| Lens |
Rating |
Comments |
| Voigtländer
12 mm f/5.6 Ultra-Wide Heliar |
3.5
(Bessa-L)
|
This small
lens, equipped with 39mm Leica thread for the new line of
Bessa rangefinder cameras is the widest of all rectilinear
wide-angle lenses. It
comes with a removeable minute, scalloped hood, which
protects the bulbous front element from damage and might
cut down on lens flare simultaneously, so should be left
in position all time. No less than 121° is encompassed by its
huge angle of view, far more than the user possibly can
relate to. Thus, using such an extreme lens can be an
intriguing lesson in how such broad views may be arranged
to provide meaningful images. You do have some assistance
using the huge and impressive finder delivered with the
lens. The finder is aspherical and offers a good, but
tiny-sized, impression of what the final image may
contain.
On axis, the sharpness is
excellent even when the lens is set wide open to improve
even further a couple of stops down. Off-axis, however,
the inevitable light fall-off gives very strong
vignetting and the situation improves just slightly
unless the lens is stopped down beyond f/11. The lens is
designated "Aspherical", but no details on the
optical design is available in the leaflet accompanying
the lens. A marked decline in off-axis sharpness may be
annoyingly visible even at f/11. Residual chromatic and
coma aberrations contribute to the loss of corner
sharpness.
On the plus side, colour
rendition is vivid and image contrast is excellent. There
is detectable, but scarcely important, barrel distortion
of the image. Lens flare and ghosting are kept under
adequate control.
Rating this extreme lens
is difficult, because the design is a cutting-edge
optical achievement and thus the user has to accept
inevitable sacrifices in performance. However, I have to
downrate this lens because of the very uneven light
distribution across the frame. If a 121° angle of view
tickles your imagination or suits your photographic
style, by all means get the 12 mm Heliar. Otherwise, it's
enlightening to learn such an extreme lens exists.
|
| Voigtländer
15 mm f/4.5 Super-Wide Heliar |
4
(Bessa-L)
|
Even smaller
and lighter than its 12 mm cousin, the 15/4.5 Heliar
bears the famous German Voigtländer label, but really is
a Japanese Cosina product in disguise. It has a 39 mm
Leica thread making it useable for a broad array of
screw-mount cameras such as the Bessa or Leica
rangefinders, and comes with a non-removable and minute
scalloped lens hood. A small, bright finder is included
as well. Covering
110°, the Super-Wide Heliar captures nearly everything
in front of the camera and does this with quite excellent
quality. Light fall-off into the corners is pronounced at
f/4.5 and still detectable at f/8, but the 15 mm behaves
much more gentle than the 12 mm in this respect. Image
sharpness is excellent on-axis and varies from useful to
very good into the corners. Stop down to f/11 for the
best all-around performance.
|
| Canon 20 mm
f/2.8 EF |
3
(EOS) |
This
wide-angle is difficult to score with a single number.
There is a dreadful corner fall-off at f/2.8 that needs
stopping down beyond f/5.6 to be reduced to acceptable
levels. Central image sharpness, dead on the optical
axis, is remarkably sharp even wide open and really
excels at f/5.6-f/8. However, even slightly off-axis,
image quality drops drastically. There are visible colour
fringing (I've seen worse, however) off-axis and a
softening of the image towards the corners that lingers
all the way beyond f/8-f/11. At f/22, the whole field is
getting fuzzy. Had the central image qualities extended
over the whole frame, this would have been a killer lens.
As is, this is a lens strictly for non-critical use. |
| Canon 17-35
mm f/2.8 L |
3 (EOS)
|
A lens
obviously targeted for the 'pro' market, this expensive
zoom lens is let down by pronounced vignetting at all
focal settings unless it is stopped down beyond f/8.
Image quality in general increases at the long end, but I
for one found the results quite disappointing. True, the
image centre on-axis is good at f/2.8 and excellent at
f/8 @35 mm. However, the strong light fall-off in
combination with very visible colour fringing (lateral
colour) off-axis and
soft corners don't suit my ideas of a professional lens.
I'm pleased to learn the newer model, 16-35 which
replaces the 17-35, is far superior, but I haven't tested
that lens as yet. |
| Canon 28-80
mm f/2.8-4 L |
4 (EOS)
|
I used this
lens on an EOS-1 and optical results were very good.
There is moderate light fall-off towards the corners and
a slight softening of the image here at large apertures.
