rvh23, what a great image! Damn really makes me want to get the nisi s6 filter holder now as I already have a haida 150mm GND and polarizer. I think a 4 stop ND filter will do well too I think
sismailian wrote:
rvh23, what a great image! Damn really makes me want to get the nisi s6 filter holder now as I already have a haida 150mm GND and polarizer. I think a 4 stop ND filter will do well too I think
Thanks very much. The thing I like about the round Nisi CPL+ND64 filter is that it can be preloaded in your adapter so it's just as fast to use as a normal screw-on filter. Adding a rectangular holder and filter would slow things down substantially.
I saw a while ago Haida have a new 150mm front mount magnetic system for the GM that should be fast to use too. But I don't know if they have a single combination CPL+ND, or if they do, how well it performs against the light.
rvh23 wrote:
Thanks for the comment. I followed an FM link to this website and happened to see the Gitzo GT4533LS on sale at a local store at a price too good to pass up.
It's both wind and water vibrations that I'm trying to minimise. I had previously used a Feisol set of legs myself (3 section) that I thought were pretty decent, but I was noticing some vibration in live view at max magnification with the GM, even with only moderate wind.
On the website, the Feisol scored under 1000Nm in terms of stiffness, so I decided I wanted something that was at least 2-3 times stiffer. When I compared the Gitzo and Feisol side by side in a 'tap the legs' test, it was night and day. ...Show more →
Was that at Vanbar Richard for $1299, or did you get it even cheaper in the sales?
Also loving your great shots from the 12-24GM - the only problem is that they are so good, that they tend to transcend the lens somewhat!
Petegh wrote:
Was that at Vanbar Richard for $1299, or did you get it even cheaper in the sales?
Also loving your great shots from the 12-24GM - the only problem is that they are so good, that they tend to transcend the lens somewhat!
Hi Peter, it was indeed on sale at Vanbars for $990 a few months back. I figured at that price I could probably sell it for the same amount if it turned out to be too heavy for field work. But it's not going anywhere.
Thanks also for the kind words about my shots. Much appreciated.
rvh23 wrote:
Thanks Fred, that's much appreciated. I've settled on about F14 as my preferred sunstar aperture with this lens, where at a pinch some sharpening in post can bring the sunstar shot more in line with the rest of my focus stack taken typically at F7.1-F8. The only lens I can imagine displacing this one from my kit is one with comparable range, IQ, and flare resistance, but with 10 or 12 straight aperture blades. Not likley to happen anytime soon unfortunately.
The 12-24/2.8 GM is definitely the highest resolution lens we have for this FL range but what sets it apart from the 12-24/4G and Sigma 14-24/2.8 zooms is its impeccable flare resistance and attractive sunstar rendering. Looking at its bulbous front element, it's hard to believe this is even possible.
I finally purchased one and should have it this week. My CV 12/5.6, CV 15/4.5 and Loxia 21/2.8 are in jeopardy now.
rvh23 wrote:
I just measured my S6 adapter + CPL/ND64 + front and rear caps. You will need a space of about 17x17x5cm to store that combo. Presumably if you attach the rectangular filter holder, it will add a bit, but I don't own one so can't help there.
As luck would have it, my Peak Design 30L sling/backpack came in today, and it looks this should fit! I can get my 12-24 2.8 mounted (hood reversed) on camera + 100-400 GM mounted on camera (with tripod foot) and the S6 + CPL. Should be space leftover for some 150mm filters as well and the 1.4x extender.. and then of course tripod / ballhead strapped to the outside.
Fred Miranda wrote:
The 12-24/2.8 GM is definitely the highest resolution lens we have for this FL range but what sets it apart from the 12-24/4G and Sigma 14-24/2.8 zooms is its impeccable flare resistance and attractive sunstar rendering. Looking at its bulbous front element, it's hard to believe this is even possible.
I finally purchased one and should have it this week. My CV 12/5.6, CV 15/4.5 and Loxia 21/2.8 are in jeopardy now.
It looks like you've being shooting with the 12-24/2.8 GM for a while now. Anything else you learned from the lens?...Show more →
Good to hear you've decided to give this lens a try Fred. I hope you score a decent copy. You can get better sunstar definition by stopping down further than F14, but I don't like the shape any better when I do that with this lens, and sharpness goes downhill making it harder to merge with the rest of my focus stack.
