Z7-Z6 Lenses

donaldejose

I do hope Nikon puts the same technology into their 50mm f1.2 lens and also into an 85 f1.2 lens. Those may be practical enough to purchase; the 58mm MF isn't.

WestEndFoto

That is pretty impressive Donaldjose. Looking at the MTF charts, at 0.95 it is a little sharper than the 105 at 1.4.

What is really exciting is how sharp this lens might be at 1.2, 1.4, 1.8 etc. That is another area where this lens is going to shine and what many lamenting, "I will never shoot it at 0.95!!" are forgetting. At more "regular" apertures, I expect this lens to be unrivalled.

When I get it, the first think I will do is take a portrait mode full body shot and see how sharp the irises are at the various apertures.

donaldejose

"At more "regular" apertures, I expect this lens to be unrivalled." Yes, AND if the same or similar construction techniques can be put into future f1.2 lenses using smaller glass we may be able to get similar great optics at a lower price. Let's hope so. Also, the sharpness of this lens bodes well for even higher megapixel bodies. After all, those irises will need to be covered by many pixels to enlarge sharp and the more pixels on an iris the sharper it can be captured. Can this lens produce a spin on the Brenizer method? IF you can shoot full body and then crop to a headshot without loss of detail in the eyelashes are you effectively producing an image like it was shot at wider than f0.95? In other words, can you "Brenizer" by cropping this one lens instead of shooting all around the subject and combining those images?

mhedges

WestEndFoto said:

What is really exciting is how sharp this lens might be at 1.2, 1.4, 1.8 etc. That is another area where this lens is going to shine and what many lamenting, "I will never shoot it at 0.95!!" are forgetting. At more "regular" apertures, I expect this lens to be unrivalled.

That may be true, but I'm thinking for those situations the 50 1.2 would make more sense. It will be less than half the price of the Noct, have AF, and (I'm guessing) the performance difference will be very minimal.

WestEndFoto

Donaldjose, yes, higher MP bodies will be coming. More resolution may be one of the few benefits that can be obtained from engineering iterations in sensors.

I think you will achieve the opposite effect with the Brenizer method if you crop.

MHedges, that is an interesting point. I think that there is a way to think about it.

First, consider the MTF charts for the Noct and 105, which are easy to find on Rockwell’s site. Note how the Noct is slightly sharper at 0.95 then the 105 is at 1.4 and further, that the 105 is basically the benchmark for wide open sharpness.

Then consider the 105 review on the Photography Life website, particularly the Imatest results. Note how the lens gets progressively sharper as you stop down. Also note that the Imatest result for the mid frame and corners is not consistent with the MTF chart. The Imatest result shows lower mid and corner performance than the MTF chart compared to the centre. This is due to field curvature and the discrepancy is resolved when your focus point is in the mid frame - you will achieve near centre sharpness in the mid frame and the centre will become less sharp (which is my experience using this lens) , which is fine for most subjects, but not for flat subjects like the night sky. I expect that the Noct will have no field curvature but the 1.2 will given the different purposes of these lenses.

So I would expect the Noct to get sharper as it stops down, perhaps getting crazy sharp by 2.8, then declining after 4.0 due to diffraction.

For the 1.2 lenses, I would expect similar characteristics to the 105. Similar or slightly better performance at 1.2 to the 105 at 1.4. Then increasing sharpness as you stop down. Of course, the Noct has a head start at 0.95, so expect the Noct to perform better at equivalent apertures.

donaldejose

The new Z mount has ushered in exciting times for Nikon optics.

tc88

Then you focus slightly off focus, and poof, all the sharpness goes out of window. There is a reason it's manual focus. It's very difficult to achieve the optimal focus that MTF says.

WestEndFoto

Yes it is, and if you consider Thom's article below, the smart people will shift whatever excitement they used to have regarding cameras to optics. The only excitement in cameras will be the new models for the mirrorless lines. But the days of constant iteration and leapfrogging regarding cameras are numbered.

http://dslrbodies.com/newsviews/nikon-2019-news/october-2019-nikon-canon/the-right-answer-to-the.html

Symphotic

Amazon failed to delivery my 24 yesterday. It now shows it hasn't shipped yet. Go figure.
Not so bad, though, I was at the opera yesterday.
As sweet as the Noct seems, I can't see how I can justify it as a business expense, so I'll have to go with my Gen 1 Noct and the FTZ adapter.