At f/8-f/11, the image across the frame is very good. The
lens flares easily and ghosting can be a big problem
under adverse conditions. |
| Canon TS 35 mm f/2.8 |
4-4.5
(F5)
4
(D1)
3
(D1X)
|
Canon
offered an excellent tilt/shift lens for their F1 camera
and this lens can be modified to work on Nikon cameras as
well. The modified lens retains full tilting and shifting
capabilities. The 35 TS is sturdily built and is quite
easy to operate under field conditions. If the near limit
of 0.3 m is insufficient, a K1 ring brings the lens into
even shorter focus. Excepting its greater tendency
towards flare and ghosting, the Canon TS performs on an
equal footing with its Nikon 35 PC rivals. However, there
is a slight difference in colour rendition between these
lenses with the Canon TS rendering a distinct although
weak yellowish cast to the images compared to the Nikon
lens. One tends to use such TS lenses stopped down far
beyond the optimum range of f/5.6-f/8. In common with several other
lenses, the 35 TS shows decreased sharpness and much more
colour fringing on high-resolution digital cameras (D1X).
|
| Canon FD 300
mm f/2.8 |
5
(Canon
F-1)
|
Very high
quality both in optics and in workmanship characterises
this medium telephoto. Even wide open excellent images
result. I haven't tried newer 300/2.8 designs from Canon,
but they have a strong and obviously well-deserved
reputation for high optical quality. |
| Canon EOS
300 mm f/4 L IS |
4
(EOS)
|
Equipped
with an image-stabilization (IS) system, this compact
telephoto lens lends itself to hand-held nature
photography. It delivers sharp and contrasty images, but
the IS feature can produce some evident colour fringing
and occasionally a lack of detail sharpness. This is
plainly evident when the lens is used mounted on a
tripod. The newer generation of IS lenses are said to be
improved in this respect. |
Hasselblad
30 mm f/5.6
for XPan |
4 (24x65
format) 4.5
(24x36 format)
|
This fancy
and grossly expensive wide-angle has an aspherical design
to help cover the entire panorama format of the XPan with
excellent image quality. The lens kit includes a quite
plasticky and bulky accessory finder that mounts into the
flash shoe on the XPan, a sunshade with a spring-loaded
lock (so you won't lose it as fast as the shades of the
other XPan lenses, if at all), and a 58 mm-threaded
centre-spot filter. This filter by the way should be
attached to the lens for all normal shooting to avoid
serious corner vignetting, even for the smaller 24x36
format. The 30 mm
finder is a simple design, so serves only for framing the
picture. A smallish read-out of a built-in level is
conveniently located in the viewfinder. There is no
parallax adjustments except for some tiny indications for
the near limit at 0.7m. Focusing is by the ordinary
viewfinder and moving the eye back and forth between two
viewfinders doesn't exactly speed up shooting with the 30
mm. A pity, because the lens commensurate with it steep
price delivers brilliant and very sharp images. Colour
saturation is exemplary and it tackles shooting against
the light with ease. Flare is well controlled, too.
However, for such a wide lens to cover the corners of the
panorama format without any image deterioration is an
impossibly tall order. Thus, close scrutiny will show
some sharpness loss into the extreme corners of 24 x 65
images. Light fall-off is mimimal when the centre-spot
filter is applied, however.
The 30 mm isn't part of my
standard XPan kit so my shooting experience with it is
limited. I obtained, however, high quality images from
f/8 to f/16, with some image softening outside that
range. Image contrast appeared to be slightly higher than
of the other XPan lenses.
|
Hasselblad
45 mm f/4
for XPan |
4.5-5
(24x36 format)
4-4.5
(24x65 format)
4.5-5
(24x65 format, with centre-spot filter)
|
This is the
standard lens shipped with XPan and a superb performer in
terms of the sharp and detailed images it can deliver. It
renders all colours with a vibrantly pleasing rendition.
Its contrast and bokeh contribute to give images with a
pleasing roundness to them. There is just a trace of
additional softness into the extreme corners of the 24 x
65 format. Vignetting, however, will be quite visible
unless you add the dedicated, 49 mm thread centre-spot
filter. Flare is
very well controlled and the propensity of ghosting is
quite low. Handling this lens can be slightly awkward for
those with big hands, because of the close proximity of
the aperture ring and the focusing collar.
With the centre-spot
filter into position, its effective speed become f/5.6 so
isn't exactly a speedy performer. This is partly offset
by the fact that it delivers sharp images even wide open,
given the filter is used. Even better images can be
acquired with the lens set to f/8-f/11. Slight softness
creeps in beyond f/16 and f/22 results are only average.
|
Hasselblad
90 mm f/4
for XPan |
4.5
(24x36 format)
4.5
(24x65 format)
|
Most
features of the 45/4 XPan lens are found in the longer 90
mm sibling. It handles much easier, however, because
there is ample distance between the aperture and focusing
collars. Plus, the centre-spot filter isn't needed for
the 90 mm and in fact can degrade the image if the lens
is stopped well down. The main issue with this lens
relates to the rangefinder frame for it being quite
small, so framing the image is quite difficult. The 90/4 exhibits slightly lower
contrast than the 45 mm lens, but is entirely capable of
delivering very snappy and sharp images indeed.
