24/1.4 - Nikon, Canon, Sigma MTF comparison

[Photo_AK]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:





--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

The new siggy does look very interesting. I have always liked the ides of the Nikon 24/1.4, but certainly not the price tag. The Sigma opens up a (presumably) more affordable AF enabled option for sure. If it is anything like their 50 and 35 Art models, it should be a great alternative. I look forward to hands on impressions in the near future. And to the release of the street price.

With regards to the MTF charts, it certainly seems like it has some serious potential, but like all MTF charts derived from computer models and not physical measurements, take them with a bit of salt.
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Aaron Killen

 

[exapixel]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

The Web is full of cautions against comparing MTF charts from distinct vendors. So, grain of salt here.

That said, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM A chart looks similar to the charts for other Sigma lenses that are highly regarded, like the 35mm A, so it bodes well.

(http://www.sigmaphoto.com/sites/default/files/340-mtf-chart.jpg)

--
"I like your pictures. You must have a nice camera!" -- "Thanks. I like your poetry. You must have a nice pen."

 

[low3llSD]

MTF shhhharts

certainly this new sigma will be sharp, but so far all the art primes (very sharp) have a very cold and too sterile rendering to them. Nikons N dust really makes a difference in coloring as well which I find more pleasing over all the sigma arts.

cant argue with sigmas plan on these art lenses, its allowing shooters to buy in relatively inexpensively to good performing glass.

 

[thelenspainter]

Looks like the Sigma will have very high center resolution with somewhat more astigmatism than the Nikon as the tradeoff. This seems consistent with their design goals of pleasing people who like blindingly sharp center at maximum aperture. Hopefully it can still deliver pleasing bokeh and good resolution across the frame at distance, which the 35mm Art is somewhat weaker at (although still among the top lenses in the class).

 

[Nyarlathotep]

MTF shhhharts

certainly this new sigma will be sharp, but so far all the art primes (very sharp) have a very cold and too sterile rendering to them. Nikons N dust really makes a difference in coloring as well which I find more pleasing over all the sigma arts.

cant argue with sigmas plan on these art lenses, its allowing shooters to buy in relatively inexpensively to good performing glass.

LOL, MTF shhhharts.

I agree about the Siggy color and rendering. They can be a bit cool and I don't expect this one to be different.

They certainly are a boon for those of us with a tighter budget.
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Aaron Killen

 

[Photo_AK]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

The Web is full of cautions against comparing MTF charts from distinct vendors. So, grain of salt here.

Actually, the MTF charts from Nikon and Canon are cumputed, while the Sigma one is quite diffrent as it's based more on real-life-like data. This is how Sigma explains it:

"There are two types of MTF chart. One considers the diffraction quality of light, which is called “Diffraction MTF” [the one I'm showing in this post!], and the other, “Geometrical MTF” does not.

The quality of light appears in the diffracted light, and becomes more distinct as the F value gets bigger, resulting in lower image quality. Also, diffracted light exists at every aperture, which is why Sigma has been releasing Diffraction MTF data from the beginning since it is very close to the actual image data.
The advantage of using “Geometric MTF” data is that it is easy to measure and calculate since it does not consider the diffraction quality of light, yet it tends to show higher values in the graph than actual images."

http://sigma-photo.co.jp/english/new/new_topic.php?id=409

--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

 

[exapixel]

While I'm reminded of it, let me point y'all to the MTF chart of the new Nikon 300mm f/4E PF VR lens, which is sadly not linkable directly, but viewable in a pop-up at

Loading…

www.nikonusa.com

Wow, just wow.

 

[Photo_AK]

MTF shhhharts

certainly this new sigma will be sharp, but so far all the art primes (very sharp) have a very cold and too sterile rendering to them.

I agree 101%!

--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

 

[sgoldswo]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

;-) I am smiling at the prospect of the 24mm Sigma, not because I think it will be weak (both the 35 and 50 are really excellent lenses for any purpose optically - their weakness is lack of weather sealing and size/weight), but rather because the Nikon is a fabulous lens that really performs on the D810. It's not just about sharpness, it's all about the microcontrast and saturation of results too.

I have no experience with the Canon lens, but i do think this is a much more challenging focal length to compete in than 35 or 50 were at the time of the launch of the previous lenses.

--

sgoldswoblog

A journey through life in pictures

sgoldswoblog.com

sgoldswo

Explore sgoldswo’s 45,833 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[low3llSD]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

;-) I am smiling at the prospect of the 24mm Sigma, not because I think it will be weak (both the 35 and 50 are really excellent lenses for any purpose optically - their weakness is lack of weather sealing and size/weight), but rather because the Nikon is a fabulous lens that really performs on the D810. It's not just about sharpness, it's all about the microcontrast and saturation of results too.

I have no experience with the Canon lens, but i do think this is a much more challenging focal length to compete in than 35 or 50 were at the time of the launch of the previous lenses.

--
http://sgoldswoblog.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgoldswo/

that global contrast and saturation of th3 24G is just lovely, wide open too.

 

[SNRatio]

Looks like the Sigma will have very high center resolution with somewhat more astigmatism than the Nikon as the tradeoff. This seems consistent with their design goals of pleasing people who like blindingly sharp center at maximum aperture. Hopefully it can still deliver pleasing bokeh and good resolution across the frame at distance, which the 35mm Art is somewhat weaker at (although still among the top lenses in the class).

