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Freaked Out! Trinity f1.8G!

pophoto

New member
Hi Guys,

My D800 arrived yesterday, after reading a lot of reviews and recommendations, I ordered the three f/1.8 primes (28, 50, 85) to go along with it, and thought Hey, this is winner combination for quality and value. Value? More like a bargain if the lenses are what people are saying.

However I wanted to test everything out against some test charts (results of which I will not be posting), but shooting wide opening, with the 50mm f1.8G only the inner third is sharp, the rest is soft and what I am seeing overall is a lot of fringing/aberrations, or undesired color effects which spoil the image.

I am not impressed! Is anyone else seeing this? Anyone else feel the f1.8G trinity when subjected to testing fails them! I know real world example show varied results.

But anyways....

Thanks
Po
 
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pophoto

New member
Okay, so enough of the test charts and on with some real world photos of my little boy!
Verdict: Amazingly brilliant!

Just some quick thoughts here, since I'm so late into the D800 Camp, hence my asking the questions on the Dust settled thread:
I've never shot Digital Medium format, but the latitude to recover highlights and shadows on the D800/E is no exaggeration! If this is anything to go by, wow!

Yes, I'm still using my primes, no idea why I saw so much fringing on the B/W test charts. The softness still worries me and I might get a replacement on the 50mm f1.8G or go for the f1.4G instead. The test charts really left little to be desired.

First day of quick testing shows there's a lot to like about the D800 files, but I'm so used to processing the Canon files, I know there's a "Look" lenses thread for Nikon, and I'm still kinda using value primes here compared to L primes on my Canon. So far there's no wow factor, but it does show off the potential of the sensor. Just very pleasant images so far.
 

pophoto

New member
I'll continue to add that the instant I picked up the D800, I was concerned. It felt way lighter than the D700 I used to own, and thus it felt less substantial, less quality perhaps! Am I wrong?

I remember my 5D Mark II being the toy camera compare to the D700, in the end I sold away all my Nikon gear, the Canon lenses were magical! I even upgraded to the 5D Mark III. The update was a slightly heavier body, very well built in my opinion, way more so than the Mark II. It seems Nikon has gone the other way. I'm not upset about this decision, since I like the hefty DSLRs, but there's a fine line about how much you add to the body before it's too heavy to carry for long periods of time.

The f1.8G primes are the same in the sense, they don't feel well made at all, but are light and are supposed to be good optics for the D800 36MP sensor. The combined weight savings seems good, it may not be for everyone, and still too heavy for many. However, as soon as I add the SB900, it's suddenly unbalanced, they need to do they same with a newer flash unit!

The contrast with the D800 and its lighter weight body but it's mega size sensor is interesting for me, it can suddenly be my no-sacrifice-image-quality travel camera! Yeah I'm not even sure I'm joking here!
 

tashley

Subscriber Member
there are comparatively few fast lenses that are fully sharp to the edges wide open. Try stopping down to F2 or 2.8 and also be aware that test charts with their pure black on white edges will make most lenses struggle with aberrations of the purple fringe type when shot at wide apertures.

I don't have the 50 but I do have the 28 and the 85. The 85 is a superb lens. The 28 is blindingly sharp but it has notable field curvature and you need experience to use it well. It can be used to make very very good images, but if you want sharp to the edges on real-world planar subjects, you will need to learn the lens and to make sure you have fine tuned it properly.
 

RVB

Member
there are comparatively few fast lenses that are fully sharp to the edges wide open. Try stopping down to F2 or 2.8 and also be aware that test charts with their pure black on white edges will make most lenses struggle with aberrations of the purple fringe type when shot at wide apertures.
Tim,this is a very good point about test charts,
 

RVB

Member
It is also worth mentioning,(correct me if i am wrong..) but field curvature makes wide angle lens results with test charts difficult to rely on, Lloyd Chamber's also says the 28 1.8G is a very good lens but you have to watch out for focus shift..
 

pophoto

New member
Only sharp to the inner third is hardly to the edges, although I value what you say about learning the lens. I wonder what your view is on the 24-120mm and the 24-70, are they good enough?
 

scho

Well-known member
there are comparatively few fast lenses that are fully sharp to the edges wide open. Try stopping down to F2 or 2.8 and also be aware that test charts with their pure black on white edges will make most lenses struggle with aberrations of the purple fringe type when shot at wide apertures.

I don't have the 50 but I do have the 28 and the 85. The 85 is a superb lens. The 28 is blindingly sharp but it has notable field curvature and you need experience to use it well. It can be used to make very very good images, but if you want sharp to the edges on real-world planar subjects, you will need to learn the lens and to make sure you have fine tuned it properly.
+1 I have all three lenses and my copies perform well on the D800e, given the considerations you have described.
 

pophoto

New member

Yes, I've been kept busy by this before. Problem is for me I have owned a good copy of the 24-70 on my D700, in fact I had f2.8 trinity, problem is for me with the D800 I want to shoot more wide open and I'd love to have a workhorse zoom, but going by Tim's samples I have to stop down and I have get lucky, in effect f4 is good enough!

I'm tired of testing lens each time it comes through the door now! Especially so from Nikon (for the D800)! In effect, I wished Tim got lucky with his samples and had both great lenses in the 24-120 and the 24-70 and offer his opinion then, which isn't the case! My original test charts scared me the same way, but feel better after shooting some real photos!

My next question is what is the hands down best AF 50mm lens for the D800? Really I have to go manual focus and there still isn't one? :p
 

pophoto

New member
Oh another thing I noticed to Nikon's credit, I was reminded of how good their AF-C 3D tracking is compared to Canon. This isn't true for all lenses, it was better on my 50mm than my 85 f1.8G. Yes, this is true despite Canon's latest efforts, I had the 1DX as well the 5D3.

Better than Canon, but not necessarily quicker! Sometimes you need quicker too when you want the AF point to stay where it is, like someone running towards you, for example! There subtle differences, but something has to be said how good the Nikon AF tracking was in the original D3 and junior D700, which was what the D700 really was! Now I wish for a senior D800!
 

pophoto

New member
there are comparatively few fast lenses that are fully sharp to the edges wide open. Try stopping down to F2 or 2.8 and also be aware that test charts with their pure black on white edges will make most lenses struggle with aberrations of the purple fringe type when shot at wide apertures.

I don't have the 50 but I do have the 28 and the 85. The 85 is a superb lens. The 28 is blindingly sharp but it has notable field curvature and you need experience to use it well. It can be used to make very very good images, but if you want sharp to the edges on real-world planar subjects, you will need to learn the lens and to make sure you have fine tuned it properly.
Tim, I was at first concerned about the copy of my D800 having a bad sensor, since my initial rougher quick and dirty testing showed the right side to be significantly more blurry too. Hence my asking the question how far the center should extend to being sharp! As arbitrary of a question it is.
 

pophoto

New member
Most likely curvature of field combined with spherochromatism that's exaggerated at short shooting distances.
Undesirable nonetheless! Stopping down obviously helped. The 50mm f/1.8G I am still thinking about replacing, but works well shooting real subjects so far!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Dont rule out a decentered lens as well. I would send that one back or send it for checking. Sounds weird to me
 

pophoto

New member
Yeah I will probably do that, but the good news is that I don't see anything wrong shooting real world samples of my kids! I have the weekend and holidays for B&H before I send it back.

You guys have a favorite 50mm so far, or is the f1.8G the one? f1.4G anyone?
 
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