[normhead]

Given the infinitely useful ƒ8, everything in focus from 16 ft to infinity, I wonder how much ƒ4 even gets used.



The out of focus areas on most 35mm lenses is not at a all smooth.

At ƒ5.6


@ ƒ4


Not smooth...

[ivanvernon]

Thanks for all the hard work to do the testing.

My choice was No. 5 with No. 6 a close second. I happen to own the Tamron, which I have used mainly for non-critical photos of social gatherings and evening performances, but have seen some excellent landscape work done with it. My Tammy now gets renewed respect from me, although it would not win a low-light AF speed contest!

[beachgardener]

My Tammy now gets renewed respect from me, although it would not win a low-light AF speed contest!

neither does the 77, but they are both great lenses in their own right

[ivanvernon]

neitehr does the 77, but they are both great lenses in their own right

Agreed. My wife calls the 77 our magic lens.

[Imp]

although it would not win a low-light AF speed contest!

If only it could...

[Nicolas06]

I'll try to do another 35mm lenses comparison when I have time: FA31, DA35 ltd, DA35 f/2.4...

[Imp]

Ooh, goody!

[AndrewG NY]

I wish there was some sort of 'lock everything but the shutter' mode. Or a heated camera body to make bulky gloves less of a requirement up here.

I know this is an old thread, but i like the idea.

This might be a good use of the left-side Raw-Fx button --
1. either must hold pressed to unlock while using other controls
2. or hold for 1sec to toggle lock/unlock

I guess an info screen lock toggle would be fine too.

[reh321]

I didn't notice this during the voting, but reviewing the images now leads me to the conclusion that there is minimal difference between the lenses. With the exception of those who would rather look at an image one pixel at a time, creating a pleasing image depends much more on skill and judgement of the photographer than on the gear we obsess so much over.

[Nicolas06]

I didn't notice this during the voting, but reviewing the images now leads me to the conclusion that there is minimal difference between the lenses. With the exception of those who would rather look at an image one pixel at a time, creating a pleasing image depends much more on skill and judgement of the photographer than on the gear we obsess so much over.

This is because you focus on average apperture (f/5.6) and average focal length (35mm). 35mm f/5.6 is likely one of the easiest focal lengh and apperture combination to get right. The biggest difference between lenses are often their focal length range as well as max apperture. Even if an f/1.4 lens isn't better at f/5.6 than the kit lens, it can do things the kit lens will never do at f/2.8, f/2 or f/1.4... And if the focal range is different, that also quite important, many are interrested in the DFA24-70 vs the 28-105 because the 24-70 cover 24mm... You may not be able to see much difference between the 2 lenses at 35mm f/5.6 but the overall experience would be very different between the 2. Different enough that many will want to get both.

Same for normhead test. Some are manual focus, they don't have the same focal range or same max apperture. This is more than enough to justify preferences or quite different uses.

This also doesn't factor the bokeh rendering, 3D/pop you get with some lenses, flare resistance or overall color rendering. Normhead got different lighting condition so we can't really compare there but I can say to you that different lens render quite differently.

This mean it doesn't factor the time spend in post production. When I shot wiht FA77 or FA31, the picture look stunning straight from the camera. when I shoot with the 55-300, it does look washed out in comparison and the bokeh is quite busy/distracting. I need much more work with the 55-300 or 17-70 to get the same pleasing result and maybe that's my post processing skills, but I can't always get it as good with the zooms. For example because the bokeh is more busy with 55-300, and the picture less constraty, I need to push contrast/micro constrast more. But this make the bokeh even more busy. I'd need to go to photoshop and push the slider differently for different part of the image. This is something I could do, but I don't. As you tend to be a JPEG shooter, that should speak to you to have lenses that do it right straight out of camera

But yes lighting/subject/framing/composition are all more important. A great photo taken with a lesser lens will stay a great photo, even if a better lens would make it even greater... But an un-interresting photo will stay un-interresting anyway.