ferider
Veteran
raid amin said:
Raid ! I would never have expected such emotions from you 🙂
(And they did show up ...)
I really appreciate your work on the test, Raid. Puts GAS in perspective ....
Roland.
Non-formal Testing of 85mm~105mm Lenses
- Thread starter raid
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Raid ! I would never have expected such emotions from you 🙂
(And they did show up ...)
I really appreciate your work on the test, Raid. Puts GAS in perspective ....
Roland.
raid
Dad Photographer
Roland,
I still need to re-do a bokeh test.
Doing such a test indoors has failed for me; doing one outdoors will be bad since it is hot and humid in Florida in the summer.
Nice test shots by you.
Raid
I still need to re-do a bokeh test.
Doing such a test indoors has failed for me; doing one outdoors will be bad since it is hot and humid in Florida in the summer.
Nice test shots by you.
Raid
raid
Dad Photographer
ferider said:
Roland,
I used to be at the Leica Forum (PN) every evening, but it became tiring to be nice and not respond to any disrespectful remarks made there. I went back for a "visit",and I saw the same guys saying the same type of things again.
Regards,
Raid
VinceC
Veteran
Ferider's tests with the bright and dark leaves and branches in the distant background are a good way to test bokeh. The few shots where a "bad bokeh" lens has caught my attention were taken in the woods.
raid
Dad Photographer
I will try to do such a test in the backyard without being eaten by mosquitos.
Raid
Raid
ferider
Veteran
Hi Raid,
maybe you have a kitchen window or such, looking out into the yard in the morning or evening ? Similar to what Puts did here
http://www.imx.nl/photosite/zeiss/test85/t004.html
to test the bokeh (but: you might not want to compare two lenses at different apertures like he did ! 🙂 ) (attached picture from Puts' website).
I am not worried about mosquitos biting you, but it would be unfair to the
model(s), even with ice cream 🙂
Roland.
maybe you have a kitchen window or such, looking out into the yard in the morning or evening ? Similar to what Puts did here
http://www.imx.nl/photosite/zeiss/test85/t004.html
to test the bokeh (but: you might not want to compare two lenses at different apertures like he did ! 🙂 ) (attached picture from Puts' website).
I am not worried about mosquitos biting you, but it would be unfair to the
model(s), even with ice cream 🙂
Roland.
Last edited:
raid
Dad Photographer
ferider said:
Hi Roland,
I am considering not to use a person for the bokeh test so that hopefully all photos will come out sharp when they are supposed to be sharp.
Shooting out of a window is a possibility. The other option is to use the front porch.
I recall the report by Puts. Some people here complained that the model was too good looking to allow concentration on lens performance!
Raid
VinceC
Veteran
To be honest, with a bokeh test, the sharpness of the subject is less critical.
raid
Dad Photographer
Vince,
This is good to know. I did a bokeh test that I don't like.
I placed a bottle on a table, with a light source from one side {as a source for flare) and a background light for bokeh.
The Zonnar lens messed things up for me since its minimum distance for focusing was greater than the rest of the lenses. Once I repositioned the set-up, the test was not valid anymore.
By the way, I have noticed that none of the newly added B&W test shots has a "view" count. has anyone here atken a look at the B&W shots?
Raid
This is good to know. I did a bokeh test that I don't like.
I placed a bottle on a table, with a light source from one side {as a source for flare) and a background light for bokeh.
The Zonnar lens messed things up for me since its minimum distance for focusing was greater than the rest of the lenses. Once I repositioned the set-up, the test was not valid anymore.
By the way, I have noticed that none of the newly added B&W test shots has a "view" count. has anyone here atken a look at the B&W shots?
Raid
Last edited:
ferider
Veteran
I did look at some, Raid.
Roland.
Roland.
VinceC
Veteran
I appreciate color photos, but the black-and-whites just look a little nicer to me.
dexdog
Veteran
Raid, I have looked at most of the B & W shots.
raid
Dad Photographer
Thanks guys. For some reason, when I look at the color photos, it shows me the number of views, but it did not when I looked at the B&W photos.
I know that there is only a limited number of people here who really have an interest in such tests, and this is why I did the testing anyways.
Some of my feelings about the results:
The Summicron came out very well [to my eyes and on my two PCs].
Nice creamy rendition of the face and overall photo.
The Steinheil while a little inferior in the quality of finish came out very well too.
It is a good performer for so little money.
The Elmar [black] either needs shimming or it did not mount correctly on the T with the M adapter.
The Canon lenses did very well overall and they are not optically inferior to the Nikkors based on the overall test so far.
I will look for a better external finder for my 85mm lens.
The M3 will become my workhorse soon.
Raid
I know that there is only a limited number of people here who really have an interest in such tests, and this is why I did the testing anyways.
Some of my feelings about the results:
The Summicron came out very well [to my eyes and on my two PCs].
Nice creamy rendition of the face and overall photo.
The Steinheil while a little inferior in the quality of finish came out very well too.
It is a good performer for so little money.
The Elmar [black] either needs shimming or it did not mount correctly on the T with the M adapter.
The Canon lenses did very well overall and they are not optically inferior to the Nikkors based on the overall test so far.
I will look for a better external finder for my 85mm lens.
The M3 will become my workhorse soon.
Raid
Last edited:
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
Your subject does not have to be live, Raid, since it's the out of focus background you're after.
