Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S vs Voigtlander Z 35mm f/2 APO — impressions
Related: apochromatic, Nikon, Nikon Lenses, Nikon mirrorless, Nikon NIKKOR Z, Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S, Nikon Z8, Voigtlander, Voigtlander Lenses, Voigtlander Z APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2 Aspherical
A large batch of lenses showed up today for use on the Nikon Z8. Thank-you B&H and please buy from B&H, as their loaners make this all possible.
Planning on a trip, but with this big a batch it's foolish to not do at least one solid aperture series or comparison for each lens in order to winnow out lenses lacking merit, either crappy optical designs or bad samples.
Well, at least three crappy optical designs for sure. I refuse to waste my time on this dreck, so I will document the turds (one series tells all) and kick them back to B&H before I leave. And get something more promising. BTW, a surefire way to persuade a customer that prime lenses suck is to offer such stuff. I suppose most customers will never realize what they’re missing maybe the idea is that they shoot JPEG on the 24MP Nikon Z6.
Pro grade S lenses?
Then there are the pro-grade "S" lenses. All good, right?
APO-Lanthar
I expected that the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S would perform pretty well. But when I shot it against the Voigtlander Z 35mm f/2 APO-Lanthar, I just about shit myself.
One is world class glass, the other wheezes along so that it cannot match (at any aperture) the other lens at at f/2. Oops, I gave away the answer to the quiz. Yet the zoom shows no obvious sign of lens skew or any other build problem. I guess it just sucks. At f/2.8 and at f/5.6. And not just at 35mm but at 26mm and 28mm too. Other zoom settings presumably similar. And that’s without any distortion correction, which damages the sharp areas.
I do not expect any zoom to match the Voigtlander 35/2 APO. But in the pro "S" line from Nikon, I expect strong outer-zone sharpness by f/5.6 or at least at f/8.
I looked back at my work four years ago with the 24-70/2.8S on the Z7... my expectations have evolved and what looked marginal five years ago looks seriously crappy today. The only thing wrong with the 24-70 is a crappy optical design.
On the flip side, the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S makes very beautiful images overall with outstanding color correction and pleasing rendering style. I just can’t see it being a credible choice when across-the-frame sharpness is a priority. Which is what I established/proved way back in 2019 on the Z7.
I am beginning to think that the reason Nikon stuck with a 45MP sensor is that it’s already more than most of the lenses can deliver-to. I’m seriously disappointed in what I am seeing.
