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Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 and Sony 28mm F/2.8 This time I cover center, mid, and corner sharpness, distortion and ghosting, and use the Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8at 28mm, and the Sony 28mm F/2.8. which is the same basic lens as the Minolta AF 28mm F/2.8.
In a nut-shell, the Sony CZ zoom looks sharper in the centers at wide apertures. The mid areas, (or approximately the APS-C corner areas) are easily sharper at all apertures with the Sony CZ zoom. The extreme corners are sharper with the Sony 28mm from F/2.8-5.6. Distortion is less with the CZ zoom. Ghosting is much better controlled with the Sony 28mm at all apertures. The Sony A900 was used in this comparison.
Check out the center crops below.
Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 @28mm Sony 28mm F/2.8
The CZ zoom is pretty sharp in the centers at all apertures, whereas the Sony 28mm needs a stop down or so to sharpen up. Both lenses are very sharp at F/5.6-11. There’s a road in the background with cars, so don’t worry about the odd shapes and colors that appear in some crops.
Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 @28mm Sony 28mm F/2.8
The CZ zoom looks much better in the mid section, about the same area as APS-C corners, and easily beats the Sony 28mm, although the Minolta AF 28mm F/2 would probably be about the same sharpness as the CZ zoom.
Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 @28mm Sony 28mm F/2.8
The Sony 28mm extreme corners are fairly sharp as compared to the CZ zoom, but only with wider apertures. The CZ zoom looks poor at F/2.8-5.6, but sharpens up nicely by F/8. The corner crops were taken about 350 pixels from the lower left corner. Exposure differences are from light fall-off.
Distortion control
Although the crops aren’t lined up exactly, the CZ zoom is flatter when zoomed out to 28mm.
Ghosting samples below.
The Sony 28mm is much cleaner at all apertures when the sun is in the picture.
Color fringing below.
The CZ 24-70mm shows less lateral color fringing than the Sony 28mm. Notice how the the CZ zoom is sharper on the right side of the crop, and the Sony 28mm is sharper on the left, which is the same as the mid and corner crops show. These crops are from the left side, at F/8.
That’s all for this comparison, hope you enjoyed it.
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Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 and Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/4
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F/4
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F/5.6
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F/5.6
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F/8
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F/8
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F/11
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F/11
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Both lenses are pretty sharp, although the CZ zoom more so at F/2.8. The CZ zoom seems to have a little better color and contrast at all apertures. The subject was about 40 feet or 12m away, which is about infinity focus. The exposure values are exactly the same for both lenses, in all sets here and below.
Now for some mid-level crops.
Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 @24mm Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/4
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F/4
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F/5.6
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F/5.6
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F/8
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F/8
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F/11
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F/11
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The CZ zoom looks much better in the mid section, although the F/8-11 crops are similar. Go to the bottom color fringing crops to see a more revealing set between the two.
Now for some corner crops.
Sony CZ 24-70mm F/2.8 @24mm Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/2.8
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F/4
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F/4
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F/5.6
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F/5.6
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F/8
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F/8
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F/11
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F/11
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The Minolta 24mm corners are quite soft between F/2.8-5, but sharpen up nicely at F/8-11. The CZ zoom looks ok at F/2.8-4, but never really sharpens up like the Minolta. The corner crops were taken about 350 pixels from the lower left corner. Exposure differences are from light fall-off.
Distortion control
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| Sony CZ 24-70mm @24mm |
| Minolta AF 24mm |
If you look very carefully, you’ll see the Minolta is just a hair flatter, but you wouldn’t be able to tell in actual use.
Ghosting samples below.
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Sony CZ 24-70mm @24mm F/2.8
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Minolta AF 24mm F/2.8
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Sony CZ 24-70mm @24mm F/5.6
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Minolta AF 24mm F/5.6
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Sony CZ 24-70mm @24mm F/11
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Minolta AF 24mm F/11
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The Minolta 24mm is much cleaner at smaller apertures when the sun is in the picture.
Color fringing below.
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| Sony CZ 24-70mm @24mm |
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| Minolta AF 24mm |
The Sony 24-70mm shows much less lateral color fringing than the Minolta. Notice the sharper mid section of the CZ zoom. These crops are from the right side, at F/5.6.
That’s all for this comparison, hope you enjoyed it.