Makes me think of painting (Nikon) vs drawing/etching. Like Rembrandt vs Albrecht Dürer, maybe? The "Art" designation is not a misnomer, but it's definitely not painting ;-) I like it, though. You have to do the painting, the lens is neutral..

 

[Chopper88]

While I'm reminded of it, let me point y'all to the MTF chart of the new Nikon 300mm f/4E PF VR lens, which is sadly not linkable directly, but viewable in a pop-up at

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Pr...enses/AF-S-NIKKOR-300mm-f%2F4E-PF-ED-VR.html#!

Wow, just wow.

--
"I like your pictures. You must have a nice camera!" -- "Thanks. I like your poetry. You must have a nice pen."

Nikon 300mm F4 E PF MTF chart



Here you go.
Quite an impressive chart indeed!

 

[SNRatio]

Yes, it's pretty good - the important take home message is that it is very useful @f/4.

But 30 lp/mm doesn't really say too much on current hi-res sensors. Curves for 20/40/60 instead of 10/30 would give much more information IMHO. Also, MTFs fully open don't tell too much about the performance on stopping down. How would the Sigma 24/1.4@f/4 compare to the PF Nikkor, for example?

 

[thelenspainter]

Makes me think of painting (Nikon) vs drawing/etching. Like Rembrandt vs Albrecht Dürer, maybe? The "Art" designation is not a misnomer, but it's definitely not painting ;-) I like it, though. You have to do the painting, the lens is neutral..

A very astute observation and well described.

 

[Lance B]

MTF shhhharts

certainly this new sigma will be sharp, but so far all the art primes (very sharp) have a very cold and too sterile rendering to them. Nikons N dust really makes a difference in coloring as well which I find more pleasing over all the sigma arts.

I do agree with you here. The Nikon 24 f1.4G is a superb lens for sharpness, but it also has superb colours and OOF rendering. The Sigma will have to reall be good at all aspects before I sell off my much loved Nikon.

cant argue with sigmas plan on these art lenses, its allowing shooters to buy in relatively inexpensively to good performing glass.

 

[Lance B]

I just did a quick MTF charts comparison with the three 24/1.4 lenses ... The newly announced Sigma does indeed look quite promising:



--
Robert Capa said 'You can never get close enough'. Well, he did ...

;-) I am smiling at the prospect of the 24mm Sigma, not because I think it will be weak (both the 35 and 50 are really excellent lenses for any purpose optically - their weakness is lack of weather sealing and size/weight), but rather because the Nikon is a fabulous lens that really performs on the D810. It's not just about sharpness, it's all about the microcontrast and saturation of results too.

Agree wholeheartedly.

I have no experience with the Canon lens, but i do think this is a much more challenging focal length to compete in than 35 or 50 were at the time of the launch of the previous lenses.

--
http://sgoldswoblog.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgoldswo/

--
Lance B

Galleries by Lance B

www.pbase.com

http://i.pbase.com/o4/21/489821/1/53232844.SydneyPanoVertSmall.jpg

 

[ADMint]

;-) I am smiling at the prospect of the 24mm Sigma, not because I think it will be weak (both the 35 and 50 are really excellent lenses for any purpose optically - their weakness is lack of weather sealing and size/weight), but rather because the Nikon is a fabulous lens that really performs on the D810. It's not just about sharpness, it's all about the microcontrast and saturation of results too.

Agree wholeheartedly.

I have no experience with the Canon lens, but i do think this is a much more challenging focal length to compete in than 35 or 50 were at the time of the launch of the previous lenses.

I just bought a Nikon 24 f1.4 last week and have no regrets. BTW I heard rumors of Sigma's version was coming but still went with Nikon.

BTW I do have the sigma 35 f1.4 and like it, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Its looking like the 24 will get way more use than the Sigma 35 due to focal length. I just feel more comfortable shooting in the 24mm range.

Nonetheless, I've very happy to see Sigma challenging both Nikon and Canon, and have no qualms buying Sigma lens if need be. In this case I went with Nikon and have no regrets.

 

[calson]

I shot with the Canon 24mm f1.4 on 1d Mark III cameras and it was a soft lens and on the Canon camera the autofocus was not terrible accurate which further reduced image quality.

The Nikon 24-70mm and 14-24mm zooms are sharper than the Canon prime by a very large degree. So good that there is no reason to bother with primes.

 

[Lance B]

;-) I am smiling at the prospect of the 24mm Sigma, not because I think it will be weak (both the 35 and 50 are really excellent lenses for any purpose optically - their weakness is lack of weather sealing and size/weight), but rather because the Nikon is a fabulous lens that really performs on the D810. It's not just about sharpness, it's all about the microcontrast and saturation of results too.

Agree wholeheartedly.

I have no experience with the Canon lens, but i do think this is a much more challenging focal length to compete in than 35 or 50 were at the time of the launch of the previous lenses.

I just bought a Nikon 24 f1.4 last week and have no regrets. BTW I heard rumors of Sigma's version was coming but still went with Nikon.

BTW I do have the sigma 35 f1.4 and like it, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Its looking like the 24 will get way more use than the Sigma 35 due to focal length. I just feel more comfortable shooting in the 24mm range.

Interesting. I am the same.

Nonetheless, I've very happy to see Sigma challenging both Nikon and Canon, and have no qualms buying Sigma lens if need be. In this case I went with Nikon and have no regrets.