This series looks at performance from near to far of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S from f/2.8 through f/8. Across the frame performance and field curvature are assessed.
In diglloyd Mirrorless:
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S Aperture Series @ 43mm: MemChu Wide View
Includes images up to full camera resolution from f/2.8 through f/8, plus crops.
Bravo! The performance here is solid all around, with no obvious weak points.
f2.8 @ 0.4 sec, ISO 64; 2019-05-09 20:32:11
[distortion corrected, Enhance Details, LACA corrected]
NIKON Z7 + Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S @ 43mm
[low-res image for bot]
This series looks at performance from near to far of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S from f/2.8 through f/8. Across the frame performance and field curvature are assessed.
In diglloyd Mirrorless:
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S Aperture Series @ 24mm: MemChu Wide View
Includes images up to full camera resolution from f/2.8 through f/8, plus crops.
Bravo! The performance here is solid all around, with no obvious weak points.
f4 @ 1/50 sec, ISO 64; 2019-05-09 18:46:56
[distortion corrected, Enhance Details, LACA corrected]
NIKON Z7 + Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S @ 24mm
[low-res image for bot]
It is now clear having tested all Nikon NIKKOR Z lenses except the 14-30mm that Nikon is producing very good but “high consumer grade” lenses for the Z system. I expect the Nikon NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S to rely even more heavily on sharpness-damaging distortion correction, and that’s not the only sharpness-damaging optical shortcut. I am disappointed in Nikon serving up lenses that are excellent in many ways, but fall flat on the most important areas: resolving power and micro contrast.
Even Leica uses such tricks with very expensive lenses—a disagreeble trend in the era of high resolution digital.
Canon plans to succeed with discerning pros?
Canon is taking another tack, producing “L” lenses that are true pro grade that are second to none. Canon has stated that very high optical quality is the goal and that size and weight are not priorities. This is a very different approach from Nikon or Leica, with Sony doing some of both, but falling short of Canon’s commitment to excellence.
To wit: the Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L and Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L are extremely impressive performers, and I expect no less of the new Canon RF 85mm f/1.2L*.
Canon’s pro-grade lens strategy makes sense if there is a high megapixel Canon EOS R body coming this year. The top-flight L lenses should make a killer combination.
Canon EOS R with World-class Optics
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Distortion correction guarantees a loss of sharpness and micro contrast, because some of the pixels in the frame must be stretched apart. With the NikonZ 24-70/2.8, the 45 megapixel sensor of the Nikon Z7 captures as litte as 40 megapixels of detail in the most affected areas, and the losses span nearly all the zoom range, varying by degree. False claims on optical design are found in Nikon’s lens brochure “NIKKOR-Z-Brochure.pdf”:
The ultimate in optical image quality... Less Distortion
Even at their widest apertures, NIKKOR Z lenses show virtually no distortion—flare, ghosting, coma, chromatic, axial and spherical aberration are all greatly minimized.
I call on Nikon to correct the false claim in the PDF. As an additional complaint, shooting aperture is irrelevant to distortion, and conflating distortion and lateral chromatic aberration with other optical aberrations is just poor writing.
Assessing distortion with the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S
These pages shows the true optical distortion of the Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S at 70mm, 50mm, 35mm, 28mm, 24mm. The sharpness and micro contrast losses when distortion correction is used are shown, with and without distortion correction*.
In diglloyd Mirrorless:
Overview of Distortion for Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S Distortion @ 24mm, 28mm for Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S
Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S Distortion @ 70mm, 50mm, 35mm for Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S
Includes images up to full camera resolution with various crops and comparisons.
It is now clear having tested all Nikon NIKKOR Z lenses except the 14-30mm that Nikon is producing very good but “high consumer grade” lenses for the Z system. I expect the 14-30mm to rely even more heavily on sharpness-damaging distortion correction. Even Leica uses such tricks with very expensive lenses—a disagreeble trend in the era of high resolution digital.
f5.6 @ 1/5 sec, ISO 64; 2019-05-09 19:55:06 [distortion corrected, LACA corrected]
NIKON Z7 + Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S @ 24mm
[low-res image for bot]
f8 @ 0.3 sec, ISO 64; 2019-05-09 19:45:14
[distortion corrected, diffraction mitigating sharpening, LACA corrected]
NIKON Z7 + Nikon NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/2.8 S @ 70mm
[low-res image for bot]
