AF 35mm f/2.0 D vs. AF-S 35mm f1.8 G

[TCav]

Here's what I've been able to determine from PhotoZone.de tests:

• D has less barrel distortion.
• Vignetting wide open is a toss-up.
• D has less vignetting stopped down.
• G is sharper wide open.
• Sharpness stopped down is a toss-up.
• CA wide open is a toss up.
• D has A LOT less CA stopped down.
• D costs $330; G costs $200.

I'm inclined to forego the G's 1/3 f-stop advantage, and go with the D. Is there something I'm not seeing?

[JimC]

I'd go for the cheap one (the 35mm f/1.8G DX) unless you plan on buying a D700, D3, or D3x anytime soon, in which case you may want to consider a different lens so you wouldn't have to worry about using one of the reduced resolution crop modes to capture a photo without [a lot] of vignetting (as you would with a DX series lens on a full frame model, since DX series lenses are designed for models with an APS-C size sensor).

[JimC]

When I buy a prime, performance with the aperture wide open (or at equivalent apertures between lenses), is the most important consideration, since I'm more likely to want to use one wide open for the type of shooting I'd be doing when using a prime instead of a zoom.

[JimC]

For example, as you know, I really like my Minolta 100mm f/2 AF lens. I could have bought a Minolta 85mm f/1.4 AF lens for roughly the same price as I paid for my Minolta 100mm f/2 AF lens at the time I bought it. But, the Minolta 100mm f/2 AF lens is sharper at f/2 compared to the Minolta 85mm f/1.4G stopped down to f/2. So, I went with a 100mm instead of the 85mm f/1.4.



http://old.photodo.com/nav/prodindex.html

Minolta 100mm f/2 Autofocus Lens:
Photodo test result: 4,4
Effective focal length: 97
Weighted MTF for 100 mm: f2 0,75, f2,8 0,77, f4 0,84, f8 0,85
Average Weighted MTF: 0,85 Grade: 4,4
Weighted MTF 10 lp/mm: 0,91
Weighted MTF 20 lp/mm: 0,82
Weighted MTF 40 lp/mm: 0,62


Minolta 85mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens:
Photodo test result: 3,9
Effective focal length: 84 mm
Weighted MTF for 85 mm: f1,4 0,59, f2 0,71, f2,8 0,77, f4 0,80, f8 0,81
Average Weighted MTF: 0,80 Grade: 3,9
Weighted MTF 10 lp/mm: 0,89
Weighted MTF 20 lp/mm: 0,76
Weighted MTF 40 lp/mm: 0,53

[TCav]

JimC,

You're right. Thanks. If you get a large aperture lens, what matters is the performance at the large aperture. The 1.8G performs slightly better at f/1.8 than the 2.0D at f/2.0, it costs a lot less, it's 1/3 stop faster, and I'm never going FF.

I was thinking that there might be something else I might need to know about, like slow AF, frequent failures, etc.

[JimC]

Never is a very long time. ;-)