35mm f2 AF/-D: Soft and Halo wide-opened ...

[regit]

Hi,

I'm reading a comparision between the 35mm Nikkor and the Sigma and I was in the optical characteristics of the Nikkor wide-opened. If you have the Nikkor, does it shows the kind of softness and halo around highlights when using it wide-open?

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1030&thread=15275122

 

[Ken-L]

I've never seen that with mine.

 

[regit]

Thanks Ken for the ultra-fast reply!!! The discussions do suggest that there seems to be some sample variations. I've seen Uncle Frank's gallery and one of the shots does have these effects though to a lesser degree... hmmm...

 

[Removed User 2]

The nikkor 35 1.4 ai-s will show those wide open. The 35mm af, I have no idea.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Thanks Ken for the ultra-fast reply!!! The discussions do suggest that there seems to be some sample variations. I've seen Uncle Frank's gallery and one of the shots does have these effects though to a lesser degree... hmmm...

Which picture, Regit?

http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/35mm

 

[regit]

Which picture, Regit?

http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/35mm

I'm referring to the below. It may be an one-off thingy, but if you look at the sides of the uniform sleeves, the white is "bleeding" into the darker background. The picture is also a little soft... may be camera shake, etc...

All in all, I like this kind of rendition for B&W.

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[regit]

The nikkor 35 1.4 ai-s will show those wide open. The 35mm af, I have no idea.

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm looking for AF this time. On the manaul side, I had a Summilux 35/1.4 pre-asph that does this most pleasingly. I'm just looking for something on the AF side for the Nikon.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I'm referring to the below. It may be an one-off thingy, but if you look at the sides of the uniform sleeves, the white is "bleeding" into the darker background.

Oh, that's a photo-finishing error, not a lens characteristic. The subject was pretty badly underexposed, so I used a levels adjustment layer to brighten him and his uniform, but excluded the background. Well, I kind of excluded it. I just got a little sloppy with the soft paintbrush :-/.

The picture is also a little soft... may be camera shake, etc...

That, too. It was just a snapshot, and I found it a challenge to keep the focus where I wanted it at f/2.

 

[andreasb]

Well if you ARE looking for the effekt, there is another lens that definitley does this, and it is not AF, and a very strange lens indeed: Helios 85mm F1.5 MF (Manual everything) A copied Zeiss design Russian lens. very cool effekt wide open and Insanely sharp stopped down. I bought mine for 25 dollars, they are getting over the $130 -$150 mark now...

Here is one of each (click on them for full size):

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and
View attachment 35432

 

[Uncle Frank]

Well if you ARE looking for the effekt, there is another lens that definitley does this

Those are awesome, Andreas!

 

[regit]

Well if you ARE looking for the effekt, there is another lens that definitley does this, and it is not AF, and a very strange lens indeed: Helios 85mm F1.5 MF (Manual everything) A copied Zeiss design Russian lens. very cool effekt wide open and Insanely sharp stopped down. I bought mine for 25 dollars, they are getting over the $130 -$150 mark now...

Hi Andréas, thank you for the suggestion. It most certainly does what I'm looking for :smile: I only tried 2 lenses that can do this, an old Leica Summar 50/2 (a milder effect can still be seen even stop-down all the way!!!) and the Nokton 50/1.5 for the old Voigtlander Prominent wide-opened... It's a shame that there is no AF equivalent... As for manual focus lens for Nikon, the only soft-focus lens for F-mount, Tamron 70-150/2.8 is one that I've tried. Sometime ago, I did a F-mount conversion of a Hektor 150mm and it also gives very pleasing results... Now, thanks to you, I know there is yet another alternative for F-mount MF lens :smile:

 

[regit]

BTW Andréas, is yours in f-mount or did you add a M42 adapter?

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks, Uncle Frank!

After reading many of your posts about the 35mm f/2 and seeing your great shots taken with this lens, I went ahead and bought one. Didn't get around to using it right away, though.... Last night I was at a meeting and had my camera and that lens with me, as I was going somewhere else afterward. You're right that people don't seem to be threatened by the sight of that unobtrusive lens and are much more relaxed and spontaneous than they would be if there were a huge lens pointed at them. Shot this totally off-the-cuff spontaneous image and was very gratified at the results:

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Later, I went out to do some night shooting (part of a competition in another online group) and was able to capture people having a casual drink at an outdoor bar connected to a local restaurant. Again, no one paid much attention to me because why would the crazy redheaded lady think she could get any sort of photo with that little lens and -- hey, she's not even using flash!

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[Chris101]

I love the 35- it fills the function of the normal lens for a digital Nikon camera quite well. It shoots close, it shoots far, it shoots in broad daylight and at night. It is indeed the everything lens! But it does have a halo at f/2, but it's just about gone by f/2.2, and nowhere to be seen by f/2.8. Sharpening makes it disappear too, since it's contrast or chromatic aberation based.

Here's the test I did a while back:

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[regit]

Hi Chris, it's been a while ... :smile:

Thank you for the test charts. Looks like it may be worth giving the lens a go :smile:

I love the 35- it fills the function of the normal lens for a digital Nikon camera quite well. It shoots close, it shoots far, it shoots in broad daylight and at night. It is indeed the everything lens! But it does have a halo at f/2, but it's just about gone by f/2.2, and nowhere to be seen by f/2.8. Sharpening makes it disappear too, since it's contrast or chromatic aberation based.

Here's the test I did a while back:

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[Chris101]

Hi Chris, it's been a while ... :smile: ...

It has at that Regit! I have, however, looked in at many of your photo sets that you've posted here and elsewhere.

Now if I recall, you have a dandy lens collection (noct, etc.) so what are your plans for the little 35?

 

[andreasb]

Sorry I should have clarified: it needs an M42 adapter. I have one with a lens in it to be able to focus to infinity, does not degrade quality at all it seems (I had one that didn't have a lens and compared) And the pleasing effect was the same.

BTW Andréas, is yours in f-mount or did you add a M42 adapter?

 

[regit]

Sorry I should have clarified: it needs an M42 adapter. I have one with a lens in it to be able to focus to infinity, does not degrade quality at all it seems (I had one that didn't have a lens and compared) And the pleasing effect was the same.

Thank you for the follow-up. I sold my M42 adapter ago after selling all my M42 lenses ... Doh!! At least they are available widely :smile:

 

[regit]

It has at that Regit! I have, however, looked in at many of your photo sets that you've posted here and elsewhere.

Now if I recall, you have a dandy lens collection (noct, etc.) so what are your plans for the little 35?

After seeing your gallery, I think it is a very versatile lens indeed. I'll probably use it on a film camera as I got a al' chepo F90x sitting on the shelf. The small 35 and a 85/1.8 make a good travel/on-the-go kit :smile: