On Apr 13, 2005, at 12:10 PM, John Whittingham wrote:
Has anyone ever compared the A and M versions of the 200/4? I have the chance to buy an A version and wondered if it would be as good a lens as the M, which I dearly love.
My sample of the A 200 f4 was not as good as the M 200 f4, indeed it was not
as good as the A 70-210 f4 zoom in resolution and contrast. I sold it shortly
after testing it. The M 200 f4 had better resolution than the A 70-210 but
contrast was slightly lower, surprisingly I found the FA 80-320 @ 200mm
slightly better than the A 70-210 when tested at f/8 (not by much though) but
had a slightly warm cast.
Interesting. I have both the A200/4 and the A70-210/4 Macro and did a bunch of test shots with them a month or two back. The A70-210/4 Macro was recently repaired and tested at a very respectable shop, and the A200/4 is in virtually new condition. They were both tested on the *ist DS body, of course.
The A200/4 produced sharper, more contrasty results at all lens openings than the zoom did, although the difference was very small to insignificant at most aperture settings other than wide open.
Godfrey
