My earlier mid-range zoom comparison really didn’t give me what I was hoping for: An inexpensive walking-around lens for travel that won’t break the bank yet is nice and sharp.
In that comparison the most modern lens, the Nikon AFS 24-85, fared the worst at every focal length and every aperture. The other lenses were an old Nikon manual focus 35-70 f/3.5 and an AF 28-85 f/3.5-4.5. The oldest lens did best followed the 28-85 and the 24-85. But the old 35-70 doesn’t have much range and I feel like 28mm is the longest I want to use at the wide end.
So I decided to look for some really cheap alternatives and that meant going off-brand, and old. So for this comparison I used the AFS 24-85, the AF 28-85, a Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f/2.8-4 and a Kiron 28-105 f/3.2-4.5. The AF, Vivitar and Kiron are all inexpensive. The AF cost about $120 and the other two you can find for well under $100 (and I tried one sample of the Kiron that was less than $40 but sent it back because of trouble focusing at infinity). The third-party lenses appear to be in the vicinity of 20 years old. None of these lenses is produced anymore so you’ll have to shop for them used. Adorama and eBay are likely sources.
Let’s get to the pictures.
In my earlier mid zoom comparison I chose a crop that was at or close to infinity and I’ve decided that wasn’t especially useful. If these lenses were meant for landscapes that would be fine but the travel shots I expect to take will generally have subjects much closer to the lens. Another difference — this time the shots were hand-held, no tripod. It seems a more realistic way to check these out.
Here’s the scene:
Kiron 28-105 f/3.2 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28
I tried to remain centered and focused on the word “in” on the “no loitering” sign.
Here are the crops at 28mm, the widest range all four lenses have in common:
Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f/2.8-4 @5.6 & 28
Nikon AF 28-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28
Kiron 28-105 f/3.2 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28
Nikon AFS 24-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28
I have a hard time finding any significant difference among these four lenses at f/5.6 and center crops. Maybe the newer lenses show slightly less contrast but it’s hard to say because clouds were shifting as I took these. This is a big surprise to me after the vast differences they showed with more distant subjects. So this time I’m going to check out the edges as well. The corners don’t show enough detail to help so these crops are from the left edge, slightly below the halfway point.
Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f/2.8-4 @5.6 & 28 (left edge)
Nikon AF 28-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28 (left edge)
Kiron 28-105 f/3.2 - 4.5 @5.6 & 28 (left edge)
Nikon AFS 24-85 f/3.5 - 4.5 @ 5.6 & 28 (left edge)
Well, things change at the extremes of the frame, don’t they? The order of sharpness is almost turned on its head: This time the AFS shines, the AF comes in second, the Kiron third and the Vivitar last. The older lenses get a bit sharper at f/8 but the pecking order remains the same. Hmmmm.
In the next part I’ll look at the longer end of these lenses.
Adorama and eBay are likely sources if you’re in the market for any of these lenses.
