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quality control

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2022-05-13 Fujifilm Quality Control... Decided to Be Picky: Returned the Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR + Reader Comments

2021-09-23 Video with Peter Karbe on how Leica designs and builds its Leica SL lenses

2021-09-23 Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-SL ASPH Aperture Series: Unacceptable Optical Swing (Lens Skew) + Reader Comments

2021-07-08 Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM Aperture Series: Example of Unacceptable Lens Skew

2020-10-18 Swing and Tilt: Subject Distance vs Lens Focusing Offset

2020-10-18 Analyzing Swing and Tilt of Sony A7R IV with Two Samples of Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM

2020-10-16 Update on Sony A7R IV Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism, Lens Skew of Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, Coming Field Shooting

2020-10-12 Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism Inaccuracies Afflict All Brands

2020-10-08 Is It Even POSSIBLE to get a properly aligned Sony A7R IV?

2020-10-07 Sony A7R IV in for Repair of Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism Problem

Most recent pages at other diglloyd sites:

See also 5 pages at macperformanceguide.com

2020-09-01 Sloppy engineering, irresponsible and negligent quality control practices, and disdain for the needs of working pros are now the hallmark of Apple software

2020-07-16 macOS Catalina 10.15.6 Update: Safari Cannot Download Files Any More: “the disk doesn’t have enough free space” (ditto for macOS Mojave security update)

2018-01-11 Apple Quality Control: Enough is Enough

2017-12-09 One Example Among Many of Things that Suck with macOS: Continual Breakdown in Quality Control

2015-10-15 Reader Comment: Adobe Quality Control an Issue?

Camera and Lens Tolerances

Sharpness issues related to camera and lens tolerances and build quality..

1. Mount Flange to Sensor Parallelism
2. Case Study: Severe Lens Skew (D800E, Samyang 14mm f/2.8)

How to Test A Lens

How to verify a good sample and assess all aspects of lens performance..

1. Checking for a Good Sample

Optical Behavior (Case Studies)

Illuminating examples of lens behavior..

1. Lens Skew (Nikon D800E, Sigma 35/1.4)
2. Lens Asymmetry/Blur With Fuji X100
3. Lens Asymmetry/Blur With Sony NEX-7 + 24mm ƒ/1.8 Sonnar

Panasonic Lumix S PRO 50mm f/1.4

Premium fast normal lens for L-Mount..

1. Aperture Series: Pines by Creek (Panasonic S1R)
2. Shootout: Leica 50mm f/1.4 SL vs Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 50mm f/1.4: Rotten Log

Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-SL ASPH

Fast apochromatic prime lens for L-Mount cameras..

1. Shootout: Leica 50mm f/1.4 SL vs Panasonic LUMIX S PRO 50mm f/1.4: Rotten Log

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-SL ASPH

Fast short normal lens for L-Mount cameras..

1. Lens Skew, Optical Swing
2. Aperture Series: View North to Mt Conness from Puppy Dome

Nikon D850

The best becomes better..

1. Nikon Quality Control: Misaligned Sensor Examples

Pentax HD FA 15-30mm f/2.8 ED SDM WR

Full frame ultra wide angle zoom..

1. Aperture Series @ 30mm, with Pixel Shift: Mosaic (Pentax K-1 SuperRes)

Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD

Tamron’s ultra wide to medium fast zoom..

1. Tamron 15-30mm vs Nikon 14-24/2.8G [Bad Sample] (Pescadero Creek, Nikon D810)

Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art

Mid-range optimized groundbreaking f/2 zoom..

1. Shootout: vs Sigma 24-105mm f/4A: Colorful Creek

Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

Sigma’s fast high performance wide angle..

1. Aperture Series: Checking for Lens Symmetry, Bristlecone on Bare Hill (Canon 5DS R)

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

Sigma’s fast and affordable moderate excellent wide angle..

