the solitaire wrote:
I did own a 200 f4 Ai-S and never got a perfectly sharp image from it. Unlike the 200mm f4 Nikkor-Q.C which is even sharper then the 80-200 f4 Ai-S starting wide open. I normally bring the zoom, because it's still plenty sharp (apparently sharper then your copy of the 200 f4 Ai-S), and more versatile then the slightly sharper prime. They are identical in size, even if th eprime is slightly lighter.
Gonga wrote:
I can't detect any softness with my 200 f4 AiS. It seems about as sharp as my 85 f2, 105 2.5, 135 2.8 and 300 4.5. Here are some samples - and if you're interested in the originals all my shots at flickr can be downloaded at full resolution. There is a ton of detail in the individual trees on the mountaintops. The last image of the British cannon is at f5.6. Don't have one at f4.
I have both too and I run a little and quick home made test on a 42MP sensor, my copies behave like this:
- in the central area they are quite similar at f/4 but stopping down the QC looks a little sharper and more brilliant, in my opinion it has better contrast.
- in the outer areas the AIS is the clear winner, very uniform across the image starting from f/4 (even my copy of 180mm f/2.8 ED is not as good in the corners), while the QC needs to be stopped down a little and is never as good as the AIS.
I would use the AIS for landscape pictures and QC when outer part of the picture is not important or out of focus, in my opinion they are different (the optical scheme is quite different, not just a minor adjustment) but they are both very good lenses.
That's what Ben was up to on his spring break, breaking his Flickr Goodness. I checked out the flickr page and looks like Ben's changed his name too, but not his style Well at least he is back. Philippe needs to keep on needling him, I thinking that's what keeps Ben ticking.
Philippe, how did you get the 20mm into those ladies faces I would have tried to get that with a 135 and then of course the effect is not quite the same But I will let you do those ultrawide/ultraclose scenes.
Gonga wrote:
Here are some shots I took yesterday at Austin Falls on the Sacandaga River. My 85mm f2 AiS is only about 30 years old I think, but the internal elements were severely scratched with hundreds of hairline scratches by a very careless dry cleaning job. As far as I can tell, there is no effect on the images it makes, though it might be more susceptible to flare if the Sun were directly in the shot. If you download the first shot as high res, it really, really delivers, corner to corner! These old telephoto primes are amazing little gems.
Definitely got these guys curious about it. "Smile, you are on Leighton lens" Same Delta 100 roll in the F2SB. Missed focus I think, the boat was going by too fast.
Goodness. I checked out the flickr page and looks like Ben's changed his name too, but not his style 
