Teodorian
Aktiv medlem
Björn Rörslett skall gå igenom ca 50-60 av hans Nikkors för D3. Det skall bli intressant att se vilka som håller måttet!
"I did "rush" tests on a number of lenses and only when I got to some less likely candidates for D3 did the vignetting show up. So I wan't prepared for that issue from the onset.
I'm running a quick test of 50-60 lenses during this week to learn what does and what doesn't work well on the new camera. I also received a D300, so there are cross-platform comparisons to run as well. Already getting the first signs of a headache.
I plan to test about 50 of the Nikkor lenses during this and the following week. All your questions will be addressed - in due time. Besides the usual standard set of lenses, I'll run a few of the more exotic ones, plus the Micro-Nikkors of course. I'll do 14-24 vs 17-35 and 24-70 vs 28-70 in a few days.
Today has been a little hectic due to the need to clarify how the D3 responds to different kinds of lenses. I had only a few hours of daylight in which to run tests. Tomorrow I'll modify an "L" bracket to accomodate the camera so it can thrive better on my tripods and will do A/B tests against D2x first, the D300 later."
"I think there is a definite reason for Nikon's decision to produce the 14-24, which does NOT show any fall-off whatsover at 20-24mm, and only a very slight corner darkness at 14mm wide-open (disappears stopped down 1 or two stops).
So, prepare to add the 14-24 if you're into wide-angle photography, keep the fisheye(s) and all lenses 28 or longer. The borderline range 20-24 needs much more in-depth testing to clarify what's going on.
What amazes me the most is the low incidence of CA with the D3. It simply has disappeared in virtually all situations. Strange.
I'd like to elaborate the last point a little. On the D2X, using a wide PC lens (28, 35) and shifting or tilting to the full extent resulted in very severe one-sided vignetting, heavy assymmetric CA, and in some cases, an extreme loss of sharpness all over the frame. With the D3, these issues are very much reduced, however, if the lens is shifted to its extreme limits there will be a peripheral zone where all sharpness disappears and some vignetting occurs. The troubled zone appears quite abruptly when you examine the image frame into the corners. This might be alleviated by stopping down, but I haven't gotten that far in my test procedures yet.
What we observe is probably the consequence of the new sensor array design of the D3, with its double (micro) lenses, There is a limit to the angle of incidence that the photosites will accept. This again is the likely reason why extreme wide-angle lenses of the "old school" fare badly and even (in case of the 15/5.6) might be not accepted by the camera. I'd like to repeat that it isn't the focal length as such that is important, or the picture angle, but how the lens interacts with the imager inside the camera. Obviously the wizardry inside the D3 is busy counting bits and adjusting the final outcome.
The 14/2.8 does quite well in fact, but there is some vignetting and traces of blue fringing towards the corners. I'll rerun it later. The 17-35 looks OK, but I'll do a further test run to see whether it drops in corner quality as the picture angle widens.
I think the recommended approach is simply to bite the bullet and get the 14-24 which is a match made in heaven for the D3. One can hardly get a better demonstration of the ingenuity that underlies the D3 concept.
You read me wrong. The 17-35 isn't *bad* at all. There might be some vignetting at 17mm, but no serious issue has been encountered so far.
"The 28/2 seems to work very well on D3, but there is a little unsharpness into the extreme corners at close range and wide apertures."
Några av resultaten hittintills (betyg inom parantes):
1) 17-55/2.8 (4.5)
On the D3, the 17-55 won't cover the entire FX frame below approx. 28mm setting, but you can use it from 24mm if a slight vignetting is allowed. The centre of the image is very crisp and sharp, but the corners do suffer loss of contrast and detail sharpness all the way up to 55mm. So I have reduced the rating a little according to this fact.
2) 17-35/2.8 (5)
On the D3, the 17-35 behaves in an exemplary fashion
3) Fish-Eye 8/2.8 (4.5)
With the D3, the entire circular image is to be seen, and pictures are rendered crisp and practically free of CA. There is, however, the ubiquituous blue fringe around the perimeter, which according to Dr. Brian Caldwell is caused by wave-lnegth dependent vignetting and is inevitable for any fisheye lens.
4) 50/1.2 (5)
Image contrast even at f/1.2 is higher on the D3, so pictures come across crisper and appearing sharper with this camera. Focusing the lens on a D3 was easy.
5) 85/1.4 (5)
The D3 adverts depict the D3 with the 85/1.4 AFD and the same lens is used for illustrations in the D3 manual. No wonder, since the 85/1.4 AFD performs superbly on this camera. Even the wide-open captures are as good as anything I ever seen before.
