8 range. If maximum aperture and shallow depth of field matter more than portability, the heavier f/1.4 alternatives remain a legitimate option despite their weight and price penalty.

How it compares

On Gavler's Best Wide-Angle Prime Lenses list, the Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G, ranked 10, targets a similar niche one step wider — Digital Camera World measured "astonishing levels of sharpness right across the whole image frame and into the extreme corners" on that lens, suggesting Sony's ultra-wide avoids the corner softness debate that dogs the Nikon at 24mm. The Fujifilm XF 23mm f/1.4 R LM WR, ranked 9 on the same list, is the APS-C equivalent conversation — a 35mm-equivalent prime with similarly strong center sharpness and its own documented trade-off in heavy wide-open vignetting.

The Gavler verdict

The Z 24mm f/1.8 S remains the sensible default 24mm for most Z shooters: light, fast-focusing, genuinely weather-sealed in real-world testing, and centrally sharp enough to satisfy everyday, environmental, and travel photography. The sparse control layout that Photography Life flagged is a fair critique for a lens at this price, and the corner softness that shows up in lab testing is real enough that pixel-peeping landscape and astro shooters should either stop down or consider the f/1.2 S instead. For everyday wide-angle work, it remains an easy recommendation.

Common Questions

Is the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S worth it in 2026?

Yes for everyday wide-angle work — Gavler scores it 8.4, and Digital Camera World found it "delivers spectacular sharpness and contrast even at f/1.8, right across the frame." Photography Life independently confirmed the weather sealing held up through testing "in very cold and sandy weather conditions in Death Valley National Park as well as rainy conditions in southern California."

Does the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S have any handling drawbacks?

Yes — a sparse control layout. Photography Life's review found it "somewhat disappointing handling for an expensive S-series lens," noting: "I would have liked to see at least one custom function button on the side of the lens, but unfortunately, Nikon went with a very minimalist approach."

How does the Nikon Z 24mm f/1.8 S compare to the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art on price and weight?

Photography Life's comparison table lists the Nikon at 450g and $999 versus the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art at 665g and roughly $849 — the Nikon is lighter and pricier, trading a stop of aperture for weight savings and Z-mount-native weather sealing.