I think you'll really enjoy it if you realise it's limitations at 14mm in the very extreme corners. As I say, once corrections are applied it ceases to become a major issue and only a minor one, but at 15+mm, it is as good as it gets. So, if we think of it as a 15-30mm f4, than it is a superb lens, IMO.
Just wondering if 82mm round filters I have (tiffen cir-pol and b&w 10stop) will be good enough or will I need to spring for a 100mm nisi set.
Lance B wrote:
Z7 + 14-30, various focal lengths and apertures. All corrected for distortion and vignetting as best I can in Capture One Pro which does not have the lens profile for the 14-30 f4S yet.
Nice job of showcasing the distortion.
By that, I mean that with all the lines you shot, the distortion isn't revealing itself in your post-correction. If the distortion is there and easily corrected ... that is a different thing from distortion that you can't contend with and retain good control.
This set (imo) suggests that dependency upon camera profile correction may not be too bad.
RustyBug wrote:
Nice job of showcasing the distortion.
By that, I mean that with all the lines you shot, the distortion isn't revealing itself in your post-correction. If the distortion is there and easily corrected ... that is a different thing from distortion that you can't contend with and retain good control.
This set (imo) suggests that dependency upon camera profile correction may not be too bad.
BTW, nice job with the keystoning, too.
Thank you very much for your kind comments and thoughts.
tek9 wrote:
Just wondering if 82mm round filters I have (tiffen cir-pol and b&w 10stop) will be good enough or will I need to spring for a 100mm nisi set.
Haven't tried any filters yet. Hopefully the vignetting is internal and not due to the edge of the filter ring and thus adding a filter will make it worse.
Here is a six shot pano of Fenway from tonight. I didn't need to take 6 to cover the entire park but I like a lot overlap and extra for cropping.
Just for perspective (not a "keeper type shot obviously), I've included a single shot to show how much coverage the lens has etc, it really is fun having something so wide.
Here are a few more from today. Also did some "test shots" of sorts.
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/8s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso1000 handheld at 1/8sec!
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/8s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso450 handheld at 1/8sec!
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/320s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso64
These are sort of "test shots". Not tripod mount so it is not perfectly square on. These have been adjusted in post for distortion, CA, vignetting and sharpness. I think this lens does better close up in the corners compared to landscape distances and say the grass or foreground in some instances. In these close ups, the corners look great! They have all had minor sharpening. All adjusted in Capture One Pro so, they are not the "perfect" distortion control that I would assume Nikon would impart in their software, like Capture NX-D.
At f4
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/1000s f/4.0 at 14.0mm iso64
At f8
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/320s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso64
At f4 - this is mesh that slopes backwards and hence why is is OOF at the top
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/1000s f/4.0 at 14.0mm iso64
At f8 - as above
Z7 + 14-30 f4S, 1/250s f/8.0 at 14.0mm iso64
These are non adjusted followed by adjusted for distortion and vignetting. Again, these are not tripod mounted so they are not perfectly square on.
Beautiful shots, Lance. I took out my Z7/14-30 this past 2 days but both times, I forgot my XQD card Must be early Alzheimer brought on by buying 24-70/2.8s and 14-30/4 within 10 days of each other!!
Will not forget XQD card tomorrow
Lance, thanks for the mfd / CA combo torture test shots.
The uncorrected detail in the MFD shot corners is surprisingly good at that distance. Of course the distortion needs corrected and eats up some of the real estate, but acutance and CA are respectable and the corrected distortion look manageable.
As you can see from the uncorrected vs. the corrected version ... when you look through the viewfinder, do you see the uncorrected version, or do you see the corrected version (assuming correction is set to on)?
suteetat wrote:
Beautiful shots, Lance. I took out my Z7/14-30 this past 2 days but both times, I forgot my XQD card Must be early Alzheimer brought on by buying 24-70/2.8s and 14-30/4 within 10 days of each other!!
Will not forget XQD card tomorrow
Thank you very much, Suteetat. Much appreciated!
I purchased the 14-30 f4 and the 24-70 f2.8S on the same day! Lucky I had sold both my 16-35 f4 VR and 24-70 f2.8E VR so I was cashed up.
RustyBug wrote:
Lance, thanks for the mfd / CA combo torture test shots.
The uncorrected detail in the MFD shot corners is surprisingly good at that distance. Of course the distortion needs corrected and eats up some of the real estate, but acutance and CA are respectable and the corrected distortion look manageable.
As you can see from the uncorrected vs. the corrected version ... when you look through the viewfinder, do you see the uncorrected version, or do you see the corrected version (assuming correction is set to on)?
I hope these are good enough for your requirements. As I say, they were just quick shots as I walked around looking for a suitable subject to get something that might be what you are looking for. CA is very low, and seems to be very low for all the Z mount lenses I have. It's interesting to see how quick Capture One Pro fixes CA in post, it's done in an instant with the Z mount lenses, whereas many of the F mount lenses does take a few seconds.
I actually think the 14-30 does better close up with regards to vignetting and corner sharpness. Actually, as you say, it does *very* well, sharpness to the corners is excellent at or near MFD even uncorrected. I think vignetting and distortion and extreme corner softness gets worse the further you focus into distance I'm speculating that this might be due to the lens elements moving back inside the lens for the different focus distance and thus the lens barrel or filter thread starts to impact on vignetting and maybe also sharpness for some reason. Just speculation of course.
That's a very interesting question you pose about the image you see in the VF and I had not even thought about it. One would think it should use the adjusted image so that it really is "what you see is what you get". I will have to do some checking as it could impact on how you compose the image, you may compose for something at the edge and then lose it once it's been adjusted. I did think about what image would be shown on image review on the camera rear screen, adjusted or non adjusted. However, when you think about it, Nikon would not have the lens algorithms loaded into the Z7 unless they had them way back when there was a last firmware update for lens adjustments. One thinks that's too long ago for them to have had the algorithms set up correctly for the 14-30. Anyway, I hope to report back with my findings on what is shown in the VF and the image review.
groob wrote:
Lance, I don't know how you could stand to even look at those photos with corners like that!
I can feel your pain. This was exactly my reaction when I first started looking in depth at the 14-30 - a pig with lipstick on it. After using it for things other than test shots to ascertain that the native optical performance is truly terrible in terms of distortions and light falloff I am gradually becoming less hung up on it, as long as it was a design choice by Nikon. That is why I am interested in someone with a 24-70/2.8 and 24-70/4 posting side by side uncorrected images of the two lenses wide open at 24, 28, and 35mm. This will go a long way towards telling us whether the gross corrections and an inte tional design choice by Nikon to keep size and cost under control, or a fact of life.
Some comments posted by Thom Hogan about the 14-24g and 16-35g in relation to the current lens sale suggest that there is a review of the 14-30 that is coming shortly, and that he is not too hot on the geometric distortions and after the fact corrections. It will be interesting to see his take. In the mean time I am gradually warming up to the 14-30 for what it is.
Must be early Alzheimer brought on by buying 24-70/2.8s and 14-30/4 within 10 days of each other!!
when you look through the viewfinder, do you see the uncorrected version, or do you see the corrected version (assuming correction is set to on)?