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Has the AF-P 10-20mm VR been reviewed anywhere?
- Thread starter EthanX
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Cycletourer
Leading Member
Did you find the MTF on either of the two sites I suggested?
Yes, I did, thanks - although these diagrams are a bit vague to me...
Even after I've read the Ken R.'s MTF explanation page, it's a bit hard for me to understand whether the results are good or bad. Aside from that, these graphs are calculation based - see "Reality check" in his site:
"Most MTF curves are merely plotted from calculations, meaning they are only true in the manufacturer's wildest dreams. No real lens from the assembly line would ever be able to equal this, since tolerances are never perfect. Real MTF curves are measured from real samples of lens".
I was looking for measures done on real lens, like those you can usually find on the DPReview widget or in DXOmark, graphs with comparable numbers (e.g 3000 lpm, etc.). That's what I was looking for.
Anyway, thanks... It was still a good read. For the price and given that it has VR, I think I'll get one and try it by myself.
Even after I've read the Ken R.'s MTF explanation page, it's a bit hard for me to understand whether the results are good or bad. Aside from that, these graphs are calculation based - see "Reality check" in his site:
"Most MTF curves are merely plotted from calculations, meaning they are only true in the manufacturer's wildest dreams. No real lens from the assembly line would ever be able to equal this, since tolerances are never perfect. Real MTF curves are measured from real samples of lens".
I was looking for measures done on real lens, like those you can usually find on the DPReview widget or in DXOmark, graphs with comparable numbers (e.g 3000 lpm, etc.). That's what I was looking for.
Anyway, thanks... It was still a good read. For the price and given that it has VR, I think I'll get one and try it by myself.
Cycletourer
Leading Member
Yeah I've never understood them.
Hopefully some expansive reviews start appearing soon to offer up a clearer picture about the strengths and weaknesses of the lens.
I'm hopeful to hear positive results so I can buy one myself for travel.
I've been pleased with the other two AF-P lenses I bought.
Thom Hogan has fortunately been quick off the mark offering his thoughts on the AF-P 18-55VR and 70-300 VR versions I'm hopeful he'll soon be informing us about the qualities of this one.
stevesayskanpai
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I am also awaiting the first 'real' reviews. Nothing yet! Any word from DPReview when they will have a review of the lens?
In the last 3+ years, DPReview has reviewed exactly 1 Nikkor, the 24mm f/1.8g back in October 2016.
In fact, excluding that one Nikkor review, we have to go back to June 2014 to find the next most-recent review of a Nikon-manufactured lens, the 35mm f/1.8g. If we stretch back almost seven years, we'll find exactly 5 reviews of Nikon lenses in the DPReview Lens Review database. Yikes.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the 10-20mm review.
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stevesayskanpai
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Ah. Fair enough. When do we think any site will review the lens? I'm very annoyed it's jumped up by £20 on Amazon.co.uk!
thelenspainter
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Here's my quick review:
There's only one thing you need to know - very substantial astigmatism especially on fine details, visible at all focal lengths. You can easily see this in the published MTF graphs where the S30 and M30 lines diverge hugely as you get away from the center of the frame.
What this means is that for landscapes, your borders and edges will be a bit weak for fine details like leaves etc, particularly as they get further away from the camera.
I can get OK results with it stopped down to at least f8. If you want sharp edges at infinity you'll have to focus further away, and give up sharp details in the foreground. Of course that doesn't work if you have a foreground subject that you want sharp.
Accutance is not great, but there is plenty of resolution. You can bring it out with a big dose of capture sharpening.
I'd say it performs about on par with the 18-55 kit lens. It's not as good as the 70-300 AF-P. Is the price fair in the light of that? I haven't made up my mind yet. It's cheaper than any other UWA option for Nikon DX.
There's only one thing you need to know - very substantial astigmatism especially on fine details, visible at all focal lengths. You can easily see this in the published MTF graphs where the S30 and M30 lines diverge hugely as you get away from the center of the frame.
What this means is that for landscapes, your borders and edges will be a bit weak for fine details like leaves etc, particularly as they get further away from the camera.
I can get OK results with it stopped down to at least f8. If you want sharp edges at infinity you'll have to focus further away, and give up sharp details in the foreground. Of course that doesn't work if you have a foreground subject that you want sharp.
Accutance is not great, but there is plenty of resolution. You can bring it out with a big dose of capture sharpening.
I'd say it performs about on par with the 18-55 kit lens. It's not as good as the 70-300 AF-P. Is the price fair in the light of that? I haven't made up my mind yet. It's cheaper than any other UWA option for Nikon DX.
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volks 1
Senior Member
And to add on...
It's a cheap lens. As stated by many people already, this lens has got major issues with CA and it feels like Nikon has made a calculated tradeoff and gave us a balance of compromises. It being f4.5 at its widest also pushes your ISO up. Vignetting looks quite well controlled even wide open. It has it's flaws and as long as you know that going into this lens, then you should be set.
Handling wise, it's small, plasticky, and very light. Autofocus is dead silent and really fast.
No lens profiles applied and no distortion correction applied to all the shots.