Although I've had the lens for a while now, much of that time was in lockdown, so my time in the field has still been fairly limited. But I have shot with it long enough to know that it's flare resistance is good enough to eliminate my need for primes against the light. I do still need to clone out the occasional flare spot here and there, but it's easy work with this lens, and I had to do the same with my Loxias anyway.
Because I tend to shoot wide, I can head out with just this lens (plus front filter) and a 35, and have pretty much all my landscape needs covered.
Had a fun day shooting yesterday. Finally some nice clouds Ended up also buying the nisi s6 filter holder kit with the CPL. I already have two haida 150mm GND and CPL filters so def going to use the GND next time to help with the sky a bit more! Very excited to start 2021 in a positive way So love this lens.
rvh23 wrote:
Good to hear you've decided to give this lens a try Fred. I hope you score a decent copy. You can get better sunstar definition by stopping down further than F14, but I don't like the shape any better when I do that with this lens, and sharpness goes downhill making it harder to merge with the rest of my focus stack.
Although I've had the lens for a while now, much of that time was in lockdown, so my time in the field has still been fairly limited. But I have shot with it long enough to know that it's flare resistance is good enough to eliminate my need for primes against the light. I do still need to clone out the occasional flare spot here and there, but it's easy work with this lens, and I had to do the same with my Loxias anyway.
Because I tend to shoot wide, I can head out with just this lens (plus front filter) and a 35, and have pretty much all my landscape needs covered. ...Show more →
Yes, I hope this copy will be as good as my review copy. What do you use for 35mm? Tamron?
Speaking of copies.. I hesitate to ask this.. what do you think of the results here? This is f/4 @ 12mm. I feel like it's pretty solid but this is my first time checking a lens like this.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Yes, I hope this copy will be as good as my review copy. What do you use for 35mm? Tamron?
Yes, I use the Tamron 35/2.8. It's pretty small, very light, offers decent macro ability, and IQ is excellent with my copy all the way into the far corners. The manual focus experience is not as nice as high end options, but I'm willing to live with that becasue I don't shoot 35mm a lot, and optically it delvers the goods at a bargain price.
BrandonSi wrote:
Speaking of copies.. I hesitate to ask this.. what do you think of the results here? This is f/4 @ 12mm. I feel like it's pretty solid but this is my first time checking a lens like this.
If this is a high resolution sensor, it doesn't look bad for extreme corners at 12mm, which is the lens' weakest focal length. If you are happy with your results at your usual shooting apertures, I can highly recommend not worrying about it too much.
If you've followed this thread, you'll know that I've tried 8 copies of the lens, and never found one that was perfect across the whole zoom range. The corner sharpness variations arise from both tilt and decentering effects. The tilt can be affected a much by your camera's mount as the lens'. If you can get sharp details wide open when focusing on each corner in turn, but not if you don't re-adjust focus each time, you are dealing predominantly with tilt. If the effect of tilt is consistent across the range, shimming can improve your results. If the tilt varies across the range, less so.
My experience has been that only one of the 8 copies I tried was unusably decentred (over the whole range) even stopped down to F8. The rest had differening strengths and weaknesses. So you might find a copy that is better than what you are showing here at 12mm, at the expense of having worse performance at 24mm.
That said, I did see more variation at 12mm than any other part of the range, and the copy I settled on in the end is still a little decentered wide open at 12-13mm. Also, at wider apertures field curvature is very obvious at 12mm, so if your shot was center-focused, you will not be seeing optimal performance in the corners. Better to focus on one corner (preferably one with optimal focus near the middle of the 4 best focal distances) to make this assesment.
rvh23 wrote:
If this is a high resolution sensor, it doesn't look bad for extreme corners at 12mm, which is the lens' weakest focal length. If you are happy with your results at your usual shooting apertures, I can highly recommend not worrying about this too much.