NSXTypeR

Symphotic said:

Amazon failed to delivery my 24 yesterday. It now shows it hasn't shipped yet. Go figure.
Not so bad, though, I was at the opera yesterday.
As sweet as the Noct seems, I can't see how I can justify it as a business expense, so I'll have to go with my Gen 1 Noct and the FTZ adapter.

That can often be in your favor. Amazon once marked something as delivered and then suddenly changed it to delayed. I asked for it to be reshipped naturally and ended up accidentally getting 2 of the same product. Wasn't an expensive lens though. It was kitchen knives.

Symphotic

Update: Amazon shows shipped today, Wednesday.

I got two Halliburton transit cases once after ordering only one. I called to send one back and they told me just to keep it! (I gave it to a colleague)

WestEndFoto

Just a reminder to everyone - it is the lens that counts.

https://petapixel.com/2019/12/03/this-video-explains-why-tv-cameras-are-still-so-huge-and-expensive/

Symphotic

I used to have custom lenses built by a company in the UK. These were for the nuclear video cameras we were building at the time. These were made with special glass we specified and were just the glass and a metal mount: no focusing mechanism, no aperture, no mount. We built the focusing mechanism ourselves and went wide open all the time for aperture. I paid $10,000 US each for the lenses that went into a $60,000 camera system.

I replaced those lenses with cheaper ones because my customers were satisfied with lower performance and lower prices.

By the way, I'm off later this month for my yearly photo expedition. I'm only taking two lenses: 24-70 f/2.8S and 14-30 f/4S. I'll bring along my FTZ adapter and borrow a longer lens if I need it. I was hoping to see the 70-200 f/2.8S this year, but it's not here yet.

spraynpray

Sounds like the right lens selection to me. Post pics!

Ton14

@Symphotic Yeah, all you need, super. Hope you post some pictures.

Camera clipped on my belt, for me the 24mm and the 50mm f/1.8S and the 24-70mm f/4S, one on the camera, the other two and all the small stuff in the smallest everyday sling from PK design, that is travel light for me at the moment.

There is even room for the 70-200 f/2.8mm in that bag, if I want it with me, that is travel light for me at the moment.

Searcy

I just mailed my Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 VR F mount to Adorama to see what they will give me in trade for the new 24-70 f/2.8S . It should arrive in NJ today. It a damn shame that there isn't a decent camera shop in Nashville.

mhedges

Good luck!

Didn't want to try selling it on ebay?

spraynpray

Is it in good condition?

Searcy

It's in perfect condition. I have never traded anything in with Adorama so I figured I would give it a try. Letting them evaluate the lens and offer a price is free. They pay all the shipping and insurance and if I don;t like their price they will ship it back for free so there's nothing to lose.

kanuck

I love the 24-70 F4s so much that I sold my 2.8 VR F mount a few months back and regret nothing. Let us know how Adorama transaction goes Searcy, I am interested to see how it goes.

Ton14

@kanuck Same here.

rmp

The 24-70 f4 is so sharp and versatile it stays on my z7 90% of the time.

ggbutcher

rmp said:

The 24-70 f4 is so sharp and versatile it stays on my z7 90% of the time.

Same here. In fact, I just removed it to put the AF-P 70-300 on for concert shooting in a well-lit auditorium. With the 24-70, all I miss is a bit of reach...

NSXTypeR

Symphotic said:

I used to have custom lenses built by a company in the UK. These were for the nuclear video cameras we were building at the time. These were made with special glass we specified and were just the glass and a metal mount: no focusing mechanism, no aperture, no mount. We built the focusing mechanism ourselves and went wide open all the time for aperture. I paid $10,000 US each for the lenses that went into a $60,000 camera system.

I replaced those lenses with cheaper ones because my customers were satisfied with lower performance and lower prices.

Part of lens/gear selection is knowing your audience too. If you're shooting for Instagram/Facebook snaps, a cell phone camera is going to be fine. If you're blowing it up 50 feet across in a billboard, probably need something better than that.

Searcy

Ton14 said:

@kanuck Same here.

They have my lens now. I should get an offer in a few days. Maybe I should do a new post about the experience.