Camera Labs

I was referring to the Photozone reviews.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Photozone has lots of images, too.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I wish more lens tests included consideration of how well the lens(es) handles out-of-focus areas of the image. It's difficult to do because lenses can differ in so many ways in this respect and because there's no one simple measure of "bokeh". People don't even agree on what distinguishes good bokeh from bad. Still... for some of us the way a lens portrays a 3D world when a narrow DOF means only some of it is sharp can be more important than minor differences in corner sharpness. I've seen that one review site makes an effort nowadays to report/test bokeh - I wish more would make the effort.

It so happens that I just finished a comparative test of four lenses including the 35mm 1.8G included in this Camera Labs group test. The others were a Nikon 35mm f/2 Ai-S, Nikon 35-70mm f/2.8 AF, and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (one model older than the current one - no VR). I tested how they handle out-of-focus highlights by shooting tiny Christmas lights in a dark room, at both infinity focus and closest focus (with the lights in between at 42 inches). I compared near-center to near-edge at several aperture stops. No doubt the test could have been more complete or done in lots of different ways, but I think the results are meaningful and useful. Highlights rendered as discs of circles of confusion (or whatever you want to call those things - I like to call them bokeh-dots) are just one small part of what constitutes out-of-focus quality, but I find that differences between lenses show up well, and in my opinion ugly bokeh-dots are a real turn-off.

The test results are published as a single image at Flickr: HERE
Please tell me what you think and/or offer ideas for improved testing/comparison of bokeh.

[this is my first-ever post here and I hope it's a welcome one]

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D300 and tons of glass

Seems incredibly' difficult to justify the cost of the f1.4...

Hello MGdeABQ, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
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Your comments on Bokeh are spot on: It's were hard to do a meaningful and easily repeatable test of bokeh. You'll see my try on it with the up-and-coming editorial review of the 35/1.4G.
I also had a look at your test-image(s): You have put quite a lot of effort in it and I agree that oof highlights tend to show some aspects of bokeh. But unfortunately I find it hard to correlate the results you got with real-life bokeh from those lenses.
One additional remark: I think the oval shape of the outer light-circles on the DX 35/1.8G at f/1.8 have to do with the vignetting of the lens. This is an interesting by-product of your test.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I've read your review of the three nikon 35 mm primes. I agree with your opinion of the 1.8 DX on a DX body it works beautifully on my d7000. On my D700 it's performance is mediocre at best and you sacrifice a lot of pixels of resolution to use it. Ivebeen wanting a 35mm prime for the D700 and wanted to know what others' opinions are of the Zeiss distagon ZF.2 35 mm f2.0. It is about half the price of the nikon f1.4 and the Zeiss 1.4. I know the Zeiss 2 is manual focus but I don't always consider that a negative. Opinions?

Hello Mrfearless47, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
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As to your question regarding Zeiss lenses, that is certainly an option and should produce very high IQ too. I'm pretty astonished that there are no other alternatives at 35mm focal length for an FX-shooter.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Soon there is the Samyang 35/1.4. It is a "budget" MF lens, but could produce quality results

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- Wout -
Lowepro Nova 200 AW filled with Nikon D90 + MB-D80
18-70 DX, 70-300 VR, 35 1.8 DX, SB-700

Nice review Thomas (you're a mod, well done mate). I've been using the DX 35mm f1.8G almost exclusively layely and I really like it. It's a fun lens which is capable of some great results as your tests have shown. Given the budget price I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it to all Nikon users on a budget. Quite a lot of my recent suff over at dA was shot with this lens.

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

Nice to see you back zorro, don't be a stranger!

Hello Mrfearless47

I have the Zeiss 2/35 ZF.2 and was a previous owner of the 35 f1.8 DX. I'm currently on a crop body and it's my first venture into a manual focus prime.

On DX, the Zeiss is fantastic. Manual focus is a breeze on a D90 with a replacement split prism focussing screen, and the rendition is IMO a cut above the Nikon 35 f2, and light years ahead of the 35 f1.8. On FX, results look even better, and with the brighter and larger viewfinder the replacement focussing screen is not as necessary.

If I want a fast(ish) prime, then I want it to be sharp wide open, and this certainly is. Not only that, but the microcontrast and 3D like rendering that's been mentioned before is apparent. Transition from focus to out of focus is buttery and the bokeh ain't bad either.

If you're not afraid of manual focus, which many people are for some strange reason, then I'd recommend getting to a store to try one if possible.

It is a large jump in price to the new f1.4s from Nikon and Zeiss, which actually makes the 2/35 look like good value nowadays too!

Just an update, regarding the use of the AF-S DX 35/1.8G on the new D800:
With the 1.2x crop of the D800 you should be able to use this DX lens quite well on the new body. that gives you 25MP and an equivalent focal length of 42mm.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

From the review:

Does that mean I should set +0.7EV when using this lens?

Hello jelb0, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
To enjoy your stay here please have a look at the house-rules!
There is already one hint there for you, and I quote from the rules: "animated graphics can prove annoying [...] we encourage static images".
So could you please replace your avatar by a non-animated version?!
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As to your question: No, the metering system adapts the automatic exposure to any fluctuations in transmission of any lens. This is the same when you put a dark filter in front of the lens: the automatic will compensate for this.
Only if you manually expose this lens and compare it to e.g. the 35/2.0D or 35/1.4G at trhe same exposure you can see that less light is transmitted to the sensor.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thomas,

Sure thing, I just changed my avatar picture.

Thanks for your answer