Thank you Mark, I always look forward to your lens reviews. Indeed as another poster mentioned, your reviews often exceed dpreviews' in relevance and timeliness.
The performance of the 14-24 is absolutely breathtaking...
The results of the 14LII are ugly and remind me more of an 14LI which I owned till I bought my 14LII two weeks ago. I found mine being sharp from 2.8 from corner to corner. Maybe itīs not as sharp as the 14-24 but I think itīs far beyond the copy that has been tested.
Hereīs my little quick f2.8 test.
My kitchen is not so nice and clean thatīs why You only get my record shelf, badly illuminated by two halogen spots.
1DsMkII; Iso100; 1/5s; f2.8; RAW converted with DPP sharpening on 2 all the rest on 0; no lens correction
Steffen
http://www.zozgornik.de/test14/14over.jpg
http://www.zozgornik.de/test14/14crop1.jpg
http://www.zozgornik.de/test14/14crop2.jpg
Edited by S Zozgornik on Dec 18, 2007 at 06:22 PM GMT
How back logged is the queue for the amazing adapter that will let us use the 14-24 on a 5D?
I just realized that I need to get into some sort of queue if I ever hope to get one of those adapters.
Out of curiosity, what timeframe are we looking at for the first ones to come off the assembly line? And then for someone like me who is now at the back of the queue?
While Mark prepares his report, I hope appetite for it will be sharpened by a couple of observations gathered from a brief glimpse at the files, though Mark's thorough review may prove me wrong:
- Mark tested one 14LII against one 14-24G. We know that there can be sample variation, especially with exotic wideangles, but the result is more or less what was expected, and this copy of the 14-24 clearly sets a new benchmark for ultrawide, despite being a zoom.
- the test was done on a 1Ds3, which is a brutal lens punisher and should show the differences more clearly than, let's say, a 5D.
- the 14LII was very very well corrected against distortion while the 14-24 had fairly simple barrel at the wide end which can be successfully fixed in post. However, the 14-24's need for distortion correction in software at 14mm could make the comparison closer, especially on a 5D.
- it looks like the Distagon 21 is still ahead by a whisker at 21, but the difference is for purists, as the 14-24 is very convenient and 'Distagonal' from 14-18mm.
It was great to meet up with Don, Andy, and Mark for the afternoon. Mark is a punctilious and devoted tester as we can see from his site, and it was fun to see him in action, doing what we all love him for...
p.7 #11 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
At last the images are (should be) there now!
Is this better then the one tested? Or am I just moaning over to early spend money?
The 14LII was the very first really good Super Wide Iīve had my hands on. All the others with an Eos-Mount are just crap against it.
If the difference between 14L and 14-24 should be really as huge as the first images indicate it would be really hard.
If this differnce is caused by variation of copy of the lens, this is not much better...
p.7 #12 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
S Zozgornik wrote:
At last the images are (should be) there now!
Is this better then the one tested? Or am I just moaning over to early spend money?
The 14LII was the very first really good Super Wide Iīve had my hands on. All the others with an Eos-Mount are just crap against it.
If the difference between 14L and 14-24 should be really as huge as the first images indicate it would be really hard.
If this differnce is caused by variation of copy of the lens, this is not much better...
Good taste in music, Steffen. "Lamb Lies Down", "Wind and Wuthering", "Trick of the Tail" - gotta love real old Genesis. Was just blasting "Lamb" last night while working on photos
Thanks for posting the 14 Mk2 images. They look pretty good to me but it's a tough call. The major selling points of the 14-24 vis-a-vis the 14 Mk2 (to me) are 1) image quality, 2) convenience of a zoom and 3) price. With the availablity of Mark's adapter, we Canon users and landscape/architect shooters will get to enjoy what looks to be a wonderful new lens.
p.7 #13 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
Steffen,
Your 14mm MkII seems to perform better than that of hubsand. Are we dealing with sample variation at its best here? The question is not directly directed to you, of course.... Thanks for posting.
p.7 #14 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
I would not be surprised if Steffen's 14 mm lens is better than Mark's copy. Wide sample to sample variation is unfortunately a fact of life with Canon optics.I've tested a.o. a number of Canons WA zooms and not two of them performed identically.
The question now is if Nikon can maintain good consistency.
Dec 18, 2007 at 03:58 PM
brainiac Offline [X]
p.7 #15 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
I don't see anything in Steffen's shot that contradicts results from the 14 in Mark's test. Mark deliberately puts high contrast detailed subject matter in the corners, i.e. trees against the sky, to stress test the limits. He was using a 1Ds3, not a 5D, so the camera is significantly less forgiving. In Mark's test the 14LII actually did pretty well compared to many of the ultrawide lenses we have seen him test in the past. It was still eclipsed by the superb Nikon though. Nobody should be unduly unhappy with the 14LII in itself. It may perform less well with high contrast subject matter, but it has much lower distortion, and gives you AF and auto-aperture. As Steffen has demonstrated, it is a very capable lens which is a privilege to use. It seems to come a creditable second if you want to eke every ounce of performance out of a 1Ds3 at 14mm. Isn't this exactly what we were expecting, as the MTF graphs predicted?
p.7 #16 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
how frustrating, on the canon forum some hufty pufty hotheads are accusing mark of pumping up interest in this lens just to sell adaptors. what a joke.
p.7 #17 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
I too was worried if Nikon would maintain good consistency. The 3 different 14-24's I've seen have each been stellar. If I had the worse performer of that bunch I'd be thrilled.
p.7 #18 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
They are a bunch of paranoids on the Canon forum - a while back I found reference to the 5D MK2 on a pull down menu in CaptureOne Beta 4 and was basicaly accused of being an employee of Canon planting a bit of viral marketing.
p.7 #19 · Nikon 14-24mm tested on Canon 5D/1Ds III
fourfa wrote:
how frustrating, on the canon forum some hufty pufty hotheads are accusing mark of pumping up interest in this lens just to sell adaptors. what a joke.
...and if he does make a bundle from the adapters, good for him. I am confident that he'll spend it all on photo gear, testing, and maintaining his website, which is a great resource for us all.
) there now!