35mm Shift Lens Group Test

Nikon 35mm f2.8 PC v Olympus 35mm f2.8 Shift v Contax Zeiss 35mm f2.8 PC

 

Resolution & Drawing Style: Zones A/B (centre frame) at f5.6

Nikon 35mm PC Nikkor at f5.6centre)	Olympus 35mm Shift at f5.6 (centre)	Contax PC Distagon at f5.6 (centre)
4.5 points	4.75 points	4.75 points

As you by now would expect, the Zeiss looks particularly sweet centre frame two stops down: it clearly resolves more than the other two, even allowing for the slightly stronger lighting it benefits from. The Olympus is beginning to emerge as a distinct second best, with the Nikon not really improving much from its wide open performance.

Resolution & Drawing Style: Zone C (single frame corner, 17-23mm from frame centre) at f5.6

Nikon 35mm PC Nikkor at f5.6 (Zone C)	Olympus 35mm Shift at f5.6 (Zone C)	Contax PC Distagon at f5.6 (Zone C)
4.5 points	4.75 points	4.75 points

. . . although we still see the Zuiko suffering from a poorer Zone C. In many ways Nikon lenses tend to behave like cut price Zeiss optics: cool/neutral colouring, very high centre frame performance, best well stopped down, often flaky in the outer image circle at wide apertures. It's just that this is a vintage Zeiss: one of the best, and it's just sharper and punchier than the Nikon, which is relatively sharper than the Olympus in this part of the frame.

Resolution & Drawing Style: Zone D (fully shifted corner: 29mm from frame centre) at f5.6

Nikon 35mm PC Nikkor at f5.6 (Zone D)	Olympus 35mm Shift at f5.6 (Zone D)	Contax PC Distagon at f5.6 (Zone D)
4.5 points	4.75 points	4.75 points

Something tells me that the Nikon is never going to render a sharp corner at a sensible working aperture – perhaps that's why we have the inclusion of f32 as an option! Based on my prior experience with Olympus lenses, I think we could be slowly building to a barnstorming f11 finale.