Has anyone compared nikon 24mm 1.4G and 1.8G? (and sigma 24mm art perhaps)

[stenrasmussen]

Ok, have started to compare the pics I've taken with the Nikkor 24/1.8G and Sigma 24/1.4Art.
First I wanted to check field of focus at near range. From the images I conclude that both lenses have a close to flat field of curvature.
The darker images are high pass filtered versions of the originals and then I use the darken color layer option on a copy of the first one. This emphasizes the LoCa (albeit in reverse due to the color mix process). From this I can assess the field of curvature where line of focus sits where the LoCa turns over from magenta to green.
The white dots are placed at the line of focus and the diagonal helps the eye see negative-flat-positive field of curvature.
(Note that the slight off symmetry of the white dots relative to the diagonal is most likely due to my imperfect aiming of the camera...the Df in case someone wonders)

[stenrasmussen]

Bokeh - the Nikkor wins due to cats eyes which I like (but then again, bokeh is a personal taste)
Note the flare burst in the upper right corner in the Sigma shot. The Nikkor manages to depress it. I have seen it in other shots as well.

[stenrasmussen]

Another scene showing the flare issue:

[stenrasmussen]

Chromatic abberations: Both are about equal stopped down to f/5.0. Beware that focus is on the upper corner of the far building.

[stenrasmussen]

Distortion: Sigma is slightly better corrected with barrel type vs. Nikkor's moustache'ish.

[stenrasmussen]

And since it's soon Christmas and all...how about some stars 
Btw, the Sigma needs about 0.55EV lift to match the Nikkor.
(Shot at ISO 4000 with the D750)

[stenrasmussen]

What I haven't found time for is some decent landscaping. I hope to get access to these lenses one more time and with the right weather I am ready to do further testing.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Apparently the Nanocoating of the Nikkor does its job pretty well.

I'm getting more tempted by the minute.

[Jakov Minić]

Sten, thanks for the detailed tests.

Now I am curious to know how the Nikon 24mm 1.4G would compare with these two lenses?


May I ask on a side note, why is the Nikon 24mm 1.8G more expensive than the 20mm 1.8G?

[Andrea B.]

Sten, you are teaching me how to test a lens. I have always wanted to do a bit of that but without shooting brick walls. Now I know some good tests to do!! Thank you.

I have the 24/1.8G on order from B&H.
 
Still have my AIS-oldies but goodies: 24/2.0, 28/2.0, 35/1.4, 50/1.8, 50/1.2. They are nice over 16MP but I like them less these days over 36MP. So decided to restock primes for the D810. But I didn't really want the big heavy jobbies. These 1.8 lenses seem so darned sharp and are so light. Rare for me to say that as I don't mind toting around my 24-70/2.8AFS zoomer. But I like primes to be lighter. I got the 35/1.8G and love it.

[Ron Scubadiver]

I have the 28 f/1.8 and like it a lot.  28 is wide enough for crowded places, but can still be used as a walk around lens.  The availability of cameras with a fixed 28mm FOV attests to that.  My only recent experience @ 24mm FOV is the wide end of my 24-120.  I do a lot of landscapes that way, but strongly suspect the prime would clobber the zoom at 24mm.  Some photographers say 24mm is the limit before distortion gets excessive.  My personal feeling is a 24mm feels more like a long 20 than a short 28.  One thing about very wide lenses is you can stand between two people who are a couple of feet part and shoot right down the middle without either one thinking they are in the photo.

[stenrasmussen]

Sten, thanks for the detailed tests.

Now I am curious to know how the Nikon 24mm 1.4G would compare with these two lenses?


May I ask on a side note, why is the Nikon 24mm 1.8G more expensive than the 20mm 1.8G?

Sorry Jakov but I don't have the 24/1.4G available to me. But I believe I did a similar test of field of curvature a good while ago. Will search to try and find it.
The 24 is more expensive than the 20...at least here in noggieland.

[stenrasmussen]

Another bokeh scene. The Nikkor wins in my eyes. The molded aspherical elements in the Sigma spreads out its onion rings. To counter that the Nikkor exhibits a slight blurball edge.

[stenrasmussen]

One thing I haven't really evaluated is coma (gullwings from point light sources). I believe I have some pictures I can have a look at and present here.

[Akira]

Another bokeh scene. The Nikkor wins in my eyes. The molded aspherical elements in the Sigma spreads out its onion rings. To counter that the Nikkor exhibits a slight blurball edge.

Sigma bokeh in the peripheral area shows the cutouts apparently caoused by the mirrorbox.  I have often observed these cutouts in the images by the lenses of f1.4 and faster on DSLRs, FX or DX.