New 24-120mm f4 Lens Discussion (cont'd)

bald_eagle

Sevencrossing said:

In the next post, someone is going to claim, sharpness comes from the sharpness fairly

Of course it comes from the sharpness fairy... the actual quality of glass and lens construction has bugger all to do with it..
(sorry seven.. had to do it!! )

Pistnbroke said:

If you are a RAW shooter then the sharpness or much of it comes from your post processing. If you are a JPEG shooter it comes from the sharpness menu. Certainly totally rubbish lenses like my Sigma FX 17-35 D become totally brilliant with the right sharpening.

I have to disagree with you there... were that the case, no one would need to buy professional quality lenses at all if any old lens could yield great sharpness with the proper post processing (in camera or on the computer)!!
Maybe there's a bit of fairy dust sprinkled on your sharpening tool in your PP software..

Cheers,
Baldy

spraynpray

...and budget to budget.

heartyfisher

Yup and Yup ..

spraynpray

I have a couple of question for current 24-120VR owners - do you find that there is still a lot of vignetting even after applying the lens profile in Lightroom? Also, can you try manual focus and tell me if the image 'jumps' when you turn it in and out of focus?

I may have a dud one... :-?

sevencrossing

I have a couple of question for current 24-120VR owners - do you find that there is still a lot of vignetting even after applying the lens profile in Lightroom?

I never looked closely before. Yes some, but not lots
I have to confess
I tend to shoot wide and crop and often add a bit of post crop vignette
for shots were vignetting would matter and sharpness critical; I use my 105mm macro
at the risk of teaching my granny to suck eggs - have you tried taking the filter and lens hood off

Also, can you try manual focus and tell me if the image 'jumps' when you turn it in and out of focus?
dont think I have ever used this lens on Manual
but not sure what you are asking me to try





D800 24-120 1/500 @ f4 @ 32mm

spraynpray

OK, thanks for posting those pics seven. That first pic looks much better than mine AFTER I've applied the profile, so yeah, looks like I have a problem there at least. I never use filters other than for effects so it isn't that. I also took some night shots without the hood on by accident the other night and they seemed as bad.

Manual focus: I first saw this when shooting on a moonless night: I turned off AF at the body and focused using a torch to illuminate the subject. As I turned either side of the focal point, the image 'jumped' - this can be replicated any time. in any light. VR was turned off because it was on my tripod btw.

sevencrossing

Just tested manual focus no problems does it do the same if you set the lens to M

Msmoto

Important to remember when using the lens set to manual focus is to make certain the camera body is also set to manual focus and not AF.

spraynpray

I have just found that mine does it no matter what position any of the AF/MF/VR switches are in. I found it this way: Try setting your camera to live view and zooming in to 100% to focus - that is what I realise I was doing the other night. As you change direction of the focus ring - just as you feel the backlash in the mechanism - the picture moves left and right as the direction of focusing changes. It doesn't matter which orientation my camera is in, it moves left and right so that means gravity has something to do with it i.e. something is loose. I even tried it with VR turned on and it is still the same. Worst at the 24mm end, but still there albeit only slightly when the lens is at 120mm. I just tried it with the lens pointing at the floor and it still does it though. Bizarre.

@Msmoto: Sorry Tommie, I missed your post - why does one have to do what you said? It is my understanding it is an either/or both situation? I didn't see anything in the manual, but then I am a man, and we are blind when we look for stuff...

sevencrossing

Sorry I don't use live view as I can never get the focus to work
live in my D800 may be different to live view in your D750
do you get the same issue with the D7100

spraynpray

Yes I do and it looks worse of course because of the crop factor.

sevencrossing

Yes I do and it looks worse of course because of the crop factor.

?
the crop factor should reduce vignetting
not too sure why it would affect focusing

spraynpray

Ah, we misunderstand each other. The vignetting will always be better on a crop sensor than a full frame due to the greater pixel density of the D7100 so I wouldn't use the 24-120 on the D7100 as I am not impressed with its sharpness on my D750.

The image jumping will look worse on the crop sensor because of the apparent magnification effect (they both have the same size screens on the back but the D7100's sensor is smaller so the movement looks larger).

Capiche seven?

sevencrossing

I understand magnification will make jumping will look worse
but at a loss how pixel density affects vignetting

spraynpray

Argh! I wouldn't use that lens on my D7100 because it isn't good enough in the centre on my D750 (less pixels/unit area than the D7100 = would be even less sharp on the D7100) so I didn't bother to check the vignetting. The vignetting would be better on the D7100 though because it is only using the middle of the image circle so wouldn't reach the outer edges where the vignetting is.

nitro4me

I think you have a bad copy, I don't have any of the problems you describe with my copy. It was a little off untill i updated my firmware on my 610. I haven't fine tuned it and its very good to me on both ends, it works for the 4x6inch print and web i get paid for.

WestEndFoto

Is this "focus jumping" really just "focus breathing", which effects all lenses to a certain extent except for cinema lenses, which is the only application where focus breathing presents a real problem?

spraynpray

@Nitro4me. Probably. I'll send it off for service after Christmas when the madness dies down. Yours was a little off before a firmware update? In what way?

@WestEndFoto: No, it's not focus breathing. If you read above, you will see it only occurs when I change direction with the focus ring and the image jumps in the direction the top of the focus ring is turning like something is loose. Focus breathing is an entirely different thing and if I were talking about focus breathing, I would call it focus breathing but I'm not, because focus breathing is different and down to design not the lens being faulty.

nitro4me

@spraynpray,sorry for the delay in responding. Mine had distortion and the corners where dark. I looked what i did was to download the distortion control for my D610 and it is all good now. I tend to shoot at f8 or more outdoors and i don't have any focus issues with it.I hope this helps as I am not a full time pro and not as advanced as you full timers are.

Msmoto

P. 101 D800 Manual

D AF Lenses
Do not use AF lenses with the lens
focus mode switch set to M and
the camera focus-mode selector
set to AF. Failure to observe this
precaution could damage the
camera or lens

spraynpray

@nitro4me: Thanks, I'll look into that to find out if it applies to my problem. I guess the D610 had a firmware update - I don't think the D750 has had one yet.

@Msmoto, Thanks Tommie. I see that only applies to AF lenses and not AF-S lenses so I can't have a problem with it.

Vipmediastar_JZ

@spraynpray how are you finding this lens for events? I'm curious as im adding a 3rd camera for my wife and she will be using 24-70 and 70-200f4 unless I consider this lens.

haroldp

I just shot a wedding with the 24-120/4 VR on a D810 as my only camera (backups in the bag of course), at f5.6 at all focal lengths and results are outstanding.

I rarely use my 24-70/2.8 anymore.

spraynpray

I was not a great fan of this lens at first, but sending it back to Nikon and having them service it and micro-adjust it at several focal lengths with the D750 has improved it greatly so I am much happier with it. The zoom range makes it - paired with the D750 - the best wedding and event machine so far. It isn't that I couldn't get by with the D7100 and 17-55, but here in England, we get really crappy light a lot in the autumn/winter and in those circumstances, the D750/24-120 is just the biz. I never shoot wider than F4 in those circumstances so the lack of higher speed is totally unimportant to me. Trying to shoot primes with caterers or wedding planners chewing on your backside to get the photography done is just a nightmare so this 'all in one' is perfect IME. I have the D7100 with 70-200 f4 on the other hip. Job done.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Good feedback. I been shooting primes and my wife with the zooms. The last event I did i shot with the 24-70 and I realized that she needed the zoom for the reach at some points. I usually shoot weddings at f4-5.6/f8 anyways and 1.4-f4 when I'm able to get creative.