The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Three 24 mm options comapred on the Sony A7r

ErikKaffehr

Well-known member
Hi,

Here are some comparisons of my three lenses on the Sony A7rII

  • Canon 16-35/4
  • Canon 24/3.5 TSE LII
  • Sony SAL 24-70/2.8 ZA

Some comments:

  • The Canon 16-35/4 is really shining
  • My sample of the Canon 24/3.5 TSE LII is not that great, do you think I can request of repair under warranty?
  • The Sony SAL 24-70/2.8 ZA is really good, better than expected

Sample images are here: http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/24mm_compared/ the crops shown are near left top corner. Full size images included and also raw files.
Screen Shot 2015-12-31 at 20.47.36.jpg

Best regards
Erik
 

Bob Parsons

New member
Erik, I had what seemed like a similar problem with the 24mm TS-E MkII. Since your 16-35mm seems to be good your problem may not have the same cause. In my case it was due to the lens focus not quite reaching infinity, the lens flange screws in the adapter needed tightening. I discovered this by squeezing the lens and adapter. To check I'd suggest you choose a subject that's close enough so that you can focus just beyond the target and then rack back to exact focus. Also place the subject nearer a corner, you're not shifting the lens so I'd expect the performance to be better than seen here.

Looking at the files 100% in Fast Raw Viewer the differences in sharpness don't seem to be so pronounced but the 24mm 3.5 is still the weakest though. If I have time tomorrow and if the wind is low enough to support ISO 100 @ f8 I'll check my lens at 100% on a similar contrast subject. I don't have your other two lenses to compare with.

Kind regards for the New Year. Bob.
 

ErikKaffehr

Well-known member
Hi Bob,

Thanks for your response. I am pretty sure that my 24/3.5 TSE can focus past infinity.

Foremost I am impressed by the 16-35/4.

Regarding the TSE, I show a corner crop, but the center also has some low contrast. That said, I was shooting a lot with the lens on travel and have been perfectly happy with the results.

Best regards
Erik


Erik, I had what seemed like a similar problem with the 24mm TS-E MkII. Since your 16-35mm seems to be good your problem may not have the same cause. In my case it was due to the lens focus not quite reaching infinity, the lens flange screws in the adapter needed tightening. I discovered this by squeezing the lens and adapter. To check I'd suggest you choose a subject that's close enough so that you can focus just beyond the target and then rack back to exact focus. Also place the subject nearer a corner, you're not shifting the lens so I'd expect the performance to be better than seen here.

Looking at the files 100% in Fast Raw Viewer the differences in sharpness don't seem to be so pronounced but the 24mm 3.5 is still the weakest though. If I have time tomorrow and if the wind is low enough to support ISO 100 @ f8 I'll check my lens at 100% on a similar contrast subject. I don't have your other two lenses to compare with.

Kind regards for the New Year. Bob.
 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
Hi Erik,
regarding the 24 mm T/S: I recently bought this lens to use it on the 5Dsr and the A7II. I'm not surprised at your results. I found the same thing, very soft edges, curiously a bit worse on the left than the right. I exchanged the lens for another copy and found precisely the same behaviour. This motivated me to do some further research, among other things focusing at the very edges. It turned out that this lens has a marked curvature of field, with the plane of focus bowing sharply towards the camera near the (short) edges. If you focus the lens here, you will find it is quite sharp, but the rest of the image will be blurry.
I'm afraid it is the nature of the beast and I can mostly find work-arounds.
The 16-36 zoom is excellent, but even here you'll find some field curvature.
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
Hi Bob,

Thanks for your response. I am pretty sure that my 24/3.5 TSE can focus past infinity.

Foremost I am impressed by the 16-35/4.

Regarding the TSE, I show a corner crop, but the center also has some low contrast. That said, I was shooting a lot with the lens on travel and have been perfectly happy with the results.

