Okay here I test the still performance of the Kiron 24mm f/2 lens (30 year old technology). The only lens I could use to compare it to was my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM at 24mm.
Camera settings:
RAW 21MP
Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness all set to zero.
Processed with Lightroom 2 with zero noise reduction zero sharpening, 10% contrast, and camera neutral. Only levels were adjusted. Exported to 100% jpeg.
Landscape test at f/9:
Landscape test at f/11. This is a merge of two exposures, one for sky and one for water/trees, no HDR:
Original source resolution=5616X3744 and 100% crops are 600X400
All frames on the left are Kiron and right Canon. Center means the lens chart was placed center of frame and top-right means top-right of frame.
Original size for closer viewing:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/4627691933_d06b752b2f_o.jpg
My conclusions on this test are: 1. The Canon wins the sharpness battle, but not by a huge margin. 2. Canon wins the contrast by a normal margin. 3. The Kiron wins the CA/Purple Fringing by a normal margin. 4. Overall the Kiron is a stellar performer for a prime semi-fast lens made in ~1981. I love using this lens at f/2 for video on my Canon EOS 5D Mark II.
