AF-S DX 12-24mm verses PRIMES

Ansel · 14th July 2005

Sigh....finally managed to get this out of my system. A few clubsnappers pooled their equipment together for this test one Sunday afternoon at the Esplanade. We had the AF Nikkor DX 12-24 zoom, 20mm 2.8 D and 24mm 2.8 D lenses take turns for their place on a D2X to create some images that allow us to do a *subjective* judgment on their performance, or more specifically, their sharpness and CA characteristics. Images were captured in RAW at full 12.4 megapixels, at F/8 at the respecitve focal lengths. They were subsequently converted in PS with a 0.67 EV increase in exposure adjustment so as to give a slightly brighter image with more visible details. No sharpening was done. The required 100% centre and corner crops were then made and saved to high quality WEB jpgs.

Well here are the images, you be the judge!

The full image at 24mm, with the centre and corner crop positions indicated:

24mm prime centre:

12-24mm @ 24mm centre:

Ansel · 14th July 2005

24mm prime corner:

12-24mm @ 24mm corner:

Ansel · 14th July 2005

20mm view.

20mm prime centre:

12-24mm @ 20mm centre:

Ansel · 14th July 2005

20mm prime corner:

12-24mm @ 20mm corner:

Well, what do you think?

ParkertR · 14th July 2005

wow - 12-24 dx :wow: really! Speechless!

rahul · 14th July 2005

Primes better at the center.
Better contrast and resolving power

12-24 better at corners.
Less CA

quekky · 14th July 2005

i'm been poisoned

espn · 14th July 2005

I'm not poisoned. Haha.

icarus · 14th July 2005

It will be better if you can show how the 12mm end perform......... the last time i had this lens, i used it as a 12mm prime.

Astin · 14th July 2005

The primes have a much better contrast, especially if I look at the columns at the Fullerton Hotel.

deadpixel · 14th July 2005

The primes are sharper in the center but lose out in the corners. They also have issues with CA at the corners.

I'm not sure if it's because of lighting conditions, but the primes seem to be more contrasty.

Regardless, they're all still very good lenses.

Ansel · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by icarus

It will be better if you can show how the 12mm end perform......... the last time i had this lens, i used it as a 12mm prime.

We didn't have any primes wider than 20mm (other than the 10.5 FE, which was not relevant for this test) at that time. Next time we will find someone with the 14mm or 18 mm and do another test with those.

mpenza · 14th July 2005

maybe I could do some testing too at the same location

quekky · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by icarus

It will be better if you can show how the 12mm end perform......... the last time i had this lens, i used it as a 12mm prime.

i shown u the prints on sat what! some taken at 12mm

icarus · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by quekky

i shown u the prints on sat what! some taken at 12mm

i want to see how 12-24DX compared to prime mah....hehee

quekky · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by icarus

i want to see how 12-24DX compared to prime mah....hehee

u lend me your 12mm prime loh... :whistle:

icarus · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by quekky

u lend me your 12mm prime loh... :whistle:

Thought u have AF-S 12-24DX, what for need my inferior Sigma 12-24? hehee

quekky · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by icarus

Thought u have AF-S 12-24DX, what for need my inferior Sigma 12-24? hehee

u wanna compare it with your 12mm PRIME mah...

ParkertR · 14th July 2005

one thing i notice though - the times between shots look pretty different... unless of course the whole lot of people suddenly appeared/moved at once. lighting can affect the pictures and amt of CA also.. hmm.

nemesis32 · 14th July 2005

Originally Posted by rahul

Primes better at the center.
Better contrast and resolving power

12-24 better at corners.
Less CA

Seems that way as the prime seems to have some colour fringing? Perhaps is because of the lens structure is meant for SLR and not DSLR.

14th July 2005	#1
Ansel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Land Downunder Posts: 2,116	AF-S DX 12-24mm verses PRIMES Sigh....finally managed to get this out of my system. A few clubsnappers pooled their equipment together for this test one Sunday afternoon at the Esplanade. We had the AF Nikkor DX 12-24 zoom, 20mm 2.8 D and 24mm 2.8 D lenses take turns for their place on a D2X to create some images that allow us to do a subjective judgment on their performance, or more specifically, their sharpness and CA characteristics. Images were captured in RAW at full 12.4 megapixels, at F/8 at the respecitve focal lengths. They were subsequently converted in PS with a 0.67 EV increase in exposure adjustment so as to give a slightly brighter image with more visible details. No sharpening was done. The required 100% centre and corner crops were then made and saved to high quality WEB jpgs. Well here are the images, you be the judge! The full image at 24mm, with the centre and corner crop positions indicated: 24mm prime centre: 12-24mm @ 24mm centre: Last edited by Ansel; 14th July 2005 at 01:11 AM.

14th July 2005	#5
ParkertR Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Singapore/Thailand Posts: 5,804	wow - 12-24 dx :wow: really! Speechless! __________________ Budget wedding photographer :)

14th July 2005	#9
icarus Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pasir Ris Posts: 3,306	It will be better if you can show how the 12mm end perform......... the last time i had this lens, i used it as a 12mm prime. __________________ Ricoh GR Digital, Minolta Hi-matic 7SII

14th July 2005	#11
deadpixel Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: East Posts: 1,252	The primes are sharper in the center but lose out in the corners. They also have issues with CA at the corners. I'm not sure if it's because of lighting conditions, but the primes seem to be more contrasty. Regardless, they're all still very good lenses. __________________ My Gallery IR Photography Black & White

14th July 2005	#19
ParkertR Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Singapore/Thailand Posts: 5,804	one thing i notice though - the times between shots look pretty different... unless of course the whole lot of people suddenly appeared/moved at once. lighting can affect the pictures and amt of CA also.. hmm. __________________ Budget wedding photographer :)

14th July 2005	#2
Ansel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Land Downunder Posts: 2,116	24mm prime corner: 12-24mm @ 24mm corner:

14th July 2005	#3
Ansel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Land Downunder Posts: 2,116	20mm view. 20mm prime centre: 12-24mm @ 20mm centre:

14th July 2005	#4
Ansel Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Land Downunder Posts: 2,116	20mm prime corner: 12-24mm @ 20mm corner: Well, what do you think?

14th July 2005	#6
rahul Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: bendemeer Posts: 247	Primes better at the center. Better contrast and resolving power 12-24 better at corners. Less CA

14th July 2005	#7
quekky Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: www.irphotography.com Posts: 1,380	i'm been poisoned

14th July 2005	#8
espn Deregistered Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Planet Nikon Posts: 22,045	I'm not poisoned. Haha.

14th July 2005	#10
Astin Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Astin Studio Posts: 4,735	The primes have a much better contrast, especially if I look at the columns at the Fullerton Hotel.

14th July 2005	#13
mpenza Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 13,402	maybe I could do some testing too at the same location