Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 ED

Nikon’s newest and best wide angle zoom, designed for exceptional edge-to-edge sharpness on the full frame D3 body but also outstanding on DX format cameras, the 14-24 has a Silent Wave Motor for fast autofocusing, two extra low dispersion elements and Nano Crystal coating for superb sharpness even wide open. An f2.8 aperture in a zoom this wide with full frame coverage is unheard of – Nikon has cemented their place as the leader in wide angle optics with this lens. One note though, there is no way to use a filter (other than modifying a square filter holder) with this lens.

NOTE: We do not ever sell our lenses on eBay. Any eBay listing that appears to be Lensrentals.com is a scam.

Roger’s take: This lens has caused a huge stir—several reviews have called it the best wide zoom ever made. Its certainly the best I’ve ever shot with, only the legendary Zeiss 21mm Distagon was sharper corner to corner and that was a $5,000 prime lens. This and a D3 are mind blowing—that’s the equivalent of an 9mm rectilinear lens on a DX camera. A week with the “Wide Thing” will change the way you shoot.
This lens is so good that a third party is selling an adapter so it can be mounted to a Canon 1DsMkIII – Canon shooters are willing to focus and set aperture manually to use this lens.

High Risk Lens: I’m surprised to have to do this, but the Nikon 14-24 f2.8 lens has a higher failure rate than most lenses in our lineup.

• How high? The Nikon 14-24 f2.8 lens has a problem rate of 1% of rentals, despite being checked out thoroughly before it leaves us.
• Why? There is a recurring problem with very stiff or ‘catching’ zoom rings. At times the internal barrel seems to ‘catch’ in the outer barrel. It seems to occur after shipping (probably from getting shaken or jarred).
• What’s the point? We’re letting you know on the front end make sure you order this lens in time to check it out before you leave for vacation or schedule your big shoot. We can send a replacement if it has a problem, but we can’t send a replacement Friday night to get to you you Saturday morning.
• Type of problem: Problem with stiff or ‘bumpy’ zoom rings, not as severe or frequent as with the Nikon 24-70 f2.8, but similar.

We probably delayed too long in putting this warning up: to be honest Nikon lenses are usually so reliable we thought, at first, that perhaps it was just a coincidence. However, we’ve since confirmed in conversation with other rental houses that they are seeing similar problems.