NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Lens Talk => Topic started by: Akira on August 13, 2017, 23:30:26
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Digital Camera Watch by Impress published an interview to the Nikon designers of PC-E Nikkor 19mm f/4E ED:
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/interview/1070229.html
As always, the texts are all in Japanese. Here is a summary of points of interest:
--The PC Nikkor 19mm f/4E ED (PC19) was developed in response to the requests from photographers who wanted a T/S lens wider than the existing 24mm.
--The lens of the initial design was about 1.5x bigger than the final product in order to achieve the required optical performance, which halt the developing process.
--They decided on the focal length of 19mm instead of 17mm of Canon’s counterpart, because they had found out that most of the architecture photographers had been using 65mm or 75mm lenses on 4x5” or 47mm one on 6x9 formats, which corresponds to around 20mm on FX format. And they decided that 19mm is the best focal lenses that can balance between the size and the optical performance.
--According to their research, more than 90% of the architecture photographers are using FX format DSLRs.
--The advantage of shooting with PC lenses over the perspective correction in the post process is that the former can retain the proportion of the architecture, while the latter may alter it. Also, the former can control the final composition on-site without affecting the resolution, which is inevitable in the latter method.
--They are “aware” that the renewal of PC24 by employing the same revolving system as that of PC19 is desired.
--The Nikon camera bodies released before PC19 will compensate for the light fall-off when the in-camera aberration control is activated, which doesn’t work correctly when the lens is tilted/shifted. Nikon recommends the function to be deactivated when using PC19.
--PC19 is named “PC” instead of “PC-E”. They say that the term “PC-E” is transitional, and that they had to add “D” (like PC-E 24mm F/3.5D ED) because they have aperture rings, and, they had to add “E” because their apertures are electrically controlled.
--The angle-of-view of PC19 is roughly the equivalent of that of a 12-13mm lens on FX format. The exact coverage is not officially disclosed. They omitted the lens hood to avoid the vignetting when the lens is revolved. They also discarded the idea of separate hood, because a hood for a 12-13mm equivalent lens would be too big and not so effective.
--The published MTF chart only represents the performance within the normal FX format. The MTF curve within the actual coverage can be approximated by extrapolating the lines.
--The distortion is kept close to zero within the image circle when the shift is not excessive, but the image can show some barrel distortion in the extreme peripherals. If the distortion would be more perfectly controlled, the lens would be, as mentioned above, much larger.
--Some people combine teleconverters with the PC lenses of other makes. PC19 cannot be mounted onto the teleconverters in the first place, and Nikon doesn’t recommend that method even you can mount it onto the teleconverter (by removing the tab, I guess?).
--PC19 is made to focus past the infinity and the closest index of the distance scale, because you would need to do that according to the amount of tilt.
--The lead screw is employed for the shift mechanism to avoid the creep.
--They don’t discard the idea of a AF PC lens.
Good News for Erik and Pedro:
--The area right behind the focus ring is designed to be stronger with the possible tripod collar in mind.
Hope this would be of any help.
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thank you for the translation of the salient points Akira!
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Thank you! Very interesting! ;)
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Thank you for the information. Truly fascinating.
That looks like a fantastic lens, and would be perfect for my wife's passion for architectural photography. Unfortunately, it's far beyond our budget. Maybe some day...
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Thank you :o :o :o
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Bob, Erik, Arninetyes and Rick, thanks for dropping in on and commenting.
Glad you like the post. :)
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Akira, thank you for taking the time to translate and post the info. I must admit that the PC19 grabbed my attention when it was announced. Mainly because of the focal length as I am not into architecture photography. Now I know the reason. Having said so, I am looking forward to seeing examples at the forum.
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Peter, you are welcome.
You can see some examples shot with the lens here and in further pages to follow:
http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,4597.75.html
(Erik and Pedro made their original tripod collars and Erik also made a dedicated hood.)
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>They decided on the focal length of 19mm instead of 17mm of Canon’s counterpart, because they had found out that most of the architecture photographers had been using 65mm or 75mm lenses on 4x5” or 47mm one on 6x9 formats, which corresponds to around 20mm on FX format. And they decided that 19mm is the best focal lenses that can balance between the size and the optical performance.
This should end the "f mount is too small for 17mm" or "Nikon can't make it 17 cuz skills" thingy.
I just hope it's fact, not rationalisation.
Anyway, the 19mm PC is indeed stellar, something I wish I could afford.
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>They decided on the focal length of 19mm instead of 17mm of Canon’s counterpart, because they had found out that most of the architecture photographers had been using 65mm or This should end the "f mount is too small for 17mm" or "Nikon can't make it 17 cuz skills" thingy.
I just hope it's fact, not rationalisation.
Extreme specifications is hardly the whole story to creating a great tool. Some Canon 17mm users say that that lens is not that sharp at outer areas of the frame when shifted, so it may well have been a solid decision for Nikon to go with 19mm. 17mm ts-e is extremely wide if you look at the whole image circle and personally I would not prefer that focal length over 19mm. What I would like to see is the new superrotator-style mechanics implemented in a 24mm PC "II" hopefully with less field curvature at long distances than the current 24 PC. Hopefully not quite as expensive as the 19mm PC. For me the 24 PC works very well for near-to-far landscape but when photographing very large exteriors the field curvature makes achieving optimal sharpness across the image field tricky. Focal length wise I prefer 24mm to either 19mm or 17mm but 19mm would be more frequently usable to me than 17mm and could supplement the 24mm well (by proving what the 24 doesn't do well).
However, the cost of the 19mm doesn't please me at all. :o Which is why I would rather see the 24mm PC II sooner than later.