I liked it Don, but in a different way than the Zeiss, and not as much. I initially returned the Zeiss 21 because as brilliant as it is, I didn't think I'd like it that much as a walk around lens combining street and landscape and other stuff. It's a little big and awkward, although really nice in use. And the Nikon was just over half of what I had in the Zeiss cost-wise. So it seemed like a good idea. And I liked the Nikon - it would have been a better walk-around lens, but it didn't have the pop of the Zeiss or the detail out towards infinity. It had plenty good of it's own, but it just wasn't all that similar. If I hadn't shot with the Zeiss first, I'd have bought the Nikon, kept if for years, and loved it. And I did like it. But the irony is that I took the money I got back on the 21 and after buying the Nikon 20, I had enough for the Zeiss 25 f2.8. And once I had THAT, I realized it was gonna be my primary walk around lens and I was gonna use the 20 in a more limited role than I'd initially thought. And I just couldn't get past how much I preferred the Zeiss. So I gathered all of my lenses together and had a good long talk with them and decided to return the Nikon 20 and sell off a few of the lesser cousins (including the Nikon 28 f1.8, also a pretty nice lens, but not needed with the Zeiss 25). And then I was able to buy another copy (saved about $100 from the first one too) of the Zeiss 21 and had enough left over along with an Amazon gift card I had to also pick up a used Zeiss 35 f2.0. So that's how the whole thing evolved. I THINK I'm sort of safeguarded against buying additional Zeiss glass because I just don't like manual focus in the longer focal lengths and I very rarely shoot with anything wider than 21, so wouldn't put big money into anything wider (I have a Rokinon 14mm for the very occasional ultra-wide shots). I'd think about a 50 if I ever shot at that focal length, but I don't and the Nikon 50 f1.8D is all the lens I need there with all of $75 invested in it.
Anyway, the Nikon 20 f1.8 is a really nice lens, something that was long overdue in a quality lens from Nikon (it's way nicer than the 20 f2.8 D, which also went in the purge), and probably a more useable all-around wide angle than the Zeiss. But I just like the Zeiss too much... Here are a couple from the Nikon 20 from when I had it (for your curiosity and to keep Bill happy!):
One more - it's fun wide open and up close...
untitled-2-3-Edit by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
-Ray