My soft SAL35F18 - part II

[Hetzer]

Here, I included a photo I took of two candles in my bathroom. So, right, the light is pretty weak. But, I used tripod, manual focussing and peaking. You experts, tell me, is this good quality? F3,2, as far as I remember. I focussed on the metal parts. Looks a bit soft to me. It's too dark here after work. Some daylight photos have to wait till the weekend.







--
“For moral reasons ... the world appears to me to be put together in such a painful way that I prefer to believe that it was not created ... intentionally.”
- Stanislaw Lem

 

[Ralf B]

... your kit zoom lens at 35mm wide open. The kit zoom at 35mm has a maximum aperture of f=5, so the kit zoom will have a bit more depth of field than the prime shot at 3.2. So in all fairness to the prime you should also add a shot with the prime stopped down to f=5 to make things as equal as possible. Do not mistake lesser DOF with missing lens sharpness.

Compare the two shots. Maybe, to get a better clue, add a high contrast target (stick something onto the candles or add a toy car or puppet or....) as your test scenario is a color-in-color low contrast one which makes judgement hard.

The kit zoom has lower res than the 35/1.8 when stopped down to f=4 at 35mm according to Photozone, also lower CA. The differences are not dramatic, though, so should your test show a dramatic lower IQ in the prime compared to the zoom, something is off and calls for a warranty exchange. If your 35/1.8 is okay, you should expect a "stellar performance" according to Kurt Munger's review

Good luck with your testing and keep us posted!

--
Cheers,
Ralf
www.ralfralph.smugmug.com

 

[Ralf B]

... or a cable release when tripod shooting to avoid shutter button release shake. Also turn off SSS when tripod shooting.

Cheers,
Ralf
www.ralfralph.smugmug.com

 

[MrChristopher]

In a way you're asking us to judge your manual focus skills and not the lens. Is that what you're looking for?
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Chris Curnutt Photography

Documenting what I see and experience. Based in Wimberley Texas

chriscurnutt.tumblr.com

 

[craig66]

The kit zoom has lower res than the 35/1.8 when stopped down to f=4 at 35mm according to Photozone, also lower CA.

That's with a 12 mp sensor. With 16 or 24 mp sensors the advantage of the 35/1.8 over the kit lens is likely to be considerably greater. Both in real world and also some resolution tests that I have run on 24 mp sensor, the 35/1.8 is convincingly better than the kit lens. It is also better than the Tamron 17-50 @35 mm, though the margin is much smaller.

 

[eastriding4310]

I never liked the Sony SAL35F18 lens. In my opinion, it never measured up to my 35mm Takumar M42, so I packed it back in the box and there it sits. It always seemed soft.

 

[enemjii]

Here is a thread where I have posted few pictures using my SAL35F18 on A65V

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www.dpreview.com

 

[Hetzer]

Yes, I've seen those before. Look OK to me. I don't think I've got a bad copy, anyway, I need to take some more pictures under better conditions to get the best out of the lens.

 

[Hetzer]

I used peaking, so what skills would I need?

Anyway, the 35 prime is fine, so I'm happy, hope you're too...?