CA is really bad if you look for it. (top left corner where the condos are)
Handles shooting into the sun really well. No purple CA, but does have a little bit of green CA.
The CA is really pronounced in the top right corner where the sun is coming down. But it can be completely eliminated with LR's CA controls.
And shooting against the street lamp
The VR is really good. Managed to get a couple of decent shots with 1/5 sec shutter speed.
It's a cheap lens. As stated by many people already, this lens has got major issues with CA and it feels like Nikon has made a calculated tradeoff and gave us a balance of compromises. It being f4.5 at its widest also pushes your ISO up. Vignetting looks quite well controlled even wide open. It has it's flaws and as long as you know that going into this lens, then you should be set.
Handling wise, it's small, plasticky, and very light. Autofocus is dead silent and really fast.
No lens profiles applied and no distortion correction applied to all the shots.
CA is really bad if you look for it. (top left corner where the condos are)
Handles shooting into the sun really well. No purple CA, but does have a little bit of green CA.
The CA is really pronounced in the top right corner where the sun is coming down. But it can be completely eliminated with LR's CA controls.
And shooting against the street lamp
The VR is really good. Managed to get a couple of decent shots with 1/5 sec shutter speed.
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Mach Schnell
Veteran Member
I purchased the lens 3 days ago. I am mostly a full-frame shooter (D800e) with over a dozen lenses that I use on a fairly regular basis. Last year I picked up a D5500 for its small size and weight (for backpacking and other active pursuits where I didn't want a large, heavy, expensive camera). The D5500 has been surprisingly good. I recently added the AF-P 18-55 and 70-300 lenses. They both exceeded my expectations in image quality. Truth is, I'm thrilled with both of those lenses. Amazingly good considering how small, light, and affordable they are.
Which brings me to the 10-20mm. Since I had such a good experience with the other two AF-P lenses I was hopeful that the 10-20mm would perform equally well. So far, it has been disappointing. Wide open apertures are soft at every focal length. The only useful apertures are f/8 and f/11, as diffraction becomes a problem beyond f/11. f/8 is the best overall. I'm still deciding if I'm going to keep the lens. It is very small and light for a superwide. Great for backpacking. But I'm not sure I will use it for much else. FWIW, the VR seems to work quite well. And focusing is swift and quiet.
Here are 4 controlled test shots. Taken on a tripod, in live view, with remote release. Focal length is 12mm. Apertures are f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16. The largest and smallest apertures are too soft to be usable. f/8 is the best, but still only okay. My 10 year old Tokina 12-24 beats this lens quite easily. These are NEF images processed in Photoshop CS6.
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Steve
Which brings me to the 10-20mm. Since I had such a good experience with the other two AF-P lenses I was hopeful that the 10-20mm would perform equally well. So far, it has been disappointing. Wide open apertures are soft at every focal length. The only useful apertures are f/8 and f/11, as diffraction becomes a problem beyond f/11. f/8 is the best overall. I'm still deciding if I'm going to keep the lens. It is very small and light for a superwide. Great for backpacking. But I'm not sure I will use it for much else. FWIW, the VR seems to work quite well. And focusing is swift and quiet.
Here are 4 controlled test shots. Taken on a tripod, in live view, with remote release. Focal length is 12mm. Apertures are f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16. The largest and smallest apertures are too soft to be usable. f/8 is the best, but still only okay. My 10 year old Tokina 12-24 beats this lens quite easily. These are NEF images processed in Photoshop CS6.
--
Steve
Gary Barnett
Senior Member
From your image, the sharpness on f/5.6 aperature seemed to be prefectly usable and it's easy to forget that you won't be able to take pictures like this without UWA so what you take is more critical than sharpness.
From your experience, it looks to me like the lightweight AF-P will be great for landscape/outdoor shooting in good light, but if one wants to shoot indoors or astronomy, competitive f/2.8 lenses will be better. No surprise there, based on relative size and cost.
thelenspainter
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Your experience mirrors mine fairly closely. I would say that sharpness wide open is acceptable but it needs a lot of capture sharpening. This is fine, different lenses need different amounts.
I'm still on the fence on whether this lens has acceptable image quality for non-critical travel and family snapshots. I was really hoping for something that performs close to the Nikon 10-24 but just with the slower aperture and cheaper build.
I'm still on the fence on whether this lens has acceptable image quality for non-critical travel and family snapshots. I was really hoping for something that performs close to the Nikon 10-24 but just with the slower aperture and cheaper build.
stevesayskanpai
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To those who have tried the lens, how does it compare to the Tokina 11-20 2.8 (if you've tried this also)?
thelenspainter
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Mach Schnell
Veteran Member
I have the older Tokina 12-24 f/4 screw drive autofocus variety. The lens is built like a tank and quite good optically, even at f/4. It beats the new Nikon 10-20mm at every aperture and focal length, although not by much once both are stopped down.
Robert1975
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It's the COLOR which bothers you much more than sharpness, trust me. 10-24 has excellent colors out-of-the-box, while the new 10-20 does not and often requires a lot of tweaking: WB, hues, curves, etc. But you can't see my post since you put me on ignore.
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