[stoppingdown]

Ok, so taking advantage of a good discount, I bought one copy of the infamous beast one week ago. I've done some quick tests near home (not yet the brick wall test... don't laugh, but it seems quite hard for me to find a good one - anyway I was careful to have in-focus details on at least one border, sometimes both).

 

The samples are here, and you should see a 1:1 loupe on them for pixel peeping (alternatively, there's a download link for the full-size image). Photos were post-processed (and lens-corrected and sharpened) according to my usual workflow (details in the post). 

 

I'll take the whole month (weather allowing) to complete my personal evaluation of this lens. It's likely a keeper because it looks better than the Nikkor lens it has to replace; but so far I agree with people saying it's definitely overpriced given the border performance (my copy, anyway, looks definitely better than many samples seen around).

 

If you have time, I'd like to read your thoughts.

 

PS My website has been designed for just a few friends and occasional visitors, I don't know how the server will behave with more people coming in. Please forgive any inconvenience.