Ashok Kandimalla
Camera: Nikon D750
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/30sec
ISO: 1250;Ergonomics
The lens supplied to us came with
a Nikon mount and we tested it on
the Nikon D750 and D3s bodies.
The lens/body combination in the
former case was a bit front heavy.
It balanced much better on the
heavier Nikon D3s. Due to its internal
focussing system the length of the
lens does not change when you focus
and so the balance does not shift
either. The front element does not
rotate thus making it easy to use
graduated and polarizing �ilters, both
of which are used often by landscape
photographers. Both the focussing
and aperture rings are covered by
very grippy softish rubber. Manual
focussing was a delight. The damping
was just right and movement of the
focussing ring was silky smooth.
There is a certain amount of tautness
in the movement which is a bit
dif�icult to describe but can be felt.
You need to turn the focussing ring
as much as 120º to focus from the
closest focussing point to in�inity.The aperture ring (only present for
Nikon mount) engages at half stop
intervals with very positive clicks (in
both the directions) and is marked
from f/1.4 to f/16. The most serious
complaint we have is the weight. At
nearly 1.4Kgs it is extraordinarily
heavy for this sort of a lens. To put
this in proper perspective it weighs
almost as much as a typical 70-200
f/2.8 lens! Also, being very large
(�ilter diameter is 95mm), people
with small hands may have problem
in gripping it �irmly. Simply put, this
is not exactly a “walk in the park”
lens.Performance
As you would expect, the
performance is beyond reproach.
There was no chromatic aberration
visible. There was a very slight trace
of barrel distortion which was easily
corrected automatically in Lightroom
once the lens pro�ile was activated.
This and the fast aperture make
the lens the ideal choice for criticalarchitectural and interior work.
The contrast was excellent across
the frame and the colours were
punchy straight out of the camera.
The most important aspect was that
the lens was absolutely amazing
when used fully open. It was sharp
even at f/1.4 with only very slight
degradation in the corners. Corner
sharpness improves from one
stop down and overall sharpness
is maintained till about f/5.6.
Vignetting was minimal and was
gone by closing aperture just one
stop.As with its siblings, the lens can
be used fully open with absolutely
top grade results. Remember that
using focus con�irmation is just not
accurate enough! Live view with
magni�ication must be used when
focussing. A solid tripod is a must to
get the best of this lens. The bokeh
was buttery smooth, guaranteed to
smother even the most cluttered
background to cream.http://www.smartphotography.in 111
Smart PhotographyJanuary 2016