24/25mm Lens for D800E

[felix5616]

I would like to hear from nikon D800E users regarding a lens in the 24/25mm focal length range. currently, what is the sharpest (edge to edge) 24/25mm lens available?

 

[pgmj]

Perhaps the ZF 25/2.8, at longer distances?
http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/449435-post13.html

 

[Bryan Stephens]

I was going to say the same thing. I just ordered mine, and am (im)patiently waiting for it to arrive.

 

[Jack]

I've tried them all, and so far a very good copy of the 24 PC-E is your best bet.

 

[Bob]

What Jack said. I haven't tried the zeiss though.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Zeiss 25 f2

 

[DDudenbostel]

I must have had a bad copy of the 25 f2 Zeiss. I read many people are happy with theirs but my copy never got sharp at the edges and especially the corners. My 24 PC is much better. My 24-70 2.8 Nikkor was even better.

 

[Jack]

I've never seen a Zeiss really sharp in the corners either -- I'd really like somebody with one to post examples with all 4 corner crops. I asked for this in the Zeiss 25 thread, but nothing yet.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

You can try mine in a couple weeks.

 

[DDudenbostel]

I had hopes of edge to edge sharpness wide open. No such luck with the 25, 35 and 100 that I had. I do documentary work under poor light and need wide open performance. I love my D800 but there aren't any wides that give me what I need. Longer glass isn't a problem.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Okay here I shot this through a plate glass window for 15 seconds at F10. Infinity corners is with a wide angle is not always on the same plane of focus so its a tough one. But focused at the center crop and the corner even though a half a block away closer off the focus plane still looks good. BTW this is the Zeiss 25mm F2 lens and i processed tis very quickly in ACR. YUK


This is not one of my better shots either in this series . I just noticed glare off the left side of the glass I was not blocking that good enough. I'll get out and shoot some more but infinity is not a easy shot with the same plane of focus in center and on corners. Most issue is in landscape the foreground corner is closer by a country mile. LOL
Full frame

center crop

Left corner

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I had hopes of edge to edge sharpness wide open. No such luck with the 25, 35 and 100 that I had. I do documentary work under poor light and need wide open performance. I love my D800 but there aren't any wides that give me what I need. Longer glass isn't a problem.

Your not going to find corner to corner sharpness wide open with any wide angle PERIOD. It dont exist in any system

The best you will get is maybe F4 and that might be a push

 

[Jack]

Your not going to find corner to corner sharpness wide open with any wide angle PERIOD. It dont exist in any system

Actually, the 24 PC is pretty good here -- remember it shifts 12mm, so the IC has quite an area to cover. The corners on mine start to fall apart at about 8-9mm of shift, the edges go at 9-10mm.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Okay the other window. LOL

F10 again 10 seconds through glass but again the corner is closer than the focus plane.

Center

right corner

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Good night Irene. Its Monday night football and steak on the grill. Im grabbing a beer now.

 

[felix5616]

Guy, thanks for the sample pics from the zeiss 25mm f/2 looks great. how does iit compare to the nikon 24mm 1.4G lens in terms of edge to edge sharpness at f 5.6 - 8?

 

[DDudenbostel]

Your not going to find corner to corner sharpness wide open with any wide angle PERIOD. It dont exist in any system

The best you will get is maybe F4 and that might be a push

I just expanded my Leica M9 system with a 35 asph summilux FLE and 24 Elmar. The 24 is slow but tack sharp into the corners. The 35 f1.4 FLE exceeds anything I've seen and matches the 50 asph summilux corner to corner. Wide open performance is amazing.

I don't think you can get everything in one package. Leica is all about lenses with a camera that's ok but suffers at high ISO and is a very specialized machine. Nikon and canon have excellent bodies, features and files but can't touch the Leica glass wide open (wides and normals) or even one stop down.

 

[felix5616]

not looking for everything in one package, just a sharp 24/25mm lens.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Guy, thanks for the sample pics from the zeiss 25mm f/2 looks great. how does iit compare to the nikon 24mm 1.4G lens in terms of edge to edge sharpness at f 5.6 - 8?

I like the Zeiss better myself. I think it's a stop better on the edges and corners. Smaller too.

In the first images posted here I'm also not right up the glass and the left side is away from the window which will also cause the glare you see in the left corner. Really not a ideal shot . The second I was more square on to the glass. I actually got moire in a shot handheld that says a lot for a sharp lens. I have yet to get moire with a Nikon lens yet. The Nikon 24 is a good lens but I like the Zeiss better. Now in 35mm I'm still figuring out if the Zeiss 35f2 is better than the 35 1.4 G which I had a really good copy of. I need to go shoot that lens more to figure that out. I never shot it when I was in NY just the Tammy 24-70 and my Zeiss 18

 

[Oamkumar]

I will post some pictures with my new 24mm f/2.8 Nikon lens today. I really could not test or calibrate the lens. I will try to do this today. I am not sure about the sharpness of the lens, but I think it is better than my 20mm f2.8 one.