Performance wide open is good and around f/8 it gives
outstanding results. It stands stopping down less well
than the 45, so settings beyond f/11-16 should be used
sparingly. Its resistance to flare is good, but ghosting
is a bigger problem with it than for the 45/4.
|
| Kiev Arsat
35 mm f/2.8 Tilt/Shift
|
3
(F5)
|
Made in
Ukraine, this third-party lens belongs to the uncommon
group of tilt and shift lenses. It can be had in a number
of mounts; I tested it on my Nikon F5. Compared to the
offerings from Canon and Nikon, it is ridiculously
inexpensive, but the workmanship and finish of this lens
is commensurate with the asking price. Handling is on the
rough side, and this goes for tilt- and shift movements
besides the focusing action. However, even if the Arsat is cheap, it
still delivers quite respectable images. Centre sharpness
is quite good wide open and is very good between f/8 and
f/11, and this applies to image contrast as well. Colour
fringing is well under control in the centre of the
frame, less so towards the corners. There is a good deal
of field curvature, too, but this is less of an issue
when shooting with the Arsat under real field conditions.
The lens flares quite easily and ghosting can be nasty so
the front element should be carefully shaded.
The Arsat 35 can be
delivered in different mounts for 35 mm SLRs.
|
50 mm
f/0.75
Rodenstock TV-Heligon(yes, f/0.75)
|
1-2
(standard criteria, D1X)
5
pictorial value
(D1X)
|
Sometimes I
cannot resist. In this case, shown a 1.5 kg hunk of glass
with a humongous front element to be given away free for
a worthy cause, my only option was, on the fly, to
develop a wildly impossible application for it. Thus, I
broke the f/1 speed barrier. This speed monster has "exotic"
written all over it, from its 8 cm wide front element to
a fixed f/0.75 aperture and lack of a focusing collar.
The image circle is too small to cover the 35 mm format
at infinity, but this is of no consequence because the
short back focus wouldn't allow mounting the lens for
infinity focus anyway. Thus, the only possible use on an
SLR is for shooting at close distance, which suits me
just fine.
Having had this marvel for
just a short time, my shooting experience is limited and
I plan to press it into service when the first spring
flowers arrive. Test shooting has revealed that useful
images can be obtained at f/0.75.
Evaluated purely for image
sharpness the Heligon cannot be highly ranked, possibly
because it is pressed into service at too close distances
and thus you are rewarded with heaps of spherical
aberration and other optical gremlins. However, exactly
the same features make the f/0.75 lens a wonderful item
to play around with, so for image creation it surely
deserves a high rating. I found more uses for this lens
than I ever imagined possible.
|
| Tamron AF
28-105 mm f/2.8 |
4
(EOS)
|
I tested
this third-party lens on a Canon EOS-1N, since the Nikon
version hadn't arrived at that time. This zoom is quite
bulky thanks to its high speed necessitating a filter
thread of 82 mm, and build quality is good. Optically, it
delivered surprisingly good results over the entire focal
range. Quality images were produced at f/5.6-f/11. There
is a close-focusing facility that actually works, giving
useful 'macro' images. Beware however of strong residual
spherical aberration at f/2.8 in the macro setting. This
flaw quickly disappears upon stopping the lens down. Due to its large front element, the
28-105 is very prone to flare and ghosting so always
needs to have a sunshade attached to its front end.
|
| Itorex 300
mm f/5.6 Mirror |
4
(T2 mount, tested on D1H)
|
Mirror
lenses are typically slow, soft and vibration-prone
optics. This petite offering from Itorex is much smaller
and lighter than the ordinary crop of 500 mm f/8 mirror
lenses, not surprising given its mere 300 mm focal
length. It also could be bought dirt cheap and I
succumbed to the temptation, reminding myself that mirror
lenses may be useful for UV work. What you wouldn't do
unto yourself. The
lens is nicely finished and all lettering is engraved,
something left off from many high-end lenses these days.
The focusing action is a little on the rough side,
though. A 67 mm filter thread and a ridiculously short
lens shade round off the picture.
The 300 mm Itorex proved
to be a capable performer on my D1H. It delivered as
expected soft images with muted colours, but detail
sharpness was very good indeed. It even managed to do UV
in a satisfactory way. I'd wish for more such pleasant
surprises.
|
| 1000 mm f/10
MTO-11CA |
3.5
(D1X)
|
A very big,
very impressive mirror lens which is capable of producing
quite sharp and detailled images. Being a mirror design,
it gives slightly lower contrast than refractive optics.
However, you do have the benefit of virtually no
chromatic aberration. The tripod mount is adequate, but
impractical as there is no built-in rotating lens mount
on the lens. To compensate, 4 different mounting points
are found on its perimeter. The lens comes with an M42 thread allowing
many different cameras to be attached to it. You can even
replace the mount with any T2 adapter, or, as I did, put
a rotating "F" mount onto its rear. With a
matrix chip added, the 1000 MTO meters quite reliably
with D1-series cameras.
In common with other
Russian equipment, the 1000 MTO lens can be purchased
dirt cheap. So if you just want to have a long lens for
the occasional super-tele shot, this is the lens to get.
|