1. Lens Skew (Nikon D800E)
2. Lens Skew Confirmation (Nikon D800E)

Samyang 14mm f/2.8

Ultra wide angle lens for Canon and Nikon..

1. Lens Skew / Asymmetry Focus Bracket
2. Aperture Series: Wyman Cabin

Schneider Kreuznach LS 80mm f/2.8

Compact normal 54mm equivalent for Phase One XF system.

1. Aperture Series: Mosaic (IQ4 150)

Schneider Kreuznach LS 150mm f/2.8 IF

Medium telephoto 100mm equivalent for Phase One XF system.

1. Aperture Series: Mosaic (IQ4 150)

Schneider Kreuznach LS 240mm f/4.5 IF

Long telephoto 162mm equivalent for Phase One XF system.

1. Aperture Series: Mosaic (IQ4 150)

Fujifilm GF 23mm f/4 R WR

Ultra wide angle equivalent to 19mm f/3.3. .

1. Focus Stacking Examples, Eastern Sierra (GFX100)

Fujifilm GF 32-64mm f/4 R LM WR

Mid-range zoom lens equivalent to 26-53mm f/3.3..

1. Examples: Eastern Sierra (GFX 50S)

Fujifilm GF 45-100mm f/4 R LM OIS WR

Slightly long zoom lens equivalent to 37-82mm f/3.3..

1. Aperture Series @ 56mm: Alabama Hills Desert Wash, Sunrise View To Mt Whitney

Fujifilm GF 110mm f/2 R WR

Ultra high speed telephoto equivalent to 90mm f/1.6..

1. Aperture Series: Face in Boulder (Extreme Bad Sample)

Fujifilm GF 120mm f/4 Macro R LM OIS WR

High performance macro photography on medium format, equivalent to 99mm f/3.3..

1. Example Panoramas, Eastern Sierra (GFX100)

Hasselblad XCD 35-75mm f3.5-4.5

Normal lens equivqlent to 53mm..

1. Aperture Series @ 75mm: View over Alabama Hills Granite Formations to Last Orange Light on Mt Whitney

Hasselblad XCD 65mm f/2.8

Normal lens equivqlent to 53mm..

1. Aperture Series: View Over Alabama Hills Formations to Mt Whitney Range, Dusk
2. Aperture Series: View Over Alabama Hills Formations, Last Light on High Peaks

Pentax 645 Lenses (645D tests)

A variety of 645 lens tests on the 645D.

1. Pentax-FA 45-85mm f/4.5 @ 85mm

Hasselblad H4D 50 Megapixel Medium Format DSLR

How does Hasselblad’s 3rd generation medium format entry measure up?.

1. Examples with HCD 28mm f/4 (Yosemite)

Optical Performance

Sharpness and rendering..

1. Resolution Charts Overview
2. Sample Variation

Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM

Fast ultra wide zoom lens..

1. Examples: Eastern Sierra

Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S

Ultra wide compact zoom for Nikon Z cameras..

1. Aperture Series @ 30mm: Bleached Trees in Old Beaver Pond

Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM

Ultra high performance extreme wide angle..

1. Aperture Series: Greenstone Lake

Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G

Compact ultra-wide angle lens..

1. Examples: Inyo National Forest
2. Aperture Series: Alabama Hills Granite Monolith, Sunrise

Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM

High performance mild wide-angle..

1. Shootout vs Voigtlander FE 35/2 APO-Lanthar: Pine Creek Cliffs

Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 Distagon ZA

Fast and gorgeous moderate wide angle Zeiss design..

1. Examples at f/1.4, Bad Sample Lens #1, Skew/Asymmetry (Pescadero Creek, A7R)
2. Examples: Bad Sample Lens #2, Skew/Asymmetry (A7R II)

Sony Planar T* FE 50mm f/1.4 ZA

Fast high performance normal lens of Zeiss design..

1. Shootout vs Zeiss Loxia 50/2: Spuller Lake View to Mt Conness (Sony A7R II, Bad Sample of Sony 50/1.4)

Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM

High performance, high speed..

