All these lenses were tested for hot spots with an IR modified D600 (720nm).
All test shots at infinity against a blue sky; no PP.
The "rating" is simply an average of all apertures results from a score from 1 point (worst hotspot) to 5 points (no visible hotspot).
So if a lens (f/4 to f/22 for example) had the f/stops (scores):
f/4 (5); f/5.6 (5); f8 (4); f/11 (3); f/16 (2); f/22 (1);
then the rating will be: (5+5+4+3+2+1)/6 = 3.33
As you can check above (sorrey the long list), at least my copies of both lenses revealed the 5.8 is a bit better, but the 50/2 HC is no slouch, with no hotspot up to f/5.6.
This is a great reference article Jose. Thanks for sharing.
There are numerous Nikon lens hotspot databases/articles out there but I'd trust your analysis over all of them.
The 24/2.8 NC is one of my go to lenses for IR and you rate is highly - as do I.
I tend to shoot my 50/2 H (and recently the HC) at f/8 for IR and have not noticed any sign of hotspots in realworld scenes.
The other thing I want from my IR setup is image sharpness. The 16/3.5 and 50/2 are excellent for IR in that regard. The 24/2.8 NC less so but still good. Probably 95% of my IR shooting revolves around these 3 lenses.
