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 p.1 #1 · 5D + Nikon 14-24 + Welsh Adapter - user review | |
Howdy all,
Altho I've posted my thoughts on the 5D + Nikon 14-24 + Welsh adapter elsewhere on the net, I thought they might deserve their own topic here.
Lens:
This fullframe lens lives up to its internet review hype. I tested it on my 5D using the 16-9 Welsh adapter and compared it against my Canon 24 TS-E, Sigma 12-24 and Sigma 20 using both "real life" landscape photos and more technical "garage door" photos. Tests were made using a tripod, mirror lock up, cable release, same RAW conversion settings, etc. The landscape photos were made to check overall landscpe performance, chromatic aberations, fringing, colors, ease of use, etc. and were all made at about f/14 (see below for the reason the aperture is estimated). The garage door tests were made to look for vignetting, corner shaprness, distortion, etc. and were made at all marked focal lengths at apertures of f/2.8, f/8, f/14-16, f/22.
The results show that athe Nikon is sharper, corner to corner that any of the other lenses I tested, altho the center sharpenss of all the lenses was pretty close. The Sigma 12-24 was the most linear (e.g. had the least barrel/pin cushion distortion), with the Nikon coming in second. The Canon 24 TS-E suffers from barrel distortion while the Sigma 20 has a good bit of mustache distortion. The Nikon's color response was neutral to cool. Vignetting, chromatic aberations and fringing are all well controlled. I didn't put the lens thru any kind of flare from hell test so can't comment on that. My conclusion is that the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 is worth the cash if you need this wide a zoom. From an ease of use perspective, the manual operation wasn't a big deal for landscapes (altho see below).
I wish I had tested it against a Canon 16-35 f/2.8 Mk 2 before my rental period was up but that wasn't to be. Judging from web tarffic tho, the Nikon beats it (and the new Canoon 14 f/2.8) handily for corner to corner sharpness. That said, I did test an image made with my Sigma 12-24, shot at 12mm f/14 and cropped to a 14mm FoV, with the same shot from the Nikon at 14mm f/14-16 and the cropped Sigma shot stood up well against the Nikon (the cropping got rid of the marginal corners on the Sigma). Admittedly, cropping the Sigma gives me a smaller file with which to work, but I can live with that for the time being, especially given the cost of the Nikon.
Adapter:
This is the only adapter available that allows the use of some Nikon G lenses on Canon bodies at all apertures. Due to on-going fabrication/supply issues, there appear to be very few in existence. I got lucky and have one. Anyone with a fullframe Canon body looking for the one of the "ultimate" wide angle experiences should consider purchasing this adapter to use along with a Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 (it would also allow the use of the new Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 that's getting rave reviews and the Nikon 200-400 f/4 IS). A downside is that you need to manually focus (altho the adapter has a focus confirm chip to let you know when you're dead on) and meter stopped down. Here's an edited version of a short review I posted elsewhere on the net:
"The adapter simply works as advertised. It fits both the lens and the camera mount very well and, if you follow the written directions, is easy to mount and unmount from the camera. The focus confirm chip is a very nice and much appreciated addition/feature and works just fine.
I have only 5 nits with the design: 1) the adapter is very thin and sits very close to the camera body and the 14-24 very large so I found it sometimes difficult to mount/unmount by just rotating the adapter and not the lens as well (as suggested by the directions) and it'd be impossible if wearing gloves, 2) while the adapter is marked with f/2.8, f/8 and f/22 points, chosing any other aperture is guess work and can't easily be replicated (for my landscape tests, I rotated the lens to approximately half way between the f/8 mark and f/22 mark and judging from the histogram when compared to other lenses I was testing at f/14, at that position the lens was very close to f/14), 3) I often found it difficult to get in a position to see the aperture markings or to get a good angle on them to tell "exactly" where the lens was lined up, 4) when rotating the lens to obtain different apertures, even my smallish fingers would often bump/move either the focus or zoom ring (and I think it'd be impossible to change the aperture without moving the focus or zoom rings if one was wearing gloves) and 5) the lack of any meaningful EXIF info is annoying.
Now don't get me wrong, none of my nits are fatal flaws (to me at least). Heck, I like the simplicity of the thing. The design of the lever-less adapter just requires the user to be very aware, to plan ahead (e.g. set aperture first, then focus/zoom) and to be a bit flexible when it comes to setting your aperture at anything other than f/2.8 and f/22.
Kudos to Mark for making this available! For those of us with a serious interest in using the 14-24 or other Nikon lenses on our Canon bodies, the adapter is a god-send. And the lever version, when it becomes available, will make an already invaluable product even better. In fact, if your need for the lens isn't immediate, I'd recommend waiting for the availability of the lever controlled aperture version.
Cheers!
PS: I should add the there is enough friction between the adapter and lens so that once you set the aperture, you can rotate the zoom and focus rings to your heart's content without fear of inadvertently changing the aperture."
Hope that helps answer some questions.
Edited on Jun 11, 2008 at 07:32 PM
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