1. Lens Skew
2. Aperture Series: Rainstorm Over White Mountains
3. Shootout vs Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, Voigtlander FE 50/2 (Deck and Roof)

Sony 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS

Native-mount macro length designed by Zeiss..

1. Examples: Bad Lens Sample (A7R II)

Sigma FE 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Native-mount ultra wide angle high performance zoom for mirrorless..

1. Aperture Series @ 24mm: Teak Bench Closeup
2. 3-Way Shootout @ 18mm: Mosaic (Sony A7R IV)
3. Compared @ 14mm: Swing and Tilt, Optical Decentering — Sigma FE 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art and Two Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM
4. Conclusions and Recommendations on the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Sigma FE 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art

Native-mount mid-range zoom for mirrorless..

1. Aperture Series @70mm: View Past Lone Pine Campground to White Mountains

Sigma FE 35mm f/1.2 DG DN Art

Ultra high speed native-mount moderate wide angle..

1. Aperture Series: Teak Bench (Sony A7R IV)

Sigma FE 45mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary

Compact native-mount normal lens..

1. Aperture Series: Mosaic (Sony A7R IV)

Voigtlander FE 35mm f/2 APO-Lanthar Aspherical

High-grade manual focus wide-normal lens..

1. Shootout vs Sony FE 35/1.4 GM, Sigma FE 35/2 DG DN: Pine Creek Cliffs

Voigtlander FE 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar Aspherical

High-grade manual focus normal lens..

1. Shootout vs Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II (Deck and Roof)

Voigtlander FE 65mm f/2 Macro APO-Lanthar Aspherical

Ultra high grade performer at a modest price..

1. Shootout @ 65mm vs Voigtlander FE 65/2 APO-Macro-Lanthar (Deck and Roof)

Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM

Fast extreme wide angle zoom..

1. Compared @ 14mm: Swing and Tilt, Optical Decentering —two Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM and Sigma FE 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN Art
2. Aperture Series @ 17mm: Big Tree at Bend in Alpine Creek

Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G

Extreme wide angle zoom..

1. Imaging Performance @ 24mm, Single Frame vs Stacked: Downed Tree, Last Kiss of Sunlight
2. 3-Way Shootout @ 18mm: Mosaic (Sony A7R IV)

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM

Pro-grade f/2.8 wide angle zoom..

1. 3-Way Shootout @ 18mm: Mosaic (Sony A7R IV)

Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II

Premiere mid-range zoom for Sony full frame mirrorless.

1. Shootout @ 50mm vs Voigtlander FE 50/2 APO-Lanthar (Deck and Roof)
2. Shootout @ 65mm vs Voigtlander FE 65/2 APO-Macro-Lanthar (Deck and Roof)

Samyang FE 14mm f/2.8

Ultra wide angle lens adapted from DSLR, native E-mount, all manual..

1. Overview of Samyang 14mm f/2.8

Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 60mm f/2.8 ED Macro

Native Micro Four Thirds macro lens..

1. Compared: 60/2.8 ED Macro (2 copies) vs SHG 35-100/2 ED (Dolls)

Panasonic Lumix G LEICA DG MACRO-ELMARIT 45mm f/2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S

A macro lens with high performance..

1. Examples: Build Quality — Lens Skew Blur on Left
2. Examples: Bristlecones and Yosemite

Lens Quality control

How good is Leica quality control?.

1. Lens Quality Control
2. QC: Camera Implications
3. QC: 18/3.8 Super-Elmar-M ASPH
4. QC: 21/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH
5. QC: 28/2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH
6. QC: 50/2 APO-Summicron-M ASPH
7. QC: 50/0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH
8. QC: 75/2 APO-Summicron-M ASPH

Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-M ASPH

High performance but flawed 50mm normal lens..

