Solstice...

The first day of summer, here in the northern hemisphere; a day earlier than usual due to it being a leap year, and I'm out with a camera and a mind to experiment.

Although far from an exhaustive comparison by the fact that the scene is not the same, nor the lighting; camera settings; ISO number or any number of variants, but I have used two very different lenses here, in both build and cost.

Both are Nikkor lenses - and similar in focal length - but one is the professional build, fast, constant aperture 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S standard zoom; the other is a kit lens; plastic mount; variable aperture 28-80mm  f/3.5-5.6D AF standard zoom. The latter came with a film camera when I was introduced into the Nikon system 12 years ago - the former a more recent addition to my lens options.

I shot two very different scenes with the lenses during the day that I include here, but I will leave it to the viewer to decide which image was produced by which optic. As I mention above, hardly a fair test, especially as the photographs have been resized for web use - the pro-spec lens would show its class if large prints (and I do mean large) were made - but for the casual photographer/weekend snapper who never prints above A4 (or prints at all) it is a more than capable performer.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the RAW files in Photoshop to process the images, and zoomed in to 400% to check for chromatic aberration and other lens anomalies. The f/2.8 Nikkor will always have the advantage over the other because of its low light capabilities; high optical quality at maximum aperture, and ability to take punishment in harsh environments, but the kit lens is a mere fraction of the price (less than a tenth, assuming you can still find one - it was discontinued in 2001), and considerably lighter and more compact. As the saying goes: You pays your money and you takes your choice.


Lenses:

24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor
28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D AF Nikkor


© 2012