"I did "rush" tests on a number of lenses and only when I got to some less likely candidates for D3 did the vignetting show up. So I wan't prepared for that issue from the onset.
I'm running a quick test of 50-60 lenses during this week to learn what does and what doesn't work well on the new camera. I also received a D300, so there are cross-platform comparisons to run as well. Already getting the first signs of a headache.
I plan to test about 50 of the Nikkor lenses during this and the following week. All your questions will be addressed - in due time. Besides the usual standard set of lenses, I'll run a few of the more exotic ones, plus the Micro-Nikkors of course. I'll do 14-24 vs 17-35 and 24-70 vs 28-70 in a few days.
Today has been a little hectic due to the need to clarify how the D3 responds to different kinds of lenses. I had only a few hours of daylight in which to run tests. Tomorrow I'll modify an "L" bracket to accomodate the camera so it can thrive better on my tripods and will do A/B tests against D2x first, the D300 later."
"I think there is a definite reason for Nikon's decision to produce the 14-24, which does NOT show any fall-off whatsover at 20-24mm, and only a very slight corner darkness at 14mm wide-open (disappears stopped down 1 or two stops).
So, prepare to add the 14-24 if you're into wide-angle photography, keep the fisheye(s) and all lenses 28 or longer. The borderline range 20-24 needs much more in-depth testing to clarify what's going on.
What amazes me the most is the low incidence of CA with the D3. It simply has disappeared in virtually all situations. Strange.
I'd like to elaborate the last point a little. On the D2X, using a wide PC lens (28, 35) and shifting or tilting to the full extent resulted in very severe one-sided vignetting, heavy assymmetric CA, and in some cases, an extreme loss of sharpness all over the frame. With the D3, these issues are very much reduced, however, if the lens is shifted to its extreme limits there will be a peripheral zone where all sharpness disappears and some vignetting occurs. The troubled zone appears quite abruptly when you examine the image frame into the corners. This might be alleviated by stopping down, but I haven't gotten that far in my test procedures yet.
What we observe is probably the consequence of the new sensor array design of the D3, with its double (micro) lenses, There is a limit to the angle of incidence that the photosites will accept. This again is the likely reason why extreme wide-angle lenses of the "old school" fare badly and even (in case of the 15/5.6) might be not accepted by the camera. I'd like to repeat that it isn't the focal length as such that is important, or the picture angle, but how the lens interacts with the imager inside the camera. Obviously the wizardry inside the D3 is busy counting bits and adjusting the final outcome.
The 14/2.8 does quite well in fact, but there is some vignetting and traces of blue fringing towards the corners. I'll rerun it later. The 17-35 looks OK, but I'll do a further test run to see whether it drops in corner quality as the picture angle widens.
I think the recommended approach is simply to bite the bullet and get the 14-24 which is a match made in heaven for the D3. One can hardly get a better demonstration of the ingenuity that underlies the D3 concept.
You read me wrong. The 17-35 isn't *bad* at all. There might be some vignetting at 17mm, but no serious issue has been encountered so far.
"The 28/2 seems to work very well on D3, but there is a little unsharpness into the extreme corners at close range and wide apertures."
Några av resultaten hittintills (betyg inom parantes):
1) 17-55/2.8 (4.5)
On the D3, the 17-55 won't cover the entire FX frame below approx. 28mm setting, but you can use it from 24mm if a slight vignetting is allowed. The centre of the image is very crisp and sharp, but the corners do suffer loss of contrast and detail sharpness all the way up to 55mm. So I have reduced the rating a little according to this fact.
2) 17-35/2.8 (5)
On the D3, the 17-35 behaves in an exemplary fashion
3) Fish-Eye 8/2.8 (4.5)
With the D3, the entire circular image is to be seen, and pictures are rendered crisp and practically free of CA. There is, however, the ubiquituous blue fringe around the perimeter, which according to Dr. Brian Caldwell is caused by wave-lnegth dependent vignetting and is inevitable for any fisheye lens.
4) 50/1.2 (5)
Image contrast even at f/1.2 is higher on the D3, so pictures come across crisper and appearing sharper with this camera. Focusing the lens on a D3 was easy.
5) 85/1.4 (5)
The D3 adverts depict the D3 with the 85/1.4 AFD and the same lens is used for illustrations in the D3 manual. No wonder, since the 85/1.4 AFD performs superbly on this camera. Even the wide-open captures are as good as anything I ever seen before.
