New product
The Nikkor AF 20mm f/2.8 D is a full frame ultra wide-angle lens released back in 1994. We have seen several design updates of most ultra-wide zooms during the last years but for whatever reason most manufacturers didn't really care for their wide-angle fix-focals recently.
On the D200 (used for testing) the field-of-view of the lens is equivalent to 32mm so it's more a moderate wide-angle within the APS-C DSLR scope.
The build quality of the lens is very good and in line with most moderately priced Nikkors. The outer barrel is made of good quality polycarbonate combined with a metal mount. The small rubberized focus ring operates very smooth. Compared to other lenses in this league the Nikkor is surprisingly small - the corresponding Canon lens is 2.8cm or 65% longer for instance.
The lens has no internal AF motor and relies on a slotted drive screw operated by the camera. Due to the very low weight of the optical system the AF speed is very fast on the D200. The generated noise level is quite moderate. The front element does not rotate so using a polarizer is no problem.
Lens mount | Nikon F |
Lens Format Coverage | Full Frame |
Lens Design | Prime Lenses |
Lens focus length, mm | 20 |
Focus Type | Autofocus |
Image Stabilization | No |
Lens type | wideangle |
Filter size | 62mm |
Maximum Aperture | f/2.8 |