1. Aperture Series: Church Mosaic and Lens Skew (M240)

Blog posts, reverse chronological

2022

2022-05-13 Fujifilm Quality Control... Decided to Be Picky: Returned the Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR + Reader Comments

2021

2021-09-23 Video with Peter Karbe on how Leica designs and builds its Leica SL lenses

2021-09-23 Leica 50mm f/2 APO-Summicron-SL ASPH Aperture Series: Unacceptable Optical Swing (Lens Skew) + Reader Comments

2021-07-08 Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM Aperture Series: Example of Unacceptable Lens Skew

2020

2020-10-18 Swing and Tilt: Subject Distance vs Lens Focusing Offset

2020-10-18 Analyzing Swing and Tilt of Sony A7R IV with Two Samples of Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM

2020-10-16 Update on Sony A7R IV Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism, Lens Skew of Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM, Coming Field Shooting

2020-10-12 Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism Inaccuracies Afflict All Brands

2020-10-08 Is It Even POSSIBLE to get a properly aligned Sony A7R IV?

2020-10-07 Sony A7R IV in for Repair of Lens Mount / Sensor Parallelism Problem

2020-10-01 Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM Aperture Series: Big Tree at Bend in Alpine Creek (jaw-dropping focus shift and lens skew)

2020-05-24 Hasselblad X1D II 50C: Operational and Focusing Bugs

2019

2019-09-19 Sony A7R IV vs Lens Quality Control (all brands), Actual Increase in Resolution over the Sony A7R III

2019-09-18 Lens Quality Control as Revealed by Demanding Sony A7R IV 60MP Sensor

2019-09-05 Fujifilm GF Lens Quality Control = Unacceptable

2019-03-13 Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Aperture Series @ 24mm: Alabama Hills Rainstorm Creek (Nikon D850)

2017

2017-10-28 Nikon D850: the 2nd Sample is Off Also, both Skewed and Bad Flange Focal Distance

2017-10-01 Nikon D850: the Focusing Distance Issues Stem from a Sensor that is not Parallel to the Lens Mount (Nikon quality control issue)

2017-09-29 Nikon D850: Apparent Build Tolerance Error in Flange Focal Distance vs Optical Viewfinder, Causes Major Focus Error with Manual Focus Lenses and Focus Confirmation

2017-08-19 Sony 12-24mm f/4 G @ 12mm: Single Frame Performance at f/11 vs Focus Stacking at f/11 (Pine at Morgan Lake)

2016

2016-05-08 Sony 85mm f/1.4 Scratchy/Noisy Focusing: I Heard None with my Sample

2016-04-09 Sony G Master 85mm f/1.4 Scratchy/Noisy Focus with Internal Wear

2015

2015-08-18 Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 Distagon: Another Bad Sample with Skew / Asymmetry (A7R II)

2015-08-09 Sony 90mm f/2.8: Bad Sample (NOW WITH EXAMPLES)

2015-07-20 Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Aperture Series: Bristlecone on Bare Hill, Checking for Lens Symmetry (Canon 5DS R)

2015-04-17 Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 Distagon: Quality Control Issues, Right Side Blur at f/1.4

2015-04-04 Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD: Focusing Problems and Lens Skew

2013

2013-09-06 Samyang 14mm f/2.8: Lens Skew Asymmetry

2013-08-12 Lens Skew with the Leica 50mm f/2 APO ASPH?

2013-02-22 Lens Skew Study added to MSI

2013-02-20 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM: Lens Skew Confirmation (Alternate Scene)

2013-02-20 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM: Lens Skew

2012

2012-11-26 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM: Quality Control Steps Up (“A1 MTF”)

2012-01-30 Sony NEX-7 + Sony 24mm f/1.8 Sonnar — “Bad Sample” Documented

2010

2010-07-28 LensRentals.com discount code, and lens brand quality control

2010-07-11 Bad sample experience — Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4G

2009

2009-12-10 Nikon 70-200/2.8G VR II bad sample

2009-10-05 Canon EF 100/2.8L IS macro lens bad sample