p.6 #1 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
naturephoto1 wrote:
Hi Guy,
Isn't it usual that the lessening of sharpness and diffraction of faster lenses normally begin before they do on slower lenses (it is in part determined by how many stops closed down from being wide open)? That is one of the reasons that often slower lenses tend to be better than faster lenses for landscape work and apertures of about f8 and possibly f11.
Rich
No: diffraction has got nothing to do with how many stops down from wide open you are. It’s just the aperture.
AFAIK there are only two reasons a non-macro lens appears to diffracts ‘early’
One is that it is incredibly good. Diffraction is not on-off. It increases with every stop. If a lens is free of aberrations from wide apertures, it’s diffraction limited, and will only get worse with diffraction as you stop down. The aperture at which diffraction ‘appears’ is just the one where the effect stopping down has on reducing aberrations is outweighed by diffraction. If it has no aberrations to begin with, it will just get worse as you stop down. What this means is that the performance of a lens that seems to be getting wors e from diffraction may actually be better than one that is getting better!
The other, less usual, one is that there is enough residual vignetting that the aperture in the corners is effectively much smaller so diffraction sets in.
A complicating factor is that some cameras apply a special kind of sharpening to combat diffraction at some apertures in a built in lens profile. Canon does this, not sure about Sony. But it’s adds a complication - differences may be in the profile not the lens.
p.6 #4 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
I was incidentally able to shoot a far city by night at a diner and had no tripod with me. This is the extreme corner:
The very blown out lights show some coma but otherwise it is very well controlled. In the live view, it was possible to turn on/off the coma by defocusing slightly, so take care of that.
p.6 #5 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
I shot some more infinity landscapes at f/5.6 today and I agree that the last 10-15% don't reach the midframe and center resolution. Probably a mix of slight astigmatism and corrected LaCA & vignetting. Not an issue in practice for me, the corners are still plenty sharp and perfectly fine for my landscape photography but not on a reference level.
p.6 #6 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
Jannik Peters wrote:
I shot some more infinity landscapes at f/5.6 today and I agree that the last 10-15% don't reach the midframe and center resolution. Probably a mix of slight astigmatism and corrected LaCA & vignetting. Not an issue in practice for me, the corners are still plenty sharp and perfectly fine for my landscape photography but not on a reference level.
Have you experienced issues with the 24GM hunting for focus, wide open, in AF-C when you place the “flexible spot small” on the extreme corners? I have to use DMF or AFS or it has a tough time focusing at the corners...maybe an A7r3 issue not the lens?
Aside from that, the lens has been great for family shots. It’s been through hell this past week at Disney World, even took the ride through Space Mountain in a Billingham Small, no sweat, the lens is pretty tough.
p.6 #7 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
Newtographer504 wrote:
Have you experienced issues with the 24GM hunting for focus, wide open, in AF-C when you place the “flexible spot small” on the extreme corners? I have to use DMF or AFS or it has a tough time focusing at the corners...maybe an A7r3 issue not the lens?
Aside from that, the lens has been great for family shots. It’s been through hell this past week at Disney World, even took the ride through Space Mountain in a Billingham Small, no sweat, the lens is pretty tough.
Your probably outside the PDAF zone. On the A7rIII it’s only 67 percent of the full frame . So the corners are outside of that reason it will have a hard time. On the A9 and A7III it’s 93 percent of the frame. So this is a camera limitation not a lens
Hopefully next upgrade they will update this to 93 percent
p.6 #8 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
GMPhotography wrote:
Your probably outside the PDAF zone. On the A7rIII it’s only 67 percent of the full frame . So the corners are outside of that reason it will have a hard time. On the A9 and A7III it’s 93 percent of the frame. So this is a camera limitation not a lens
Hopefully next upgrade they will update this to 93 percent
Understood, thanks. Also the focal length and speed of the 24GM is perfect for a dinner table.
Just comparing the MTF published by Sony to Leicas highest resolving wide angle, the 28/1.4: the Sony MTF has a serious edge wide open and stopped down. Here’s the charts from Sony and Leica’s websites.
p.6 #9 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
It’s a very very good lens wide open. Actually it’s quite amazing at 1.4 there is not much diffrence until F2 where the corners get even better but on center at 1.4 is outstanding. It’s maybe the only lens I actually trust at 1.4. Most 1.4 lenses are good wide open but a big jump at 1.8 . Not the case here it’s among one of the best wide open in those terms
p.6 #10 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
GMPhotography wrote:
Here is where Sony needs to throw some attention like Canon and giving us some T/S options
FWIW, Canon TS lenses work just fine on the A7Riii, even with a cheap adaptor. Heck, since you can see what you are doing in the viewfinder, my 24 TSE II works way better on the Sony than it did on the 5D2. (The TSE 24/3.5 II is an amazing lens.) I actually only used it for shift; figuring out where the plane of focus is on an SLR screen is a bear.
p.6 #11 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
That’s no excuse though for Sony not to make them. I don’t want to buy Canon glass been there have the Gold T shirt. I had every T/S made I’m just not going to invest in Canon anymore. We shoot Sony now and we need Native lenses. This is part of the eco system that is missing
p.6 #12 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
Hate to go sideways here, but Sony CEO and Dev Officers say that they listen (and in fact do) to consumer requests very closely, so I have to shout into the valley: where’s the 35 GM? If this little 24GM bulldog can be put together, let’s see a bull pup 35/1.4 or even a 35/2 GM. Understandable that Sony releases the 24 GM first, if they put out a fast 35 then the 24 sales would be much weaker; soon though I’d def click that pre-order button. And hopefully before the Z7 sings it’s 2nd or 3rd gen siren song.
p.6 #13 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
Jannik Peters wrote:
I shot some more infinity landscapes at f/5.6 today and I agree that the last 10-15% don't reach the midframe and center resolution.
did you find this is also the case with the Loxia 21mm at infinity?
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p.6 #16 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
NRKStudio wrote:
Understood, thanks. Also the focal length and speed of the 24GM is perfect for a dinner table.
Just comparing the MTF published by Sony to Leicas highest resolving wide angle, the 28/1.4: the Sony MTF has a serious edge wide open and stopped down. Here’s the charts from Sony and Leica’s websites.
You can't compare MTFs from different companies in this way as they use different assumptions when computing them. Sometimes we get comparisons at Lens rentals blog in which they do the same tests on both lenses and we can compare, but the comparison in this test doesn't tell if the lenses differ or if the way the MTFs are computed differ or both.
p.6 #17 · Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens Big Bronco testing thread plus more
I never owned the Sony 16-35 so can’t comment but I’m just not sure the zoom can keep up with the 24 . Now the Sigma 14-24 no question can. But first we have to have good copies of all this stuff. The Loxia 21 is a gem as well as the CV 24 1.4 and 3.5
It’s kind of tough. If your doing Pro work some of us lean to those AF zooms but if your not trying jumping through the hoops you can go with the MF glass. For me I like to have 2 kits but not everyone wants to do that either.
I just was in NY for the last 4 days Shooting some street stuff and shot my Sigma 14-24 and technically it’s killer good.
Too me this Sigma is the best zoom I ever seen bar none.
