TEST: Nifty 50 VS. 24-70L @ 50mm

UPDATE:I DID RE TESTS ON PAGE 2 OF THE THREAD OF f2.8 and F4.0 SINCE I MADE A FOCUSING ERROR ON THE 50MM F/2.8 SHOT


So I just got the 24-70 tonight. I mainly shoot informal portraits and have been using my Nifty Fifty for some good time now on about 75% of my shots. I love the lens. It is super sharp... I never even bothered with making a move to the 1.4 simply because I've been told the optics are exact,a nd I don't even shoot at 1.8, let alone 1.4. I made the move to the 24-70 tonight to have an all in one top-notch IQ mid ranged lens to shoot my portraits at. I wanted to see if my invesment paid off. Here are the results:

24-70mm F/2.8L(top)
50mm F/1.8 II(bottom)

F2.8

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Now for 100% center(focus point) crops

Again...

24-70mm f/2.8L (top)
50mm f/1.8 II (bottom)

F2.8

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Wow, the colours seem good. My old nifty (new) looked like B&W compared to my 17-40 and 70-200 colours.

Ugly wide open eh?

nifty there looks like it didn't focus correctly in the first trial... the oof depth should be exactly the same, but it's clearly not in the first one...

also, make sure exposures are the same, one's 1/3, another 1/2, another... you get the point, all need to be the same (in f4 round, 24-70 was 1/3 while nifty was 1/2)

looks like a sharp 24-70 though

Looks like you've got a keeper 24-70. Not so sure about the Nifty though, yours look a little soft at f/2.8. My real complaint with the Nifty's IQ has mainly been colour at wider apertures.. but I can rely on it being tack sharp even at f/2 (assuming it AFs right.. which isn't always guaranteed thanks to it's lack of a USM, but that's another story).

To the OP, did you shoot RAW or Jpeg?
Did you shoot these in standard or vivid picture styles?
Do you use the default settings for sharpness?

Sorry for all the questions, just wondered.

Also Im guessing all these were shot with a tripod.

Thanks in advance

looks like the nifty wins at f4

When the Nifty focuses right, it's a fantastic lens. Yes, the contrast and saturation aren't great wide open but this can easily be corrected post processing.

I think if the Nifty was priced at double the cost, it would still be a bargain!

Who cares about the build at this throw away price

I don't think Nifty focused correctly on the f/2.8 shot.

My nifty gave much sharper images @ f/2.8. Of course, there can be variation between samples of the lens, but that looks pretty bad for f/2.8 on the nifty.

Also, as already mentioned, the DOF should be identical at two shots at the same focal length / aperture ... and if you just look at the right orange in the f/2.8 shot, there's much of a difference between the two shots. Another issue, of course is the shutter speed ... 1/6 s is very slow, and even if you have the camera on tripod, much can happen.

Best regards,
Andy

Andythaler wrote in post #2905680
Also, as already mentioned, the DOF should be identical at two shots at the same focal length / aperture ...

It looks to me like the Nifty shot at f2.8 is what I would expect with the DOF whereas the 24-70 at f2.8 looks almost the same as at f4 re. DOF

sootyvrs wrote in post #2905781
It looks to me like the Nifty shot at f2.8 is what I would expect with the DOF whereas the 24-70 at f2.8 looks almost the same as at f4 re. DOF

If you look at the counter under the fruit, it's quite clear that the 50 front-focused by a considerable margin (maybe an inch or more?) in the 2.8 shot.

Correctly focused, I'd be willing to bet it would be better than the zoom even at f2.8...

In the top series of photos under the F/4 heading, I think you've got the 50mm on top and the 24-70mm on the bottom.

Matter of fact, you've got the photos reversed in the F4 heading in both series of photos.

No they are fine.. if you right click>properties them you will see the file names extentions... 24-50f40 then 504


I'm gonna re-shoot a F/2.8 sample

Look at the EXIF data. The top photos on the F4 heading show 50mm, Max Aperature of 1.8 while the bottom photos show 48mm and Max Aperature of 2.8. You must have them named wrong.

Besides, the pentagon-shaped bokeh on the top photo is indicative of a 5-bladed aperature used in the 50mm F/1.8. (This is what tipped me off in the first place).