If you've followed this thread, you'll know that I've tried 8 copies of this lens, and never found one that was perfect across the whole zoom range. The corner sharpness variations arise from both tilt and decentering effects. The tilt can be affected a much by your camera's mount as the lens'. If you can get sharp details wide open when focusing on each corner in turn, but not if you don't re-adjust focus each time, you are dealing predominantly with tilt. If the effect of tilt is consistent across the range, shimming can improve your results. If the tilt varies across the range, less so.
My experience has been that only one of the 8 copies I tried was unusably decentred (over the whole range) even stopped down to F8. The rest had differening strengths and weaknesses. So you might find a copy that is better than what you are showing here at 12mm, at the expense of having worse performance at 24mm.
That said, I did see more variation at 12mm than any other part of the range, and the copy I settled on in the end is still a little decentered wide open at 12-13mm. Also, at wider apertures field curvature is very obvious at 12mm, so if your shot was center-focused, you will not be seeing optimal performance in the corners. Better to focus one one corner (ideally the one in the middle of your 'best focal distance' range for the four corners) to make this assesment.
I just got the nisi s6 filter kit from B&H for the 12-24 GM and loving it! Easy to put on and can use my other 150mm haida filters. Really love that rotating CPL filter. Makes it so easy to adjust It's like the kind of filter I always wish I had. Can't wait to use it soon.
Also agree with what rvh23 said. I wouldn't be too worried about the corners at 12mm. We've all had to go through multiple copies and settled on one that is just good to our eyes. Love every image coming out of this lens. My first copy had soft right corners and bad pulsing AF that would give me images not in focus often. 2nd copy was not up to my standards and 3rd copy was just great overall that I kept. It's not fun to exchange lenses of this price either and it's hard to come by at some stores.
sismailian wrote:
I just got the nisi s6 filter kit from B&H for the 12-24 GM and loving it! Easy to put on and can use my other 150mm haida filters. Really love that rotating CPL filter. Makes it so easy to adjust It's like the kind of filter I always wish I had. Can't wait to use it soon.
Also agree with what rvh23 said. I wouldn't be too worried about the corners at 12mm. We've all had to go through multiple copies and settled on one that is just good to our eyes. Love every image coming out of this lens. My first copy had soft right corners and bad pulsing AF that would give me images not in focus often. 2nd copy was not up to my standards and 3rd copy was just great overall that I kept. It's not fun to exchange lenses of this price either and it's hard to come by at some stores. ...Show more →
Out of curiosity, did you ever notice the elements moving slightly if you turned the lens face up (front element towards the sky) then turned the lens face down (front element towards the ground) while powered off? I feel a slight movement, almost like the 100-400 with the tension ring on low and you did the same thing. Powered on this doesn't happen.
Still super sharp images, seems well centered so perhaps I should just stop inventing problems..
yep, that's totally normal! mine does that too. I believe it's the focusing element inside that's allowed to move freely when powered off, and this happens for a few other sony lenses as well
Focus: Center - Best of three @ 12.4x magnification
WB: Daylight for both lenses
Both Lenses perfectly centered at this focal length using my decentering test
Software: Lightroom with FM Default Landscape Sharpening. All other settings set to default
PS: Vignetting and distortion were NOT corrected. Camera was focused at center for both lenses (all crops). The Loxia 21/2.8 has moderate field curvature while the Sony's FC is negligible.
21mm CENTER resolution/contrast comparison between Sony 12-24/2.8 GM @12mm vs Loxia 21mm f/2.8
Center at f/2.8: Great resolution for both lenses. The Loxia is very slight behind
Center at f/4: Both improve slightly and they are very similar now
Center at f/5.6: Not much changes for both lenses
Center at f/8: Still great performance although diffraction starts to take hold
21mm EXTREME CORNER resolution/contrast comparison between Sony 12-24/2.8 GM @12mm vs Loxia 21mm f/2.8
Extreme corner at f/2.8: Both lenses are similar in resolution wide open but I'd give the edge to the GM in high frequency resolution (due to lower FC) and Lateral CA correction
Extreme corner at f/4: Both lenses improve slightly at f/4 but the Sony is still slightly better
Extreme corner at f/5.6: The Loxia improves further and both lenses perform similarly
Extreme corner at f/8: Still great performance for both lenses
So love this lens.
