RE: [Leica] Test charts and 28-70 AF-S

["Stewart, Alistair" <AStewart@gigaweb.com>]

Anthony,

I don't know how long you've been interested in photographic equipment,
maybe you don't go back to the late 70's and 80's? The Tamron SP range of
lenses, especially the 90/2.5, are outstanding, and somewhat cheaper than
Nikkors.

Of course discerning viewers immediately reject images made with such
lenses, irrespective of image content, because of the label on the lens that
was used initally.

If you ever become interested in making images, get rid of every
photographic toy that you have, and get one manual body and a 35/2, either
r/f, P&S, or reflex. Spend 6 months with it shooting at least one roll a
day, and have a good photo ediytor look at your contact sheets.

You could find the time to do this by unsubscribing from the LUG. I
GUARANTEE that your images will be the better for making the trade.

As a very good photographer once said to me 'The best way to learn to make
better images is to look at better images made by a better photographer"


have a nice day,

Alistair



- -----Original Message-----
From: Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter) [mailto:peterk@lucent.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 1:42 PM
To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us'
Subject: [Leica] Test charts and 28-70 AF-S


Anthony,

Bob is telling you the truth!  He is not talking about test charts.  The
Nikkor 28-70 AF-S is not a very sharp lens wide open. Fact!  Stopped down is
a different story.

You also stated: 

>Tamron is a name I tend to associate more 
>with low price than high precision,
>but perhaps things have changed.

There are some Tamron lenses that will surprise you, much like the Cosina
Heliar lens.  Never underestimate something just because it is not
expensive.

>So how does Nikon manage to sell the 28-70?  
>It seems to be on perpetual
>backorder, and I haven't seen any used copies 
>around in the trade magazines.

There is not a choice if you want a fixed aperture Nikon 28-70.  The 28-70
F3.5-4.5 was the only other option. Don't forget there is a large embedded
base of Nikon users that have been dying to get a 28-70 F2.8 Nikkor.  The
only other choices were 3rd party, which for a Nikon user is like a Leica
user using the Cosina Heliar.

>What are the Nikon zooms that outperform this lens?

Not sure. But with Nikon there is not much choice in the 28-100 range is
there?
The 80-200 is a great lens and will outperform other Nikkor zooms albeit a
bit like comparing apples to oranges since its not really fair to compare
different range zooms.

>I think my AF-S 28-70 is great.

Obviously you have a vested interest.  If it works for you, great.  Maybe
you don;t shoot wide open, but others who do may have different opinions.  

Peter K