Will be getting the apo e-mount and would prefer to only have 1 dual-purpose 28mm.
So I've been testing the m-mount of this lens today on sony vs my nokton e-mount:
Simera mid-field is surprisingly better than the Nokton at 2-8m, haven't tested infinity. Simera mid-field is actually very good, I don't notice any issue at this distance even while zooming in. I need to check infinity though. I'm dissappointed with the Nokton mid-field but you do need to zoom in for it. I only noticed with todays testing, previously I had an incling but it was passable.
Simera has significantly less CA, and has a cleaner look (that I would appreciate more frequently) at larger apertures.
Simera edges are noticeably worse until f5.6, but at f8 they are a little better than the Nokton.
Simera extreme corners are terrible.
Nokton has an arguably little nicer build, smaller too - with the simera on an adaptor anyway. And obviously has the EXIF data.
Nokton possibly holds contrast better under backlight but need to confirm.
Nokton easier to focus at MFD with longer focus-throw there.
Nokton lets a little more light in at the same apertures (only noticed at the bigger apertures).
I need to test sharpness across the frame at infinity. And I need to test the bokeh to see if the simera is sharp enough somewhere wide-open to f2.
I'm okay with losing the corners for better CA/funk control and better mid-field - I stop down for edges naturally. The other known differences don't outweigh it.
So I'm leaning towards keeping the Simera and losing the Nokton at this stage.
If the Simera isn't sharp enough until the bokeh advantage is gone, then it's a little harder to choose but it will probably still be the Simera that stays due to the CA on the nokton -- unless the nokton actually comes out ahead for people+bokeh, which I don't expect it would, based on my own shots with the Nokton, and other peoples shots with the Simera.
To me, the above image is perfect sharpness, but I've had much worse in the past, hence the uncertainty - could be user error and they were only at 1/50s. So I'm hopeful.
I do find it a little easier to focus the nokton than the simera wide open for me on the a7cii.
Are you burst shooting these shots to ensure you get one in-focus @mudlake? Felt like I had to do something like that to get the rose one I took to compare (came out fine but it was tough to nail focus in a single shot so close to mfd).
Yogifi wrote:
Will be getting the apo e-mount and would prefer to only have 1 dual-purpose 28mm.
So I've been testing the m-mount of this lens today on sony vs my nokton e-mount:
Simera mid-field is surprisingly better than the Nokton at 2-8m, haven't tested infinity. Simera mid-field is actually very good, I don't notice any issue at this distance even while zooming in. I need to check infinity though. I'm dissappointed with the Nokton mid-field but you do need to zoom in for it. I only noticed with todays testing, previously I had an incling but it was passable.
Simera has significantly less CA, and has a cleaner look (that I would appreciate more frequently) at larger apertures.
Simera edges are noticeably worse until f5.6, but at f8 they are a little better than the Nokton.
Simera extreme corners are terrible.
Nokton has an arguably little nicer build, smaller too - with the simera on an adaptor anyway. And obviously has the EXIF data.
Nokton possibly holds contrast better under backlight but need to confirm.
Nokton easier to focus at MFD with longer focus-throw there.
Nokton lets a little more light in at the same apertures (only noticed at the bigger apertures).
I need to test sharpness across the frame at infinity. And I need to test the bokeh to see if the simera is sharp enough somewhere wide-open to f2.
I'm okay with losing the corners for better CA/funk control and better mid-field - I stop down for edges naturally. The other known differences don't outweigh it.
So I'm leaning towards keeping the Simera and losing the Nokton at this stage.
If the Simera isn't sharp enough until the bokeh advantage is gone, then it's a little harder to choose but it will probably still be the Simera that stays due to the CA on the nokton -- unless the nokton actually comes out ahead for people+bokeh, which I don't expect it would, based on my own shots with the Nokton, and other peoples shots with the Simera.
To me, the above image is perfect sharpness, but I've had much worse in the past, hence the uncertainty - could be user error and they were only at 1/50s. So I'm hopeful.
I do find it a little easier to focus the nokton than the simera wide open for me on the a7cii.
Are you burst shooting these shots to ensure you get one in-focus @mudlake@? Felt like I had to do something like that to get the rose one I took to compare (came out fine but it was tough to nail focus in a single shot so close to mfd)....Show more →
With the APO you will have a wealth of 28mm lenses on your hands!
To answer your question, no, I don’t do burst shooting. I’ve used manual focus lenses so much that I can nail focus pretty quickly. My technique is to frame the image in the viewfinder, move the focus box to the person’s eye, punch in to magnify view, focus and hit the shutter button as soon as I see the shimmering red in or near their eye (depending on distance). With a static shot like the one above, this whole process takes anywhere between 3-8 seconds. If I’m not in a hurry, I’ll take 2-3 images, refocusing each time.
Where I wish Sony would improve is in their manual focus aids like Canon and Nikon. To be able to use the full frame while focusing and getting an eye confirmation box that turns green would be incredible.
Thank you for the tips, will give that a try next time. I worry a bit about focus peaking giving off-info but will give it a try for eyes. Usually I just magnify twice and eyeball it. Are you using high or low with the simera?
Yogifi wrote:
Thank you for the tips, will give that a try next time. I worry a bit about focus peaking giving off-info but will give it a try for eyes. Usually I just magnify twice and eyeball it. Are you using high or low with the simera?
mudlake wrote:
Where I wish Sony would improve is in their manual focus aids like Canon and Nikon. To be able to use the full frame while focusing and getting an eye confirmation box that turns green would be incredible.
Do you mean that with canon and nikon, you can focus manually without magnifying, and when an eye is in focus wherever in the frame, this eye has a green box, like in AF?
THAT would be awesome indeed!
Sorry to ask, I'm in sony for years now, and don't care a lot about what other manufacturers do... Maybe I should!
hesb wrote:
Do you mean that with canon and nikon, you can focus manually without magnifying, and when an eye is in focus wherever in the frame, this eye has a green box, like in AF?
THAT would be awesome indeed!
Sorry to ask, I'm in sony for years now, and don't care a lot about what other manufacturers do... Maybe I should!
Yes, though on Nikon it works with any MF lens adapted via a chipped adapter AFAIR.
hesb wrote:
Do you mean that with canon and nikon, you can focus manually without magnifying, and when an eye is in focus wherever in the frame, this eye has a green box, like in AF?
THAT would be awesome indeed!
Sorry to ask, I'm in sony for years now, and don't care a lot about what other manufacturers do... Maybe I should!
Yep! I’m not sure if it would work with a lens like the Simeras without electronic contacts, but I think it might. Wouldn’t that be so cool! Go look up some YouTube videos of the canon and Nikon manual focus aids. They are very nice.
Focus confirmation via a color change in the focus box frame only works with chipped lenses on Nikon Z systems, such as the Voigtländer Z-mount lenses, or chipped adapted F-mount lenses.
However, subject tracking in manual focus mode does work with non-CPU lenses, including Thypoch Simera.
So, in the case of a portrait shoot, the camera tracks the face/eye, and magnification then focuses directly on the tracked face/eye, even with a non CPU lens.
Only the focus frame's color change to green is not available, and the Recall Shooting Function/RSF Hold Function also does not work with non-CPU lenses.
At least, that's the case for Z-mount lenses. Of course, there is the workaround of using a smart AF adapter and an M-mount lens.
ah. I should perhaps explain. I was traveling at the time and the image was getting chopped when the page was being displayed. Silly me thought that was intentional. 🙄🤦
