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Enough with the 24mm PC-E, how about the 45mm?
- Thread starter tjv
- Start date
I demoed the 45 on my D800 and was impressed at closer ranges. It seems it's sweet spot is table-top distances to macro, and it gets very slightly nervous in rendering beyond that -- still very good and usable through the range. To put it in perspective, it's clearly a notch above the 24, but half a step behind the 85; overall I'd say the 85 handles the full focal range better.
Ideally I would say Nikon needs a refresh on the 24 for the D800, and a touch-up at least on the 45. Ideally they will follow Canon's example and put shift and tilts on independent rotatable axis on all the PC's. There is rumor of a new 17 PC as well.
Ideally I would say Nikon needs a refresh on the 24 for the D800, and a touch-up at least on the 45. Ideally they will follow Canon's example and put shift and tilts on independent rotatable axis on all the PC's. There is rumor of a new 17 PC as well.
routlaw
Member
Maybe I just got an exceptional copy of the 45 PC-E but found it to be excellent with the D800 I demoed a couple of weekends ago and in fact was surprised at just how well it did at mid range and infinity. The 24 PC is usable IMO (barely) but only in a 4:5 crop mode as the corners (2:3 format) really become very odd looking with some of the strangest digital artifacts I have seen to date on any camera system. Not pretty would be putting it mildly. I am not so sure this lens does not suffer from some axial CA at the corners it was so odd especially in the blue channel.
I agree with Jack the 85 is the best of the lot but I was able to use both the 85 and 45 with 3 frame stitches shifting the front element. Yeah yeah I know the parallax issues but PS CS5 handled it extremely well. Been doing this for years. And its true at least in this case Canon has designed better PC or T/S lenses at least mechanically. No idea how they compare optically.
It is worth noting however that Lens Rental dot com rated the 45 PC as being a bit sharper in the center than the 85 PC which is not the same results I am seeing. Here is a link to their rather extensive testing on various lenses. Suffice it to say there are some surprises here and in some cases contrary to what I obtain.
LensRentals.com - D800 Lens Selection
Hope this helps.
Rob
I agree with Jack the 85 is the best of the lot but I was able to use both the 85 and 45 with 3 frame stitches shifting the front element. Yeah yeah I know the parallax issues but PS CS5 handled it extremely well. Been doing this for years. And its true at least in this case Canon has designed better PC or T/S lenses at least mechanically. No idea how they compare optically.
It is worth noting however that Lens Rental dot com rated the 45 PC as being a bit sharper in the center than the 85 PC which is not the same results I am seeing. Here is a link to their rather extensive testing on various lenses. Suffice it to say there are some surprises here and in some cases contrary to what I obtain.
LensRentals.com - D800 Lens Selection
Hope this helps.
Rob
Thanks all!
I've been taking note of to what extent I'm employing the movements on my Linhof lately and am surprised to find the vast majority of my shots employ only mild rise and / or tilt. I guess this is good news for me considering Nikon's current offerings drop off quite quickly off center.
Jack, what do you mean when you say the 45mm gets very slightly nervous in rendering at longer distances? Does sharpness drop off or is it more an issue to do with image rendering / look?
I've been taking note of to what extent I'm employing the movements on my Linhof lately and am surprised to find the vast majority of my shots employ only mild rise and / or tilt. I guess this is good news for me considering Nikon's current offerings drop off quite quickly off center.
Jack, what do you mean when you say the 45mm gets very slightly nervous in rendering at longer distances? Does sharpness drop off or is it more an issue to do with image rendering / look?