G1 approx 150mm lens comparaison

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi,

since Terry couldn't help me with a lens comparaison with the 45-200mm at relatively long focal length, I decided to give it a go myself. My personal goal being to determine how well the Panny performs at longer focal lengths.

I own 4 lenses with a focal length approx 150mm :

Panasonic kitlens 45-200mm (f5.2 @ 150mm)
Nikon series E zoom 75-150mm (f3.5)
cine-Kodak Telephoto 152mm (f4.5)
Konica Hexanon AR 135mm (f3.5)

and I went for a shoot-out @ maximum opening / f5.6 / f8 / f11 on a tripod in our local park.

Let me show you the results in the next 4 posts.

Please, answer only after I'm done with the uploading !

C U
Rafael

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Here's the results @ fully open :

Kodak @ 4.5

Konica @ 3.5

Nikon @ 3.5

Panny @ 5.2

100% crops of the windows on which I did the manual focusing :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

Kodak and Konica seem soft to me, Nikon is sharper and more contrasted, but shows a lot of CA at full opening.
Panny performs very well, but don't forget that we are a stop slower than the Nikon !

Rafael
​

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

this is @ f5.6 :

Kodak @ 5.6

Konica @ 5.6

Nikon @ 5.6

Panny @ 5.6

and the 100% crops :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

The Kodak clears up a little, but remains the softest.
Little difference for the Panny, almost no difference in opening also.
Nikon still has a little CA but remains the sharpest and most contrasted.

Rafael
​

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Here's @ f8 :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

and the crops :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

Kodak remains the softest, doesn't seem to get any better any more
Konica, Nikon and the Panny are now fully sharp and contrasted, and Nikon has no more CA

Rafael
​

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

and finally, the results at f11 :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

and the 100% crops :

Kodak

Konica

Nikon

Panny

In the end, it's a close finish between the Nikon (remember, it's a series E lens, also more than 20years old, and it was not expensive at all at that time) and the Panny.
Konica performs well, just behind Nikon and Panny.
The Kodak c-mount is very useable, but a lot softer. Could be a good lens for shooting people in the distance.

I hope you did find my test shooting interesting !

C U
Rafael
​

 

[petermcwerner]

In the end, it's a close finish between the Nikon (remember, it's a series E lens, also more than 20years old, and it was not expensive at all at that time) and the Panny.

Konica performs well, just behind Nikon and Panny.
The Kodak c-mount is very useable, but a lot softer. Could be a good lens for shooting people in the distance.​

Rafael,

Thank you for this interesting comparison. This Nikon lens is known to be excellent in spite of its relatively low price. Your test shows it deserves its reputation. I had not used it on the G1 but now shall try it and see if I can live with its manual focusing. Its disadvantage is the push-pull zooming which is very easy to change accidentally. I do not remember it it keeps the focus at various zoom ranges or if you have te re-focus it as the zoom rate changes.

Thanks again for your excellent report.
Cheers
Peter
​

 

[Leica 77]

Hello Rafael,
The results of your lens tests are very informative. I had used the Nikon 75-150mm lens with the Kodachrome or the Ektachrome during the days of non-digital imaging. The Nikon zoom lens consistenly produced some of the sharpest images in color transparencies. Either Popular Photography Magazine or Modern Photography Magazine ran a test of the Nikon 75-150mm lens many years ago in the U.S., and their test results also showed remarkablly high resolving powers of the Nikon lens. I still have the lens and enjoy using it occasionally with my digital SLR. Best regards, Leica 77

 

[woodmancy]

Kodak 78mm c-mount

I've just acquired this lens - and although it is tricky to use, the softness is appealing

Keith

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi Peter & Leica77

I admit that I was also really surprised and impressed by that little Nikon Series E zoom.
It produces remarkably sharp images, and it's a full stop faster than the Panny.

I'm certainly going to use it much more often, after this shoot-out.
Also, I'll try and check the focus at different focal lengths asap and report on that.

Fazit : G1 and Nikon SE 75-150, a very nice combination if you don't mind the manual focusing.
If you need autofocus, the Panny is also a great performer.

Have a nice day,
Rafael

 

[petermcwerner]

Also, I'll try and check the focus at different focal lengths asap and report on that.

Rafael,

I tried it out on the Nikon on the G1. It does have to be re-focused as you zoom in or out, making for very slow operation.

Another excellent vintage (1971) Nikkor lens is the 105mm/2.5: very sharp even at full aperture, with a nice bokeh and color rendition

Nikkor 105mm/2.5 on the Panasonic G1

Nikkor 105mm/2.5 on the Panasonic G1

Nyon (Switzerland) Yacht Harbour - Nikkor 105mm/2.5 on G1 - 1/800 @ f/2.5 - ISO=100

1:1 (100%) crop

Cheers
Peter
​

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Another excellent vintage Nikkor lens is the 105mm/2.5: very sharp even at full aperture, with a nice bokeh and color rendition

I have one of those as well, Peter !

I'll try to make more shoot-outs between my Nikkor glass and the Pannies over the next days or so. Stay tuned

Rafael

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

It does have to be re-focused as you zoom in or out

You're right, Peter (not that I ever doubted about that ), I just checked it on my lens.

But guess what ? I also checked the focus of the Panny (in MF) and it also needs refocusing. And, it seems to me that it even needs more change in distance setting,
when you just zoom in from 75 to 150mm

Since the Panny has no distance scale or indication on it, refocusing is easier on the Nikon !

I wonder if there are zoomlenses that need no refocusing at all ?

C U,
Rafael

 

[pellicle]

Hi

... a lens comparaison with the 45-200mm at relatively long focal length,
...
Panasonic kitlens 45-200mm (f5.2 @ 150mm)
Nikon series E zoom 75-150mm (f3.5)
cine-Kodak Telephoto 152mm (f4.5)
Konica Hexanon AR 135mm (f3.5)

thanks for the comparison ... can you tell me if you used JPG or RAW for this? I know that the Pany lens will have some post processing done on it and I've found that when comparing my kit lens with other lenses that this makes a difference. I have sort of standardaised on dcraw as my testing conversion engine with -T to get it to do a TIFF and keep it at 8 bit (although -4 will give 16 bit if desired). It performs more uniform compairsons as:

By default, dcraw uses a fixed white balance based on a color chart illuminated with a standard D65 lamp.

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi, pellicle,

it's all jpg directly from the camera.
No IP at all

jpg setting was HQ

C U,
Rafael

 

[pellicle]

Hi

it's all jpg directly from the camera.
No IP at all

I'm not sure if you know it but the camera does IP on lenses which are in its database (such as the Panasonic lens). This may make that lens look a little nicer.

 

[deckitout]

An interesting comparison, I enjoyed it as was suprised by the Panny to be honest.

Thanks you

Phil

 

[tripper]

You went to a lot of trouble Rafael and I found it interesting. I only have the Panny 45-200mm and I saw nothing in your test to make me regret owning this lens. I assume none of the others had O.I.S or equivalent ?
Here is a shot I took recently with this lens.

Acrocephalus schoenobaenus 'Sedge Warbler'

Panasonic 45-200mm @ 200mm f/6.3 1/400s iso200

tripper

 

[f6cvalkyrie]

Hi, tripper,

thanks for showing your appreciation.

There is absolutely nothing that should make you regret owning this 45-200mm Panny. It's a great lens, even if it seems that software helps to make the pictures look better. I don't care about that, it's the result that counts for me
No AF, no IS on any of the lenses, except on the Panny. But the Panny pictures are also shot in MF.

and, tripper, that's one superb birdshot you show us here.
Thanks for sharing that, it's one of the best birdshots I've ever seen :clap::clap:

C U,
Rafael

 

[petermcwerner]

I wonder if there are zoomlenses that need no refocusing at all ?

Rafael,

Most need refocusing, some of the best hold the focus, for instance the Angenieux 70-210 mm f/3.5 : it holds focus throughout the zoom, wide open f/3.5 I have one in Leica R mount, never tried it on the G1, but I loved it on the DMR. Example in the Salzburg Roofs on a Rainy Afternoon.

Cheers
Peter

 

[petermcwerner]

YI also checked the focus of the Panny (in MF) and it also needs refocusing. And, it seems to me that it even needs more change in distance setting, when you just zoom in from 75 to 150mm. Since the Panny has no distance scale or indication on it, refocusing is easier on the Nikon !

Rafael,

That is where AF comes in handy. I cannot imagine myself successfully focusing manually while zooming.

Cheers
Peter