What lenses are noticeably softer with D2X

Hi AFS,

None that I have. I shoot with AF-D type Nikkors and in fact have a problem with too much sharpness.

Clients are not interested in seeing all their blemishs - they want to look good, thats what they are paying for.

A 12 mp camera portrait is brutal in detail.

I'm using 17-35, 35 and 50 mm and there's way more quality in there than I need.

 

I disagree that the 70-200 VR is not as sharp wide open on the D2X as it is on the D70. It appears to me to exhibit similar sharpness and contrast when compared at the same image magnification. It is true that this lens is not as sharp on the D2X when wide open as it is at f/5.6-11. This same behavior is seen when using it on an F5 with film . In fact I do not know of any lens that is as sharp wide open as it is when stopped down a bit; the 70-200VR is better than most, and amazing for a zoom. Even when shooting at f/2.8, it has very little edge softness due to curvature of field and no significant chromatic aberration, and merely loses a bit of contrast and/or sharpness, particularly at the long end.

I do have a Vivitar Series I 28-105mm f/2.8-3.8 manual focus zoom with serious edge softness on the D2X. In fact with the D2X I could measure the curvature of field of this lens when wide open by using the various focus brackets. I bought this lens in the mid-1980's (I think, for around $150-200) to use on my F2 when I got tired of constantly changing lenses while chasing my (then) young boys around the house and yard; it was my first zoom lens. I suspect that careful examination would show edge softness in my old slides and prints that were taken with that lens, but my wife would not care since her son's faces were mostly near the center of the frame.

In addition to the 70-200 VR, I find the 17-55 f/2.8 DX is really excellent, again except for some minor edge sharpness loss when wide open, and a bit of CA particularly at the wide angle end. Neither of these are serious problems, and are hardly visible except in huge enlargements; this is now the lens I use most often on the D2X. My 60 mm f/2.8 Micro and 50 mm f/1.4 perform as well or possibly even better on the D2X with its smaller image circle, than they did on the F5. Also my old 105 mm f/2.5 and 55 mm f/3.5 Micro are usable when given enough time for manual focus. None of these lenses are perfect, but they have not shown any particular problem with the D2X that could not have been observed previously when using film.

Gerry