It might be an idea to take two pictures with each lens: one with camera-subject distance constant, the other with camera moved so that image size remains constant. There isn't all that much difference between 85 and 105, of course. Because your lenses are divided into three sets based on maximum aperture, only a comparison between all lenses at the largest aperture of the slowest lenses will be valid, strictly speaking. The effects of opening up the faster lenses will show other things, of course, also valuable.
It might be an idea to take two pictures with each lens: one with camera-subject distance constant, the other with camera moved so that image size remains constant. There isn't all that much difference between 85 and 105, of course. Because your lenses are divided into three sets based on maximum aperture, only a comparison between all lenses at the largest aperture of the slowest lenses will be valid, strictly speaking. The effects of opening up the faster lenses will show other things, of course, also valuable.
VinceC
Veteran
Raid,
An M3 seems like a nice workhorse.
I was impressed by the Canon lenses. On the other hand, it doesn't appear there's a bad lens in the bunch.
An M3 seems like a nice workhorse.
I was impressed by the Canon lenses. On the other hand, it doesn't appear there's a bad lens in the bunch.
ferider
Veteran
Hi Raid,
like Vince said, there doesn't appear to be a bad lens in the test. Although prices vary, differences are small. This for me is a major result of your tests
itself - one doesn't need to buy very expensive lenses for good portraits ....
However, I wonder if these small differences (besides
bokeh behavior, your tests of which I am looking forward to)
can be characterized, say to help somebody
buying a used lens given a certain budget. I am particularly interested in the {85,90}/2 lenses. The 105/2.5 and the ZK 85/2 are kind of special lenses;
if somebody buys either, (s)he knows exactly what (s)he wants. Even if
the ZK (IMO) behaves very similar to a J-9 or CZJ Sonnar, it is very
difficult to find a well calibrated J-9 and very expensive to find an LTM
Sonnar (which is the reason why I got the ZK).
In particular, how does the
- Canon 85/1.9 compare to the Canon 85/1.8 in terms of resolution. For example, could we zoom into the scan of some wide open, in-focus shots,
say the eye of your daughter and see if there is a difference ? Also how about center vs corner sharpness ? The 85/1.8 is a cult lens and much more expensive than the 1.9 (or 2). Stephen says on his website that the 1.8 is one of the best 85's ever built ...
- Canon 85/1.8, Summicron 90/2, Nikkor 85/2: all kind of in the same price class depending on condition. What are the differences here ?
And yes, I do regret not sending you one of my Leicas for the tests .... Would have driven the shipping costs up, though.
Just thinking loud. Thanks,
Roland.
like Vince said, there doesn't appear to be a bad lens in the test. Although prices vary, differences are small. This for me is a major result of your tests
itself - one doesn't need to buy very expensive lenses for good portraits ....
However, I wonder if these small differences (besides
bokeh behavior, your tests of which I am looking forward to)
can be characterized, say to help somebody
buying a used lens given a certain budget. I am particularly interested in the {85,90}/2 lenses. The 105/2.5 and the ZK 85/2 are kind of special lenses;
if somebody buys either, (s)he knows exactly what (s)he wants. Even if
the ZK (IMO) behaves very similar to a J-9 or CZJ Sonnar, it is very
difficult to find a well calibrated J-9 and very expensive to find an LTM
Sonnar (which is the reason why I got the ZK).
In particular, how does the
- Canon 85/1.9 compare to the Canon 85/1.8 in terms of resolution. For example, could we zoom into the scan of some wide open, in-focus shots,
say the eye of your daughter and see if there is a difference ? Also how about center vs corner sharpness ? The 85/1.8 is a cult lens and much more expensive than the 1.9 (or 2). Stephen says on his website that the 1.8 is one of the best 85's ever built ...
- Canon 85/1.8, Summicron 90/2, Nikkor 85/2: all kind of in the same price class depending on condition. What are the differences here ?
And yes, I do regret not sending you one of my Leicas for the tests .... Would have driven the shipping costs up, though.
Just thinking loud. Thanks,
Roland.
raid
Dad Photographer
Roland,
Maybe I should take a roll of photos of something fixed, like a brick wall. I have a feeling that all lenses will show very clearly the bricks ... edge to edge. As long as you, Kiu and Mark do not want immediately your lenses back, I can plan for the upcoming weeked some testing.
I have taken a few times a look at enlarged areas of Dana's photos. This would be quite useful with images that show up equally sharp (unenlarged).
I will do some more work in this testing.
Thanks for the constructive input from all of you who have done so.
Raid
Maybe I should take a roll of photos of something fixed, like a brick wall. I have a feeling that all lenses will show very clearly the bricks ... edge to edge. As long as you, Kiu and Mark do not want immediately your lenses back, I can plan for the upcoming weeked some testing.
I have taken a few times a look at enlarged areas of Dana's photos. This would be quite useful with images that show up equally sharp (unenlarged).
I will do some more work in this testing.
Thanks for the constructive input from all of you who have done so.
Raid
raid
Dad Photographer
VinceC said:
Vince,
This is the point that I was trying to make. As I have several medium tele lenses, I always felt that any of them gave me excellent results. There was always a small edge for the Summicron though.
raid
dexdog
Veteran
raid amin said:
Raid, no big hurry on returning the lens.
ferider
Veteran
raid amin said:
Hi Raid,
no rush in getting my lenses back. There is a worthy substitute for my chrome Nikkor at home (check my Avatar) 🙂
I once saw some combined bokeh/resolution tests where somebody put a bottle of beer on the railing of his balcony. You could see the background and when zooming in read the label of the bottle. Since I am German this sounds nicer than a brick wall 🙂 Written stuff is great to get a feeling for resolution, IMO.
Roland.
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