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This is a lens comparison test i did earlier this year... thought i can repost it here




First of all, i want to emphasis the fact that this is not a comprehensive test. My focus is the sharpness of the various lenses at 35mm and 70mm at different apreture size.
Sharpness doesn't really mean everything, Autofocus speed and accuracy, CA, barrel distortion, size, weight, price, bokeh are all just important, unfortunately i don't have the time and equipment to test everything so i'll just mainly focus on the picture sharpness in this test.


Test Equipment:

Camera:
-Nikon D200 DSLR Camera

Lenses:
-Tamron A09 AF 28-75mm F/2.8
-Nikon AF 35mm F/2
-Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F/2.8
-Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm F/2.8

Tripod:
-Manfrotto MF3 Tripod with 804RC2 Head

Camera Settings:
-ISO100, Aperture Priority, RAW convert to JPG, Timer Mode, VR turned off for 70-200mm lens

Test Results:

Note: Since all the photos were taken outdoor, so there is a slight change in brightness or even white balance between different photos

35mm Results


(lens used in the 35mm test: Nikon 35mm F/2, Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F/2.8, Tamron A09 28-75mm F/2.8)
A = Center Crop B = Corner Crop




























70mm test results



(lens used in the 70mm test: Nikon AF-S 24-70mm F/2.8, Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm F/2.8 Tamron A09 28-75mm F/2.8)
A = Center Crop
B = Corner Crop

























Bokeh Comparison

Nikon AF-S 24-70 F/2.8 (@ 35mm)


Nikon AF 35mm F/2 (@ 35mm)


Tamron A09 28-75mm F/2.8 (@ 35mm)


Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm F/2.8 (@ 70mm)




Additional Comments:

- The Autofocus speed is fastest with the Nikon 24-70 and Nikon 70-200
But the Nikon 35mm f/2 and Tamron 24-75 aren't slow either on my D200

- The Tamron 24-75 is a lot lighter than the Nikon 24-70

- The build quality of both Nikon Zoom lenses are a lot better than the other 2 lenses

- At f/4 or smaller aperture, the difference in picture sharpness between these lenses are not very noticable unless viewing at 100%

Gee that 24-70 is sharp! Even at the corners compared to the 35mm prime. The Tamron is soft.

Is the 35/2 bokeh a little distracting? Or is it just me?

NIce comparison! Thank you.

yes the 24-70 is SHARP!!!

and yes the Tamron is soft.. but remember the Tamron is like 1/4 or 1/5 the price of the nikon.. also it's a lot smaller and lighter.
At f/4 or over, the difference really isn't that big. So i would say it's doing it's job very well..

yes the 35/2's bokeh doesn't look very nice. Tamron isn't too bad. But the 24-70 looks the best among the 3

Nice review none the less. Nice bokeh and build quality along with sharp optics, hence the price.

I want one!

I just had a look again through the shots.

I just have a few observations.

The Nikkor 24-70 corner and overall sharpness is as good if not better than the 35/2 Prime. The Tamron on the whole is softer both in the centre and corners against the Nikkors.

The 70-200 and 24-70 are quite similar. I think the 24-70 is slightly better than the 70-200 in the corners and matches it in the centre.

But there is a huge price difference between the lenses and I expect a difference to justify the price.

interest to see this kind of comparsion, nikkor 24-70 G which is 5 x time of Tamron 28-75 f2.8.

why not compare with AFS 28-70 f2.8 ED with 24-70 f2.8 G, that may call apple to apple.....

OR compare with new Zeiss ZF prime, not nikkor old prime.....(film lens).

Hi James,
thanks for your feedback. I'll be more than happy to test the 28-70 or Zeiss Prime if any member here can supply me a copy for testing.
Or even better, maybe you can do a comparison test and share what you've found with us?