Difference in Quality?? APO Sironar S & N

[peter_hoang1]

hello.

 

I have a 135mm APO Sironar-N. what is the big difference QUALITY between that and the APO Sironar S? size,

weight, and coverage is not a real issue for me, but is their a big difference in Quality? I only ask because everyone

raves about the APO Sironar-S and i am thinking about getting one in 150mm. thanks!

[stefan_geschke]

Peter,

 

I believe this subject has been discussed over and over. There is probably no detectable difference

in most situations. I personally went from an 150 APO-Sironar N to an 135mm APO-Sironar S.

I shot some of my best pictures with the Sironar N. The reason I switched was that I moved my lens

selection to the wider side because of bellows extension issues. I went for the Sironar S in 135mm

because of the additional 8 or 10mm of image circle. I find the 135mm Sironar N a bit lacking as far as image

circle goes. The 150mm Sironar N was fine, though. If you are happy with 135mm Sironar N, stick with it.

The Sironar S is optimized for a bit closer focussing, so you might see differences if you do a lot

of close ups. I personally have shot very nice close ups with the Sironar N, so I don't think that

the differences will be huge either. Some people claim that the Sironar S renders out of focus areas a bit

nicer, but agree that the Sironar N is pretty good in this respect, too.

 

Finally, I must say that I believe that people are far too much concerned with lens quality.

A different lens rarely makes a real difference (phantastic pictures, even technically perfect, have been

taken throughout the last century) what matters is composition, lighting, correct focus, f-stop, a good tripod,

cable release, development, ... You get the picture.

It is true, however, that the newest wideangles with their coverage of 110 degrees make it possible to get

pictures that could not really have been taken before. Whether this really adds to the artistic values

of the photographs is another matter.

[bob_salomon]

Depends on what you shoot and how you shoot.

 

The S has a larger image circle and will be much sharper at the edges of the N's image circle. The S is corrected for 1:10 as compared

to 1:20 for the N. That means that the S will perform optimally from infinity to 1:3 (tabletop) where the N will perform optimally down to

1:10. So if you do work from 1:10 to 1:3 the S is superior by quite a wide margin.

 

The S has less "harshness" while it has great sharpness. The N will appear more "harsh".

 

The color gradations of the S are finer then those of the N and the color saturation is slightly higher with the S. There is also more

spatial depth and images appear more realistic when direct comparisons are made with the same focal lengths on the same film under

then same lighting with the same exposure, lighting and processing.

 

A direct comparison of MTF curves shows much higher and straighter curves over a longer length for the S. Light falloff is substantially

less and distortion with the S is much less then half of the N. Longitudinal color aberration with the S is also much lower then with the N.

 

So is there a meaningful difference? Absolutely! Will you see it? It depends on what you shoot, what type of camera movements you

use, what you like and what you expect. But for critical users there is a visible and obvious difference.

 

That does not mean that the N is an inferior optic. It means that the S is a superlative one. But if one was to take a random image shot

on the N and a random image shot on the N a viewer probably could not tell which was which. But if they are the same image at the

same time you will see the difference.

 

And then there is Bokah.

[abrepsom1]

Apart from the fact that the Apo-Sironar S has got a larger image circle, I could not spot any significant difference between my two 150mm Apo-Sironars N and S. The Apo-Sironar-N already blows out your mind in terms of sharpness and image quality that for me, it is hard to believe that in usual everyday photography, you could make out a really significant difference. In the end, I sold the Apo-Sironar-S and kept the Sironar-N.

I can fully agree with Stefan's last paragraph. We should be more concerned about our vision than about our already excellent gear.

[peter_hoang1]

thanks guys for the help it was informative.