Mine came. I was very nervous on this one because of copy variation reports but also because finally i had a really great copy of Sony 16-35/4 and I didn’t want to part with it.
Looks good so far, haven’t tested it but normal pictures tell me corners are nice. I couldn’t see any issue at all. My copy is Nov 2021, fresh from the oven.
nandadevieast wrote:
Mine came. I was very nervous on this one because of copy variation reports but also because finally i had a really great copy of Sony 16-35/4 and I didn’t want to part with it.
Looks good so far, haven’t tested it but normal pictures tell me corners are nice. I couldn’t see any issue at all. My copy is Nov 2021, fresh from the oven.
Congrats and good luck. Mine is a store demo copy, so it was sitting in the show case for a while, and I have no idea when it was made. So far, mine looks fine. I just need to keep shooting to see if I see anything weird.
Folks, I need your input. I have not used sun star in composition in my shooting, so I am not at all used to how to evaluate flare in the situation of shooting directly toward the sun. As far as I can see, my copy of 14-30 is not free of flare, but in quick testing, it is much better than Zeiss Zf.2 21 or Nikkor 24/1.8G. From what you see, is this about what I should expect ? Frustrating part is that I do not always see flare in the LCD, but shows up when play back. As I am not particularly interested in shooting into the sun unless there is no other option, I am not too concerned, however, if this is indicating particularly worse than normal for this lens, I would like to know, as I am still within the period I can return.
Hi Luka,
I think it's a rather normal behavior for a lens with 24 air-glass interfaces (the 14-30/4 S has 14 elements in 12 groups).
The Zeiss 21/2.8 Distagon has even more elements and groups (16/13)!
In picture #3 it seems that some red dots come from light getting reflected from the sensor to the lens, then back to the sensor (see: https://photographylife.com/what-is-ghosting-and-flare ).
Picture #4 is quite good, so I guess that flare behavior depends on where, and how (i.e. partially hidden or not), the sun is positioned inside the frame.
Dust particles on the front element can also create more flare/ghosting issues.
I own both 14-30 and ZF.2 21/2.8 however I'm not sure the former "is much better" than the Zeiss ...
Take care and enjoy the lens!
Ripolini wrote:
Hi Luka,
I think it's a rather normal behavior for a lens with 24 air-glass interfaces (the 14-30/4 S has 14 elements in 12 groups).
The Zeiss 21/2.8 Distagon has even more elements and groups (16/13)!
In picture #3 it seems that some red dots come from light getting reflected from the sensor to the lens, then back to the sensor (see: https://photographylife.com/what-is-ghosting-and-flare ).
Picture #4 is quite good, so I guess that flare behavior depends on where, and how (i.e. partially hidden or not), the sun is positioned inside the frame.
Dust particles on the front element can also create more flare/ghosting issues.
I own both 14-30 and ZF.2 21/2.8 however I'm not sure the former "is much better" than the Zeiss ...
Take care and enjoy the lens!...Show more →
Hi Riccardo,
Thank you for your affirming response, and the reference link to photogrpahylife. I do feel this is pretty much a normal behavior too. Considering the amount of elements, in comparison to 24/1.8g ( 12 elements 9 groups ) , 14-30 was much cleaner in terms of flare. In my quick check, 14-30 showed less flare than 24/1.8g or ZF.2 21. However, front elements of those two after I checked were not so clean, so I retract my previous comment until I test it in a better condition.
Regardless, this is not a huge issue as shooting into sun has not been my interest. My 14-24G which is no longer in my possission, feels like it flared quite easily, more than with14-30 even when light source was outside of the frame, so, 14-30 seems like an improvement, and the loss of weight is a big improvement for me.
