Apple finally introduced support for the RW2 format from the Panasonic LX-3 and the Leica D-Lux 4 compact digital cameras in the Digital Raw Camera Compatibility 3.0 update. You may have been wondering why it has taken so long to add support for these models. The reason is that the LX-3 and the D-Lux 4 use a lens with high (up to 2.9%) lens distortion at short focal lengths. Apparently, this is the price that has to paid in order to have a 24mm (equivalent) wide angle zoom lens in a compact camera. The built-in raw conversion engine in the camera corrects for this distortion and also applies other corrections for de-vignetting, chromatic aberration and sharpness when the photo is saved as a JPEG. To compensate for the distortion, the photo has to be cropped quite a bit. See here for more details. Technically, the shortest focal length is more like 21mm (equivalent). While Adobe Lightroom users were enjoying RW2 raw photos from the LX-3 and D-Lux 4 for quite some time, Apple’s digital camera raw engine didn’t have support for lens distortion correction until version 3, which was released at the 9th of this month. It supports both, Aperture 3 and iPhoto ‘09. Unfortunately, you’re SOL if you’re still using Aperture 2. Read more »

My shiny, new Nikon Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR II lens seems to have a damaged thread inside. The thread coating seems to be flaking (click photo below to enlarge). I’m worried that the flaking parts are going to damage the lens over time. You need to zoom to 200mm and then check the area indicated in the photo below if your lens has a damaged thread too. The problem seems to be pretty widespread, I’ve already seen dozens of users reporting the same problem after checking their 70-200 VR II.

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In a previous post I wrote about the possibility to use the Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX 11-16mm lens on a Nikon FX body – in FX mode. I detected some corner softness with the Tokina on my D700 so I thought it would be useful to have a direct comparison between the two lenses in FX mode. The comparison itself is pretty unfair because the Tokina was designed to work only on APS-C (DX) DSLR’s and costs 3 times less than the Nikkor AF-S 14-24mm ultra wide zoom.

Weather conditions for a comparison test shot weren’t too good today but still sufficient to show the sharpness differences between the two ultra wide zoom lenses. Read more »

I’m in the middle of transitioning from my Nikon D80 DX-crop sensor DSLR to a Nikon D700 full format FX-sensor DSLR. I replaced the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 DX lens (24-300mm) with:

• Nikkor 24-70 AF-S f/2.8
• Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR
• Nikkor TC-17E II teleconverter. I’m still getting acceptable sharpness with the 70-200 tele. Of course this is a compromise and I don’t think I’m going to use the converter a lot. Maximum aperture is f/4.8 with a f/2.8 lens. The teleconverter also works great on my Nikkor Micro 105mm AF-S VR macro.

I still have my Tokina AT-X 116 Pro f/2.8 DX ultra wide zoom lens. I was thinking about replacing it with a Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 ultra wide zoom lens but the Tokina actually works quite well on a FX body like the D700 – in FX mode! Read more »

I’m a big fan of the Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G VR II AF-S lens because it’s so versatile. It’s also a great companion to my Tokina AT-X 116 ultra wide angle zoom lens. Both fit nicely into my small LowePro SlingShot camera bag and it doesn’t get too heavy.

After reading Ken Rockwell’s review about the Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6 G I was curious to see how much sharper it is than my 18-200mm lens. Ken claims the 28-80mm to be “unbelievably sharp”. Read more »

On my last trip to NYC I noticed that my Nikkor 18-200mm (27-300mm) zoom lens wasn’t wide enough for quite a few locations. I was looking for a non-fisheye, ultra-wide lens for some time when a fellow pointed me to the brand new Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f/2.8 zoom, that’s 16-24mm on my Nikon D80. The same model is available for Canon DSLRs too. The lens is a DX which means it should be used on crop sensor DSLRs only. The quality of the lens body is very good, nothing feels cheap or flimsy. Read more »