Lens review

Nikon Nikkor AF-S DX 10-24 mm f/3.5-4.5G ED

8. Vignetting

The result in this category was interesting indeed. The tested Nikkor 10-24 mm shows roughly the same vignetting level all the time, no matter what focal length we choose.

For the 10 mm/ f/3.5 combination the corner brightness loss amounts to 39% (-1.45 EV) and it slightly decreases on stopping down. By f/4.0 we get 35%, by f/5.6 – still significant 30%, by f/8.0 we have 28% and by f/11 still noticeable 26%.

At 17 mm the performance is very similar. At the maximum aperture, which amounts to f/4.2 for this focal length, the vignetting reaches 39% so it is identical than the value for 10 mm. Here also the decrease on stopping down is very slow. By f/5.6 the vignetting is 36%, by f/8.0 we get 27%. In some situations the vignetting is still visible by f/11 because it still reaches 25%.

At maximum aperture, the frame corner light fall-off will be the most problematic. There, by f/4.5, the level of this aberration was assessed as 41% (1.54 EV). On stopping down to f/5.4 the vignetting decreases to 37%. By f/8.0 it amounts to 30% and by f/11 it is still noticeable (24%).

In this category the Nikon fared significantly worse than the Tamron 10-24 mm, which had its maximal vignetting level at the widest angle, where it reached 37%. At longer focal lengths the advantage of the Tamron was clear, though, because the frame corner brightness loss was 17-20% at most. For a change, both the Tamron and the Nikkor fare better than the Canon, which, wide open, had the results in the range from 41% to 47%.