Now that I was on a roll looking at chromatic aberration and sharpness software tools I hauled out an old Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 c.1972 and a currently manufactured Sony 55mm f/1.8 FE ZA.
What follows is actually the second pass that I made at this specific comparison. I tried photographing the Rescue Orchid against strong backlight and found the Nikkor-S flares badly. So I flipped the scene around and shot with the light coming from behind me. Chromatic aberration was still present, so I was able to process the way I've learned works well.
Then I took two additional software tools and tried to match the output of the Nikkor-S to that of the Sony 55mm. I wanted to confirm what I already suspected, which is to say, with a little help, old lenses image might be made to look every bit as good as new.
Setup ~
- Sony A6300 set on a tripod
- +2EV (because of the strong whites and knowing whites saturate at EV+3.5)
- 2 second self timer
- ISO100 focusing on the stick
- Images made at f/5.6 and f/11
- Processed in RawTherapee
- Demosaic and only color management as the starting point
- Add RAW -> chromatic aberration correction to the starting point
- Add Capture Sharpen to chromatic aberration, demosaic, and color managed image
Using
- Rawtherapee -> Detail -> Local Contrast
- Rawtherapee -> Detail -> Sharpening
Comments ~
As in prior comparisons I see that the automated chromatic aberration correction does a fine job here. There's not much CA in the Sony FE, so this lens is easy on the CA tool. There is a bit more CA in the Nikkor, but this, too, cleans up quickly and nicely.
The Nikkor-S has less local contrast and is a touch softer than the Sony FE after CA correction and Capture Sharpen. Adding two tools, then gently nudging the local contrast and USM sharpness I was able to show myself that at f/5.6 and f/11 the Nikkor-S and Sony FE have little useful/important/visible difference between them.
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