Albert Silver
Senior Member
It wasn't really detailed in my review, and several comments by others speculated the continuous tracking or low-light AF would be slower than its Nikon counterpart. In daylight, it is proven to be exactly as fast and has been tested by several independent sites.
Nikon 35 f/1.8G (FX)
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_35mm_f1-8G_ED/
"The lens focuses in around 0.5 sec from infinity to 35 cm, which is fast. The 35/1.4G does this in 0.7 sec."
Tamron 35 f/1.8 VC
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Tamron_SP_35mm_f1-8_Di_VC_USD/
"The lens focuses in around 0.5 sec from infinity to 0.35m which is fast."
However, a key factor of such a fast lens is low-light performance, such as events, street photography, or other. At the request of a couple of users I took it to the sidewalk late last night to test all this. I also tested the VC handheld in low-light. In a nutshell, on a Nikon D750, it never hesitated, nor did it have issues with tracking. Below are some results to share, just bear in mind these are not samples of work, but completely random tests.
** All images are 100%, unsharpened, with zero noise reduction. **
VC (vibration compensation)
One question was how well it worked. I was able to get reasonably sharp shots at 0.5 seconds with VC on, maybe 50% of the time (this is not a scientific test), which I could never ever achieve without it.
The blurring light is a car passing. There is plenty of motion blur, but one can make out quite well the signs at a distance and detail of the sidewalk around the security seated.
Low-light AF
I tested this in a number of ways, and was quite impressed. It bears remembering that the Nikon D750 is rated to -3EV sensitivity, which undoubtedly contributed to its remarkable focusing. All shots are tested with AF-C, presumably the biggest challenge, after 11PM.
First I set it to a slow shutter speed, at only 1/20, VC on, and focused on a passing car, panning along with it. It instantly acquired focus, and tracked the entire sequence.
I had underexposed this shot, so added +2 EV in post to achieve the above. The shutter speed is 1/20.
A closer look, now with +4EV added in post. It had no issue locking on the car (much darker than above), and did not try to focus on the much brighter areas behind it.
AF-C Auto (continuous auto)
In the next shots, I randomly aimed at a woman in red, certainly not the highest contrast point in the frame, and had the camera shoot in continuous to see how well it tracked. I saw no issues, and can say that in the viewfinder I saw the AF points following her without hesitation. The shots were all underexposed by one-two stops (blush), and shot at f/2. I adjusted the exposure in post. Let's just say that to achieve similar exposure at f/4, I would have needed to shoot at ISO 6400-12800. Again, no sharpening or noise reduction was applied.
This was the first shot of the sequence. I have added only one stop of exposure in post, and this is what it really looked like to my eyes. As you can see, she is hardly dominating the frame, nor is she the highest contrast item.
This is a second shot in the sequence (all were in focus), a 100% crop.
In the above and below, two stops of exposure were added in post, equivalent to ISO 12800 at f/4 in terms of exposure. The reason I mention this, in spite of being obvious, is because my previous reference was the kit 24-120 f/4, and to achieve the same brightness, I would have needed to raise the ISO to 12800.
The last image, though I have a good dozen, still tracking without issues.
All in all, I was impressed by the performance. The VC worked its charms, allowing shots I could not without it, and the AF showed it had no issues in the low light.
Nikon 35 f/1.8G (FX)
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_35mm_f1-8G_ED/
"The lens focuses in around 0.5 sec from infinity to 35 cm, which is fast. The 35/1.4G does this in 0.7 sec."
Tamron 35 f/1.8 VC
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Tamron_SP_35mm_f1-8_Di_VC_USD/
"The lens focuses in around 0.5 sec from infinity to 0.35m which is fast."
However, a key factor of such a fast lens is low-light performance, such as events, street photography, or other. At the request of a couple of users I took it to the sidewalk late last night to test all this. I also tested the VC handheld in low-light. In a nutshell, on a Nikon D750, it never hesitated, nor did it have issues with tracking. Below are some results to share, just bear in mind these are not samples of work, but completely random tests.
** All images are 100%, unsharpened, with zero noise reduction. **
VC (vibration compensation)
One question was how well it worked. I was able to get reasonably sharp shots at 0.5 seconds with VC on, maybe 50% of the time (this is not a scientific test), which I could never ever achieve without it.
The blurring light is a car passing. There is plenty of motion blur, but one can make out quite well the signs at a distance and detail of the sidewalk around the security seated.
Low-light AF
I tested this in a number of ways, and was quite impressed. It bears remembering that the Nikon D750 is rated to -3EV sensitivity, which undoubtedly contributed to its remarkable focusing. All shots are tested with AF-C, presumably the biggest challenge, after 11PM.
First I set it to a slow shutter speed, at only 1/20, VC on, and focused on a passing car, panning along with it. It instantly acquired focus, and tracked the entire sequence.
I had underexposed this shot, so added +2 EV in post to achieve the above. The shutter speed is 1/20.
A closer look, now with +4EV added in post. It had no issue locking on the car (much darker than above), and did not try to focus on the much brighter areas behind it.
AF-C Auto (continuous auto)
In the next shots, I randomly aimed at a woman in red, certainly not the highest contrast point in the frame, and had the camera shoot in continuous to see how well it tracked. I saw no issues, and can say that in the viewfinder I saw the AF points following her without hesitation. The shots were all underexposed by one-two stops (blush), and shot at f/2. I adjusted the exposure in post. Let's just say that to achieve similar exposure at f/4, I would have needed to shoot at ISO 6400-12800. Again, no sharpening or noise reduction was applied.
This was the first shot of the sequence. I have added only one stop of exposure in post, and this is what it really looked like to my eyes. As you can see, she is hardly dominating the frame, nor is she the highest contrast item.
This is a second shot in the sequence (all were in focus), a 100% crop.
In the above and below, two stops of exposure were added in post, equivalent to ISO 12800 at f/4 in terms of exposure. The reason I mention this, in spite of being obvious, is because my previous reference was the kit 24-120 f/4, and to achieve the same brightness, I would have needed to raise the ISO to 12800.
The last image, though I have a good dozen, still tracking without issues.
All in all, I was impressed by the performance. The VC worked its charms, allowing shots I could not without it, and the AF showed it had no issues in the low light.
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