I hadn't really thought about the nikkor prime wide angle lenses, since I have the 10.5 and the 12-24 DX lenses. Looking ahead to the possibility of going full frame, how is the quality of the 14mm, 20mm, 24mm, and 28mm? Is the 14 worth the price? The others seems pretty cheap, are they any good?

Thanks! Looking forward to your comments.

Why not go with the 14-24?

I know the 14-24 is a good lens, but I'm really interested in learning more about the primes in this range.

Check out the lens section of Bjorn's site, he's evaluated many of these Nikkor primes.
http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html

14mm prime is good but overpriced (IMHO) when considering the 14-24mm is optically as good or better plus you get 15-24mm range (and it beats other primes in this range too). I used to have the manual 20mm f/2.8 AIS. I thought it to be a good performer but others might feel it underperforms at infinity. Never had the AF 24mm but it seems to get a bad rap.

I know you want info on primes but when facing a similar situation as you I read the reviews and found that the WA primes did not surpass the WA zooms. I guess we've come to a time in which the zoom lenses (14-24mm, 17-35mm) have caught up to the primes in the same range. The primes have their place, affordable and more compact, however given bulk size of a 17-35mm or 14-24mm with better IQ over the primes I'd go with bulk over compactness or size. That's just me though.

Check out Bjorn's site and our own FM review section for opinions. Photozone.de can be good as well.

I had the 14mm F/2.8 and it didn't blow me away. I'm confident the 14-24mm zoom is much better.

shrimpone wrote:
I hadn't really thought about the nikkor prime wide angle lenses, since I have the 10.5 and the 12-24 DX lenses. Looking ahead to the possibility of going full frame, how is the quality of the 14mm, 20mm, 24mm, and 28mm? Is the 14 worth the price? The others seems pretty cheap, are they any good?

Thanks! Looking forward to your comments.

A few weeks ago I started a thread here on this exact topic and the consensus was that wide-angle lens design has made major advances in recent years and pretty much the market has been demanding zooms, so the result is that most of the newer, i.e., better wide angles are zooms. Photozone, slrgear and other sites that test lenses seem to confirm this - most of the zooms seem better than most of the primes.

I was very disappointed about this because I'm going hiking in Yosemite (with a D300) in July and I don't look forward to the bulk and weight of a zoom but the landscape photo opportunities in Yosemite dictate that I get the optically-best most professional-quality lens I can lay my hands on, and it may turn out that such a lens is a zoom, though I have to bite my tongue to say that.