In search of a 24-28mm lens with sharp edges (corners not necessary)

Ok first of all, I know “me want sharp lens” is always an annoying request. I’m sorry! I’ve got a bit of a specific use-case though, and I’d much appreciate some input.

I’m working on various setups for shooting 16mm film in a 35mm SLR in what will more or less be 1:3 panorama aspect ratio. It’ll be microfilm or Copex, and I’ll want to be able to print pretty big - so sharpness is a must. I’m currently using a Sigma Super Wide II that’s surprisingly good, but not quite as good as I’d like (partially thanks to CA that doesn’t do any favors to B&W film). The great thing is that I don’t care about corner resolution at all, since I’m cutting the top and bottom third off the frame. Borders are more important on panoramas than normal shots though, and unfortunately a lot of tests and reviews don’t spend much time on them. And thanks a whooooole lot to Flickr for doing away with full-size image hosting! Sigh.

So, I’m looking for:
- 24-28mm range. 21mm might be ok but things start getting pretty stretchy on the edges.
- sharp across that middle strip of the frame by f/5.6
- lowish CA
- basically any mount with an aperture ring. I’ve currently got the film advance working decently on a Pentax and Minolta body, but I don’t see why others wouldn’t work. LTM is fine too, but I’m not sure I want to mess around with my one M-mount camera.
- not crazy expensive, hopefully
- not crazy big either

I’ve used both a 24 and 28 Nikkor Ai-S and found field curvature softened the edges too much for my needs. Currently pondering a Minolta MD 24/2.8 or maybe 28/3.5, but if anyone has a better idea I’m all ears!

You can't beat the Minolta Rokkor-X 24mm f2.8. It has a floating element design and is super sharp, even when used at the maximum aperture. Many consider this to be Minolta's sharpest lens, excluding the macros. And it's built like a tank. The only shortcomings are that the filter thread rotates as the lens is focused, and the 55mm filter thread only allows two filters to be used at once. This is one of Minolta's most appreciated lenses. In fact, Leica liked this lens so much that they used it for their Elmarit-R 24mm.

https://www.subclub.org/minman/2428.htm

I have both the 24 and 28 2.8 in Rokkor X, along with the 28 3.5, all are very sharp lens, not sure if any will resolve microfilm, which is around 800 LPM, but all will resolve Tmax 100 at 200LPM. In M42 hard to find to find and might be expensive is the Fuji 24mm 2.8, ECB coating.

I haven't used it in a long time but the SMC Pentax 28/3.5 is very good.

I used to have the 28mm f/2 Zeiss Distagon T* that was beautifully sharp.

cptrios said:

Currently pondering a Minolta MD 24/2.8 or maybe 28/3.5, but if anyone has a better idea I’m all ears!

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The MD24/2.8 is decent for its age & price range. Similar to the Canon FD 24/2.8. Both are somewhat better than the Sigma Ultrawide 24/2.8.

None of these will give you what a more contemporary design will give you, but these generally don't come with a hardware-coupled aperture ring (or any aperture ring at all). The main limitations of these older lenses are high susceptibility to severe flare, barrel distortion and degradation of resolution in the corners. The latter is not so relevant to your application, but the former can be a problem.

Not the kind of guy who looks carefully to corners, but I have very good memories of Minolta MD 24 mm f/2.8. Normally 28 mm lenses tend to be better corrected than 24 mm. Nikkor AI-S 28 mmm f/2.8 is an excellent example.

There's also the Vivitar (Kiron) 24mm f2.0. Faster than the Minolta, and less expensive -- but just as good in my resolution tests.

cptrios said:

- not crazy expensive, hopefully
- not crazy big either

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a lot depends on what you consider crazy here...

top contenders would be:

Voigtländer 28mm F2 APO (upcoming)
Zeiss Otus 28mm 1.4

a bit further down:
Zeiss Milvus 25mm F1.4
Zeiss Classic 25mm F2
Zeiss Classic/Milvus 21mm F2.8

The Sigma Art 28mm F1.4 should hold up also very well (the EF version should be compatible with EOS film cameras).

xkaes said:

There's also the Vivitar (Kiron) 24mm f2.0. Faster than the Minolta, and less expensive -- but just as good in my resolution tests.

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How does it perform in terms of e.g. barrrel distortion? It seems like a relatively compact lens and it's kind of hard/impossible to make a 24mm fast retrofocus design with full 35mm coverage in a very small package that also has low distortion. It's one of those triangles where you can have two corners, but never three at a time (not to mention price).

dokko said:

top contenders would be:

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How do these options relate to the 'needs to have physical aperture ring'? Mind you, IDK, but I guess it would limit the options among modern designs, which in general would be preferable due to the inherently better quality of post 1995ca. designs.

I am a little surprised that the Nikkor 28/2.8 AiS doesn't live up to your requirements. I wonder if sample variation is a play here. The last produced samples are approaching 15 years so wear may also be a factor if you don't know its use history.
I find my Nikkor 28/2 AiS slightly better than my 28/2.8 AiS BTW, but use it less because of its size.

I'd probably sugggest taking a look at the current Voigtlander 28mm lens lineup. They are all quite extraordinary and reasonably priced for a new lens - the 28 APO is likely to be stellar.

koraks said:

How does it perform in terms of e.g. barrrel distortion? It seems like a relatively compact lens and it's kind of hard/impossible to make a 24mm fast retrofocus design with full 35mm coverage in a very small package that also has low distortion. It's one of those triangles where you can have two corners, but never three at a time (not to mention price).

