First Entry For September

Ever since my last entry I had been busy....  I cleared my Nikon DX gear, got sick, pondering what to get etc..... And so after much consideration I decided to settle for Nikon D750.  Then came the hard part of choosing what lens to go along with the D750.  After another round of thinking and hard consideration I settled for Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art.  Got some more spare cash, but not too much.... Got a 2nd prime Nikkor AF-S 20mm F/1.8G ED.  And so my current Full Frame gear consists of the following. 

New Full Frame Gear

There were some front/back focus issues when I initially got the Sigma lens and I had to send it to Sigma's servicing centre for calibration.  After that the lens performed sweetly.  But when subject of focus is quite far away, above 5 metres, then there's some issue again where the photo does not come out sharp wide open.  I think this lens perform well up to a certain distance at wide open.  This is so different from my previous EF 24mm F1.4L II which is sharp throughout regardless of distance.  Quite a disappointment...  The 20mm F/1.8G ED is not bad, doesn't suffer from this problem much, but (not quite) surprisingly, it is not as sharp as the Sigma!

Sigma 24mm Wide open, focus at the character in the balcony

100% crop

Nikkor 20mm F/1.8 test wide open, focus at the Lego man on the bench

100% Crop Nikkor - I'm not sure whether this shot could have been affected by camera shake..

For the tests above, shots were taken on a tripod wide open for each lens.  So Sigma is really catching up to the manufacturer at a price that is so much more affordable.

Somehow I'm not really satisfied with this Full Frame setup for the following reasons:

1. D750 is made in Thailand as opposed to my 5DM3 that was made in Japan, price is different yes, and I'm fully aware that I downgraded when I settled for D750.  Not only that, the 20mm F/1.8G ED is made in China too... So for stuffs that are not made in Japan why still so expensive?? 

2. The AF system which many people sang praises about is somehow not that impressive.  I have gotten way much faster AF on my 5DM3 + EF24mm F1.4L II.  I wonder if using Nikkor 24mm F/1.4G will produce the same result, but at the price Nikon is asking, I might as well rob a bloody bank!  Not to mention that 5DM3 has 10 more focus points than D750, to make it worse these 51 focus points are more cramped in the center with lesser cross type focus points.  So in true fashion, I haven't experienced the "greatness" of this AF system....  

3. Nikkor lenses are more expensive than Canon's L lens for reasons I cannot understand, although some are not made in Japan. So it seems like I have to settle for some 3rd party options.  The risk of using 3rd party options could be calibration issue which I encountered with my Sigma and perhaps unpleasant "onion" bokeh.

4. Max shutter speed in D750 is 1/4000 while 5DM3 is 1/8000.. 

5. My 5DM3's max ISO was 25600 as opposed to current D750's 12800.

Now the main reason why I switched camp to Nikon is for the following:

1. Much better dynamic range in D750 in leaps and bounds compared to 5DM3.  This is important for landscapes and outdoor shots in general.

2. Although 5DM3's max ISO is 25600, but the real usable ISO is only up to 2500 beyond which the noise becomes quite apparent.  For D750 I can conveniently push up to 3200.  Note that you can turn on the Noise Reduction feature, but it will result in softer images. 

After this experience, I really think I shouldn't have sold off my Canon gear.  Rather, I should have maintained the Fujifilm & Canon ecosystem as they compliment each other.  Fuji's dynamic range is almost comparable to Nikon despite being an APS-C system.  The 16 MP resolution can be quite frustrating, but it is a good system considering the excellent quality lenses at prices that are cheaper than Nikon's.  At worst, I only have to upgrade the body when a newer body with higher resolution comes along.  My 5DM3 on the other hand is a real workhorse sniper rifle.  It would have been better that I rid myself of lenses that I didn't use often and get real primes.

Alas..... what's been done cannot be undone...  So I'll have to get myself accustomed to this new system.....

Here's a parting shot for this rather dissatisfied entry.....  

Nikkor 20mm F/1.8G ED wide open, focus on Gandalf's face

Gandalf at 100% crop wide open by Nikkor 20mm F/1.8G ED

~ Photos taken with Fujifilm X-T1 + XF16mmF1.4R WR; Nikon D750 + Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (A) and Nikkor 20mm F/1.8G ED ~