Nikon MF 35-70 f/3.5, AF 28-85 f/3.5-4.5, AFS 24-85 f/3.5-4.5
In Part 1 I looked at the Nikon manual focus 35-70 f/3.5, the AF 28-85 f/3.5 – 4.5 and the AFS 24-85 f/3.5 -3.5, at 35mm as well as a current AFD prime, the 35 f/2. (Adorama and eBay are likely sources if you’re in the market for any of these lenses.)
Now let’s see how they look at 50mm.
Here’s the scene:
First the prime as a reference. The AF 50mm f/1.8 has a solid reputation as being sharp, contrasty and without distortion. I’m starting with f/5.6 because that’s the smallest whole-stop all four lenses have in common. This is a 100% crop from near the center of the frame, showing the soccer ball near the tree limb.
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 @ 5.6
As you’d expect the 50mm prime is very sharp. Now the zooms:
Nikon MF 35-70mm f/3.5 @50mm & f/5.6
Nikon AF 28-85mm f/3.5 - 4.5 @50mm & f/5.6
Nikon AFS 24-85mm f/3.5 - 4.5 @50mm & f/5.6
The old manual focus 35-70 holds up well at 50mm against the prime. I doubt I could tell the difference if the lighting were the same — some fast moving clouds were in front of the sun on the day I shot the test pictures. The AF 28-85 is clearly less competitive and the AFS just looks bad at 100%.
Let’s see if things change with smaller apertures.
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 @f/8
Nikon 35-70mm f/3.5 @f/8
Nikon AF 28-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @50mm & f/8
Nikon AFS 24-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @50mm & f/8
I think I’m seeing improvement in the prime and the old 35-70 but not in the two more modern zooms. They still seem soft at f/8.
Here’s the line up at f/11:
Nikon AF 50mm f/1.8 @f/11
Nikon MF 35-70mm f/3.5 @50mm & f/11
Nikon AF 28-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @50mm & f/11
Nikon AFS 24-85mm @50mm & f/11
It looks to me like the 50mm f/1.8 and the old 35-70 f/3.5 are just barely past their peak at f/11 but still very sharp. There may be slight improvement in both the AF zooms at f/11 but not really much. The newest of these lenses, the 24-85 AFS, is still far behind the others even at 50mm.
In Part 3 I’ll look at how these lenses do at the 70mm range.
Adorama and eBay are likely sources if you’re in the market for any of these lenses.
