17-55mm sample shots posted

[Paul_Casi]

I am especially impressed with the contrast and sharpness of the shots. The last shot, @ 17mm, is impressive -- was this cropped or fixed in NC4 to remove curvature?

Thanks for sharing.

Paul

[Edmond_Terakopian]

Paul,
None of these shots have been modified in any way - they are as they were shot.

Edmond

[GrahamHarrison]

Edmond - when you get a moment could you try this lens at f22, with the camera on a tripod. I had an 18-35mm f2.8 Nikkor which was fine for general work but went extremeny soft when shut right down. Nikon say you shouldn't shut right down, which makes you wonder why they built f22 into the lens in the first place ! - Thanks - Graham.

[Danny_Brenner]

The 18-35 is not a f/2.8 lens and is amateurish. Don't expect
perfect results from such a lens. With my 17-35/f2.8 I get
corner to corner, sharp and crisp results at f22.

[diglloyd]

[ QUOTE ]
Edmond - when you get a moment could you try this lens at f22, with the camera on a tripod. I had an 18-35mm f2.8 Nikkor which was fine for general work but went extremeny soft when shut right down. Nikon say you shouldn't shut right down, which makes you wonder why they built f22 into the lens in the first place !

[/ QUOTE ]

All lenses are subject to the laws of physics, in this case resolution limited by diffraction. As a rough guide, resolution is limited to (1600 line pairs/f-number)/mm. So at f22, resolution is limited to roughly 72 line pairs/mm. At f16, the resolution would be limited to 100 line pairs/mm.

Note that these are theoretical limits that lenses often don't achieve, but they are hard limits which no lens can exceed.

The horizontal density of a D1X sensor is about 80 line pairs/mm, and for a D2H, about 50 line pairs/mm.

The rest is left as an excercise to the reader.

[GrahamHarrison]

Apologies guys it was a 20-35mm f2.8, not 18-35mm, my mistake. However, it was very poor at f22. I bought a 24mm f2.8 prime lens and sold the zoom. The prime lens works great at f22. Hopefully we are all looking forward to Edmond shutting his new lens right down ...

Thanks for the tech info, Lloyd.

Graham Harrison

Just posted a first batch of sample shots at http://www.pbase.com/ibbo/17_55mm_dx using all main focal lengths and f/2.8, f/4 and f/8. (Sorry, didn't see the request for f/22 before posting). All are medium quality jpegs, with normal sharpening in NC4.1

Handles very well, slightly longer than the 17-35. Unlike the 17-35, the barrel extends during zooming, reaching maximum length at 17mm. Much deeper lens shade, but not as vast as the one for the 28-70AFS. Controls very similar to the 17-35 - that is, the focus and zoom rings are not reversed like they are on the 12-24. Would have been truly wonderful if it went to 70mm (sigh!) but I think my 28-70 will now be gathering dust.

Very happy so far: will try to add some portraits tomorrow - maybe then I will really miss 70mm?

peter ibbotson

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