the last word

I set out to find out what difference some of the shutter release mechanisms made to the image sharpness, using the same setup as I used for the aperture series in the previous post. I mounted the D800E to the StackShot rail that I will be using to make the exposures, and I mounted that… [Read More]

I did aperture series for both the D4 and D800E with both the Zeiss 100mm f/2 ZF and the Nikon 105mm f/2.8G. Here are the results: The Zeiss’s best aperture on the D4 is f/5.6 and on the D800E is f/8. However, the differences are tiny. The Nikon 105 works best at f/8 on both… [Read More]

I repeated the analysis of the Zeiss 105mm f/2 ZF macro lens using DCRAW for raw conversion. To review the test conditions, I made all the exposures in an aperture series using a strobe for illumination. I set up a Nikon D4 with the lens mounted. I focused wide open using live view. I turned… [Read More]

I’m been floundering around all day trying to tease out lens sharpness from vibration-induced motion blur in my test shots. This afternoon, the answer finally came to me. Make all the exposures in an aperture series using a strobe for illumination. I set up a Nikon D4 with the Zeiss 100mm ZF macro lens. I… [Read More]