timballic Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · What Standard zoom lenses can match the 24mp APSC sensors? | |
I have a large/heavy 8Kg system with loads of alt lenses, and a small pocket camera, I wanted something in-between as a good quality "walkabout". A multi-angle LCD wass a must-have feature, so the NEX/A600 and Fuji options were out.
My favourite style is for low level landscapes in portrait orientation, like this: (almost impossible to compose at near water level without either a multi-angle screen or a soaked behind!)
Derwentwater Dawn, Great Bay by timballic, on Flickr
The Nikon D5300 (with the same Sony 24mp sensor that's in the D7100), at under 500g, seemed to come close to my ideal ... until I started to try to match a zoom lens to it!
I expected the new, improved, "Contemporary" Sigma 17-70/2.8-4, to be an ideal partner, with for me a perfect FF equiv. range of 25.5-105mm. How wrong I was...the results were woeful!
Right in the centre it was sharp, but so lacking in contrast it didn't look that sharp, and anywhere beyond half way to the edges was a joke, right up to F8, even at F11-16 the edges never sharpened, at least at the wide end.
I had the lens checked for calibration, I checked focussing, nothing changed those results! I returned the lens.
That was a fortnight ago. Since then I have trawled every test site I can find to find a more suitable alternative.
The "best" seems to be the Tamron SP 17-50/2.8 Non-VC. I have one on the way at the moment to try... but following what I saw with the Sigma, my expectations are not that high.
I also considered using a trio of the smaller DX lenses available and was amazed to find so few, 35/1.8; 40/2.8; 50/1.8, nothing wide and small and nothing between 50mm and 85mm. (The old "D" lenses don't autofocus on the D5300, so they're out.)
The D5300 isn't an "alternative" lens platform as the meter doesn't show in any mode with "no lens attached", so that's not an option.
So,finally, my question is, would an older, lower resolution camera with less demanding sensor, like the Nikon D5100, or Sony A57 @ 16Mp, or the Canon 650/700D @ 18Mp, be a better camera base for what I'm wanting?
I know the New Sigma "A" 18-35/1.8 is supposed to match the 24mp sensor, but at 820g and with such a limited range it doesn't fit my "walkabout" kit needs. (Also the Panny 4/3s with multi angle screen seem just as large/heavy, or more so than those APSC mentioned.)
Edited on Jan 04, 2015 at 10:09 AM · View previous versions
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