Best regards
Erik
The 16-35mm is a real steal for that amount of money - plus - even if price wouldn´t be a theme, it is also pretty darn good !
And the longer end from 22-35mm offers a real versatile tool on the HCam Master TS V2- a workhorse for most stuff for people, who need to shift or tilt in this range.
The Zoom changes everything. And finally we have a longer end shift&tilt 25-35mm range that is really usable and literally included for free (regarding the pricetag). Set the thing to f11 and forget about it.
I mean the 11-24mm EF-L is a very good lens, but the 16-35mm is the king of the hill on shift range, price and it doesn´t even need a modification (just pull out the rear baffle) to offer all this.

Big Like.

Greetings from Germany
Stefan
 

ErikKaffehr

Well-known member
Hi Arne,

Thanks for the info. I sort of considered field curvature being the issue, but I didn't feel it was consistent with test reports I have seen.

I did a quite extreme corner test, checking for astigmatism. Here I found that the 24/3.5 TS was actually very good in the corner, where I put focus, but the Canon 16-35/4 was a bit better just a few mm closer to centrum. That essentially matches your findings.

Best regards
Erik




Hi Erik,
regarding the 24 mm T/S: I recently bought this lens to use it on the 5Dsr and the A7II. I'm not surprised at your results. I found the same thing, very soft edges, curiously a bit worse on the left than the right. I exchanged the lens for another copy and found precisely the same behaviour. This motivated me to do some further research, among other things focusing at the very edges. It turned out that this lens has a marked curvature of field, with the plane of focus bowing sharply towards the camera near the (short) edges. If you focus the lens here, you will find it is quite sharp, but the rest of the image will be blurry.
I'm afraid it is the nature of the beast and I can mostly find work-arounds.
The 16-36 zoom is excellent, but even here you'll find some field curvature.
 

mhespenheide

New member
The 16-35mm is a real steal for that amount of money - plus - even if price wouldn´t be a theme, it is also pretty darn good !
And the longer end from 22-35mm offers a real versatile tool on the HCam Master TS V2- a workhorse for most stuff for people, who need to shift or tilt in this range.
The Zoom changes everything. And finally we have a longer end shift&tilt 25-35mm range that is really usable and literally included for free (regarding the pricetag). Set the thing to f11 and forget about it.
I mean the 11-24mm EF-L is a very good lens, but the 16-35mm is the king of the hill on shift range, price and it doesn´t even need a modification (just pull out the rear baffle) to offer all this.

Big Like.

Greetings from Germany
Stefan
Stefan,

Have you tried the Nikon 16-35G, with an adapter, then through the HCam Master? I'm put off by the lack of aperture control on the Canon EF lenses and wonder about the Nikons since they at least have some (limited) manual aperture control.

Thanks,
Mark
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
Stefan,

Have you tried the Nikon 16-35G, with an adapter, then through the HCam Master? I'm put off by the lack of aperture control on the Canon EF lenses and wonder about the Nikons since they at least have some (limited) manual aperture control.

Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark

no sorry, there are so many lenses which will more or less work. I didn´t try them all.
The Nikon 16-35mm G may very well work or not at all. It all depends on the construction of the zoom mechanics and the barrel.

Regards
Stefan
 

ICHBINSpunktDE

New member
Most lenses don't mind adapters which are a little too short (which is quite common amongst the cheap adapters, but occurs on the more expensive ones as well), but the Canon TS-E 24mm has floating elements*, so it is very, VERY sensible regarding the flange distance of your adapter... it has to be a 100 % correct. Please double-check, if your lens isn't tilted by accident as well.

Focus your lens' distance scale at about 100%, take a picture. Focus a little more towards the minimum distance and take a picture. focus a little more towards the minimum focussing distance and take a picture. Review the pics on your computer. The first picture should be the sharpest, otherwise your adapter is too short. Fix your adapter then, try shimming it with tin foil and/or electrical tape, you can google how-to.

If infinity is really on infinity (which i doubt), the lens might be a candidate to repair or return.

*floating elements correct a lens specifically for the set focussing distance, so if you focus the lens on a subject at infinity, but the lens' distance scale shows you 3 metres, it is corrected for 3 metres, not for inifinty, even the usual tricks like hyperfocal distance or tilting won't help then... your pictures are doomed :argue:

*edit* the 24mm TS-E II is known as an outstanding lens, it should easily outrun your FE 24-70mm and even have a slight edge over the Canon 4/16-35mm, given the right conditions.
 
Top