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I didn't test it for pin-cushion or barrel distortion. A 24mm is pretty distorted anyway, so I'm not concerned about that. It's softer at f2.0 for sure, but that's to be expected, and it's still very usable. At f2.8, it matches the Minolta.

I recently bought a Formula 5 24mm f2.5 at a price I couldn't refuse, but I have not tested it out yet. I'm sure it was sold under other labels, but I have not investigated who the maker actually was -- Komine? Sun? Appears well made.

xkaes said:

A 24mm is pretty distorted anyway

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A rectilinear lens isn't distorted by definition. And barrel distortion in particular in my view can be a significant concern. The better lenses at around 24mm keep this down to 1.5% or so, which is already significant. Smaller lenses tend to run into the 3+% region which really limits their usability in architectural situation IMO.

Lots of food for thought in here. Thanks everyone! I think I'll try to scrounge up one of the Minoltas. The newer Voigtlanders are tempting but I'd rather not spend over $300 until I'm sure I'm going to use the setup enough to justify it.

Nitroplait said:

I am a little surprised that the Nikkor 28/2.8 AiS doesn't live up to your requirements. I wonder if sample variation is a play here. The last produced samples are approaching 15 years so wear may also be a factor if you don't know its use history.

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I was surprised too given its reputation, but in the lens's defense I never tried it on film. On my old 5DII there was a really distinct falloff on the borders.

koraks said:

How do these options relate to the 'needs to have physical aperture ring'? Mind you, IDK, but I guess it would limit the options among modern designs, which in general would be preferable due to the inherently better quality of post 1995ca. designs.

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oops, I missed that requirement, but the Voigtländer has an aperture ring, and the Zeiss lenses do in Nikon mount.
The Sigma don't.

Nitroplait said:

I'd probably sugggest taking a look at the current Voigtlander 28mm lens lineup. They are all quite extraordinary and reasonably priced for a new lens - the 28 APO is likely to be stellar.

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yes, the 28mm Ultron and Color-Skopar are also great.

There are few 25mm lenses out there -- so I've heard.

Which version of the Nikon ais 28 do you have? I’ve always heard the 2.8 was the sharpest of them.

I think you should consider a PC lens in the focal length range range you want. These lenses are designed to shoot more than the 24x26mm frame therefore you are using more of the sweet spot if you do not use the PC benefit. As well these are designed as professional lenses for architecture etc and not photojournalism. I have an old MF 28mm f/3.5 PC Nikkor that I am very happy with shooting on 45 megapixels. I did use some PC effect - rise while shooting horizontal format pics.

Focomatter said:

I have an old MF 28mm f/3.5 PC Nikkor that I am very happy with shooting on 45 megapixels.

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would be interesting to see a comparison of one of the lenses I mentioned above. my guess is that they show significantly lower resolution even on the image edges due to their older design, specially on microfilm.

then again, if the budget is only 300 bucks, they might be a good choice in that price range, and affordable bodies can be found easily too.

Miranda made a 25mm 2.8, it is rather sharp, finding an adapter will be a problem.

Not what you're looking for, but my 50 mm Sekor C (for RB67) with a .45x wide angle filter (so effectively a 27 mm) is sharp to the corners on 6x8, albeit with a hint of barrel distortion. I need to try it with 35 mm film sometime, I calculate about a 100 degree FOV.

Wellll I wound up seeing a very affordable Pentax K 28/3.5 and went ahead and ordered it. Definitely not what I initially had in mind, but if the 28mm FL turns out to be a good fit, I'll upgrade to an f/2 of some variety at some point.

Focomatter said:

I think you should consider a PC lens in the focal length range range you want. These lenses are designed to shoot more than the 24x26mm frame therefore you are using more of the sweet spot if you do not use the PC benefit. As well these are designed as professional lenses for architecture etc and not photojournalism. I have an old MF 28mm f/3.5 PC Nikkor that I am very happy with shooting on 45 megapixels. I did use some PC effect - rise while shooting horizontal format pics.

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Actually that is on the eventual-acquisition list. Cutting off the top and bottom of a frame definitely puts a bit of extra pressure on perspective distortion, so a shift lens could definitely be useful. I just wish the more modern options didn't also have the tilt function and subsequent size increase.

dokko said:

a lot depends on what you consider crazy here...

top contenders would be:

Voigtländer 28mm F2 APO (upcoming)

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Nikon F mount, too?

I think that if I wanted to make large panoramic photos I would get a 50/6.3 for my Mamiya Super 23. I have many 28mm lenses but I still don't have the f/2.8 AIS Nikkor. I don't know what advantage that would give me over my 28/2 Nikkor. Both have floating element designs. Some of my other favorite 28s include the 28/3.5 AI, the 28/1.8 Konica Hexanon, the Canon FD 28/2 SSC, the Canon FD 28/2.8 SC, the Minolra 28/2.8 MD. The 28/3.5 SMC Pentax mentioned is very good as is the later M version. The M version was not sold on the U.S. The 28/3.5 AI does not have CRC but outside of the close-up range it is very sharp. If I need to be close up, a 55/3.5 K or later or a 55/2.8 or a 60/2.8 Nikkor will be much sharper than a 28/2.8 AIS.