Best 24mm

[Rick1779]

Doesn't matter mount, I'm just wondering which are the best 24mm on the market

[iangreenhalgh1]

You'll be hard pushed to pick a best from any of the main makers 24mms, they are all great. The Canon FD 2/24 has a very high reputation but I doubt it's appreciably better than the Konica Hexanon 2.8/24 or Nikkon 2.8/24 that I have.

[Rick1779]

I actually know that can be a tricky question, but since I've discovered that 24mm is my favorite focal length to use with my Nex (I actually have the Pentax A 24/2.8 ) I was just wondering a bit on different possibilities excluding the espensive AF Zeiss in E-Mount

[DR.JUAN]

The zeiss 2,8/25 is very good. Also the big czj one.

The hexanon is another good lens. Prone to flare like not mc lens.

I hear good things about the m42 takumar 24 lens.

Leica/minolta, another nice.

[hoanpham]

Why don't you get a few 24mm to play with?
they are all good. of course, some are better in some areas.

canon fd 24/1.4,
konica 24/2.8
nikon ais 24/2.8, 24/2 has interesting bokeh.
CZJ 25/4 flektogon, close focus, contrast colors and razor sharp
Kiron 24/2
Ensinor 24/2.8
Tamron ad 24/2.5
Yashica 24/2.8
Olympus OM 24/2.8...

then some good zooms that cover 24mm as well...

[kuuan]

imo the f2.8 Rokkor, Nikkor, Zuiko and Pentax are all in about same level though there are minor differences. The Rokkor might be best but my version is the older, heavier one and I prefer small and light, the Zuiko is smallest and lightest with the best corners but mine is the early non MC version and doesn't like direct strong light. Photos taken with the Nikkor look real neat but do have the most distortion, my early version also is heavy, I ended up mostly using the Pentax, love it's handling and though not outstanding it performs flawlessly. Lately got a MC version of the Zuiko, whenever I need the speed it might take over the Pentax's spot, but now mostly I use a tiny Color Skopar f4/25 which most likely is the best of the bunch

[Attila]

http://forum.mflenses.com/biogon-2-8-25-carl-zeiss-zm-sample-t58807.html

[Rick1779]

the zeiss biogon is truly impressive

[ManualFocus-G]

I have the ais Nikkor 24/2.8 and it's sharper than the Tamron 24/2.5, Hoya 24/2.8 (Tokina) and Vivitar 24/2.8 (also Tokina) lenses that I've also owned, in the centre and corners. The Nikkor 24/2 wasn't as good.

[trifox]

CANON FD 24 F2

The best of the best..

tf

[Phenix jc]

I've decided to make a direct comparison between all the 24mm that I have ( )
I have just begun;

f 2.8 : Hanimex (Makinon is the same), Zuiko, Nikkor
The Nikkor is Outstanding !
The Zuiko is clearly not at the level : What a disappointment, I'm a zuiko's fan ; Perhaps my copy...
The Hanimex is the worst wide open, getting better once you stopp down

f 2 : Canon nFD, Zuiko, Nikkor + Kiron/Vivitar : More to come. (Anyway, the first 3 are truely excellents)

f 1.4 : Canon nFD : This small lens is clearly the best at f 1.4.

Whatever, I've developped a special relationship with the Nikkor 24/2.8. Period.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I love my Nikkor 2.8/24 too.

[Victor Nguyen]

yeah I have a nikkor 24mm ais. Sharp lens for the price.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Sharp lens for any price, there aren't many better than it and they all cost a lot more.

Honestly, the Nikkor 24mm lens is more capable than many of us would be able to exploit, so to take better pictures, rather than a better lens, better technique is more likely of benefit.

[anscochrome]

I have a 24mm F 2.8 Canon EF lens, and a 24mm F 2.8 C/Y Yashica ML lens. Is the Yashica better? Nope. I think the Canon, which was made starting in 1987 benefitted from technology that the Yashica did not have. I think we can easily fall into the trap that, just because a lens is older and manual focus, it is better. I think extremes of focal lengths are great benefactors of newer technology-for example-I have a 300mm F 4.0 SMC Takumar, but in no way do I think it can compare to a 300mm F 4.0 Canon EF lens. I don't go out of my way to use a MF lens just because it is MF, to do otherwise is cutting your nose off to spite your face:)

[Attila]

[Orio]

If mount (and register distance) is no issue, but price is (thus excluding expensive
lenses such as the new ZM Biogon or ZF Distagon lenses), then I would recommend either
the Contax Distagon 2.8/25 in Contax/Yashica bayonet mount or the
Voigtlaender Snapshot-Skopar 4/25 in L39 thread mount.

About Contax Distagon: it offers great detail, colour, and beautiful microcontrast
You can find it used around 350-400 Euros in the MM version (the more recent version
which features better corner performance). If you use a crop camera, such as NEX,
corners will not be a problem so you can buy the AE version, which is possible to find
cheaper (around 250 Euros).

As for the Snapshot-Skopar:
If you use a live viewfinder camera (such as NEX), the fact that the lens is not
rangefinder-coupled will not bother you at all - you will check the focus in live view.
This lens used price ranges from 300 to 400 Eur with the 25mm view finder, but
it is also found without the viewfinder, and in that case, you may find it even for less.
The image quality -being a non-retrofocal wide lens- is probably going to be better
than most SLR lenses of the same focal lenght, and on crop cameras (like the NEX)
the only issue of the lens (corner falloff wide open) will not be a problem because you
will only use the centre of the lens.

[Nikonshooter]

I have the Ensinor 24mm f2.8 canon mount so it's useless to me I get a canon body one day or save up for a Pentax K5IIs.
Since I use Nikon for now I would get a nikkor lens.

[Brian Y]

24 mm is also my favourite focal length. I did an informal test of my 24's at f4 with my Nex5N with EVF, the ranking of my 24's are shown below, but yours might be different since they are old/used lenses. I was too lazy to check for other f settings since F4 is the normal widest aperture that I use. I was surprised by the order but that how they were.

1. Sigma Super Wide 2 AF f2.8 (Pentax KAF mount)
2. Miranda f2.8 Macro (Pentax KA mount)
3. Nikkor f2.8 Ais
4. Panagor f2.5 (Yashica ML mount)
5. Tamron AD2 f2.5
6. X-Fujica f2.8 EBC

[TSherman]

16:9.net did an amazingly thorough 24mm comparison the "24mm world cup" crowning the zuiko. Its a beautiful little lens, definitely the smallest of the full frame 24s. It even stacks up pretty well against canon's 24 1.4 That said I recently sold my copy because I hated the ultra short focus throw so much.

[RTI]

If you need a good performer, I'd seriously take a look at the new Samyang 24/f1.4

[guardian]

[std]

If you can afford it get the E-mount Zeiss.
From this focal length i only got the Pentax A110 24mm and Cosina 2.8/24 - the Cosina is better but flares if you shoot against the sun without a hood. I'm currently selling it btw among with lots of other lenses. Not the perfect lens if you compare it with Zeiss but not bad for the price.

[Excalibur]

Why are you guys surprised the Sigma super wide II is a good lens 3-4 years ago, here and at other forums they were saying it's a hidden gem....so I got mine for £8

[parabellumfoto]