In Praise of Specialized Lenses

[Alex Waugh]

Does anyone have any recommendations for decently color corrected AF lenses? Some of these images are just stunning.

EDIT: For 35mm

[NancyP]

The information is very helpful. I have been looking for a lighter weight good macro with a long focus throw, and unfortunately the Canon 100L IS has a short focus throw annoying to a manual focus photographer, probably as a compromise for those who want autofocus for portraiture. The Canon does have weather-proofing.

[Michael Erlewine]

A reasonable to long focus throw is pretty much mandatory for macro, especially if the lens is at all wide-angle. This is why the legendary Coastal Optics 60mm APO f/4 lens is pretty much unusable for my work, unless I put the camera and lens on a focus rail. I finally sold it. Kept it years because the techsperts claimed to like the lens so much. I finally had to face the fact that I didn't like the focus throw, the huge hot-spot at 1:3, the lack of a hood, and its (for me at least) difficulty with mottled light. It would make a very good copy camera lens, but then so would a lot of less expensive lenses.

[BernardLanguillier]

Speaking about speciality lenses, I just found out that my positive impression of the Nikon 400mm f2.8 E FL in terms of colour correction and look was not just a form of buyer's remorse.

The first 3 images below are pano stitches.











It has just been measured by lenscore as the second best lens available for 35mm cameras.

http://www.lenscore.org/

Cheers,
Bernard

[John Koerner]

I just found out that my positive impression of the Nikon 400mm f2.8 E FL was not just a form of buyer's remorse.
It has just been measured by lenscore as the second best lens available for 35mm cameras.
http://www.lenscore.org/
Cheers,
Bernard

That is a pretty nice testing site, thanks for sharing.

It's hard to say "best lens," because it depends on what you're trying to do with any lens, but the Nikon 400mm earned the second-highest overall mark, true, but its overall usefulness is very limited.

The Zeiss Otus 85mm won the highest overall mark, which is in line with all the accoladed, with the Canon 200-400 earning the highest marks for super-tele zoom lens (as well as zoom lens of any kind).

Brand-wise, Zeiss lenses won 5 different categories overall, as did Canon lenses, with Nikon earning 4 categories.

In fact, the Zeiss 85mm Otus and Canon 200-400 were the only lenses to earn 2 awards.

Jack

[NancyP]

Canon v. II supertelephotos come out well too, my guess is that the real-world evaluation of Nikon and Canon current-generation f/2.8 and f/4 supertelephoto lenses is "so sharp I cut myself". 

[henrikfoto]

Hi Michael!

I love the photos you make with the 105 Nikkor El Apo!

Have you tested the 210  Nikkor El Apo?

Henrik

[Michael Erlewine]

I don't have the 210 El Nikkor APO, but my guess is that any highly-corrected lens will deliver something special. That is my experience.

[NancyP]

Well, I bit the bullet and bought the Voigtlander 125mm APO - Lanthar, and spent the weekend putting it through its paces. Very pleasing. Working my way through the images, will post later. A 600 degree helicoid is a luxury nowadays for those who like manual focusing. It is also a bit of a challenge to habit, as I am used to focusing in the Canon direction, not the Nikon direction.

[John Koerner]

Well, I bit the bullet and bought the Voigtlander 125mm APO - Lanthar, and spent the weekend putting it through its paces. Very pleasing. Working my way through the images, will post later. A 600 degree helicoid is a luxury nowadays for those who like manual focusing. It is also a bit of a challenge to habit, as I am used to focusing in the Canon direction, not the Nikon direction.

After reading this article, that lens is on my to-do list as well ...

Just ordered the Sigma 180mm f/2.8 APO Macro which reportedly out-resolves any Canon or Nikon macro as well, has a higher-rated bokeh, has IS, and 270° of rotation.

Although, in degrees of rotation, the Sigma hasn't even half of what the Voigtlander is, but the Sigma is also an APO lens, and it has a ton of modern amenities that make it a better choice in the field.

Jack

[BernardLanguillier]

Here is an example of image combining depth of field stacking and pano stitching shot with the Otus 55mm f1.4 at f16.



I don't like to use f16 too much either, but there were timing constraints here that prevented me from using a wider aperture while retaining perfect near-far sharpness.

Cheers,
Bernard