The best lenses for your D750

Blacktop

Senior Member
This is why I don't base my lens buying decisions on DXO.
The 70-300mm VR has the same score as the 70-300mm non VR? Laughable .
 

J-see

Senior Member
Is it bad that Nikon's 70-200 ƒ2.8 didn't even make the top 3 list of fast telephoto zoom lenses.... lol

Go Tamron!

The Nikon isn't that different from the Tamron but they add other focal lengths to the list which is comparing apples and oranges. If I want a 70-200mm, I don't compare it to a 120-300mm
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
This is why I don't base my lens buying decisions on DXO.
The 70-300mm VR has the same score as the 70-300mm non VR? Laughable .

I've had both lenses and can say the the non-VR gave about the same results as the current VR model. Don't confuse this with the cheapie 70-300 currently being sold.
 

J-see

Senior Member
The "score" of DxO is based upon certain factors they deem important and ignores other aspects of lenses. Whether a lens has VR or not doesn't matter in their scoring system. Neither does price, weight or size.

I ignore the overall score and look at the individual test data and compare that to other lenses. Even a score of sharpness is influenced by several factors. A zoom lens that has a less diverse focal length might score higher than one that has more range simply because the increased range might bring the average down while the overlapping ranges could be similar in quality. I check the data in the areas that are relevant to me for such a lens. I could care less how a wide performs when fully closed down since I will close to never use that.

The focal lengths I will be using and the apertures I'll use most of the time are relevant when I decide which lens. The rest I ignore. Scores of distortion or vignetting also matter little to me since that can be solved in post. I also keep in mind that because software sees the difference in sharpness between an 18 and 19 scoring lens, I don't necessarily do.

What I also did when checking DxO was check the lenses on a higher demanding cam, in my case the D810. I started doing that when I still had my D3300 and planned going FX. Even for the D750 I first checked the quality on the D610 (that was before the D750 data) and then checked their performance on the D810 to see if they would hold up.

The overall score is a bit like a song leading the Top 10. It's not first because it is the best song and it's also not because it is the number one song, I have to like it.
 
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TieuNgao

Senior Member
Agreed with J-see.
The overall score is the average of all the tested parameters with some weighting factors. You need to look at the details of each tested parameter for the entire range of aperture and focal length and decide what important and what not to your uses. That means you have your own weighting factors applied to the detailed test results.
I use DxO and Lens Scores and try to read all the reviews available on the web long before buying any lens. It's fun!
 

J-see

Senior Member
I ignore Lenscore because they put a single number on quality without providing any data how they came to that conclusion.

Someone could tomorrow start a scoring site, stick their finger up in the air and depending how wet they think it is, score each individual lens. That data would be as meaningful to me as what Lenscore provides. If I can't check your data, I can't do anything with your conclusion.
 

TieuNgao

Senior Member
J-see,
You need to read "About", "FAQ", etc. to understand how they do the test at LenScore.
For each lens they test on several categories, like resolving power, color, contrast, bokeh, etc. and apply weighting factor for each parameter to get the overall score.
No one will give you the data to check, and even if they did I wonder how you gonna check anyway (eg. Can you check the manufacturers' MTF curves?)
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Is it bad that Nikon's 70-200 ƒ2.8 didn't even make the top 3 list of fast telephoto zoom lenses.... lol

Go Tamron!

The next pro sporting event you attend, look at what the photogs are using, if it's a Nikon, it will most likely have a 70-200 f2.8 mounted or a 300, still one of the top choices for action and photojournalism, there is a good reason folks choose this lens, simply stated it is a great lens. Great photos coupled with fast and accurate focus are what count, labs don't mean much to me.
 

10 Gauge

Senior Member
The next pro sporting event you attend, look at what the photogs are using, if it's a Nikon, it will most likely have a 70-200 f2.8 mounted or a 300, still one of the top choices for action and photojournalism, there is a good reason folks choose this lens, simply stated it is a great lens. Great photos coupled with fast and accurate focus are what count, labs don't mean much to me.
I had misunderstood how they had listed the "top 3" for each type of lens. I am sure it's an amazing lens.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Slightly off topic but an example of ratings,in Europe cars get Ncap ratings for car safety,top score is 5,ime driving a 4 rating,the cars are tested in several areas and get a rating out of 5 in each area,why should i choose to drive a 4 rating,simple it fell short in two areas that are of no importance to me,one was rear passenger safety ::what::it failed because there is no audible warning to remind passengers to fix there seat belt.
Cant remember how many areas are tested but the final score cannot be higher than the lowest individual score,hence the 4 rating and the fact it means nothing,you need to look at each area separately.
I remember years ago when a consumer magazine gave the Zenith E a best buy in 35mm cameras :D it was on price but nothing else.
 

J-see

Senior Member
J-see,
You need to read "About", "FAQ", etc. to understand how they do the test at LenScore.
For each lens they test on several categories, like resolving power, color, contrast, bokeh, etc. and apply weighting factor for each parameter to get the overall score.
No one will give you the data to check, and even if they did I wonder how you gonna check anyway (eg. Can you check the manufacturers' MTF curves?)

DxO provides all data. For Lenscore it should be as easy to share that all. About or a FAQ tells me nothing about how a lens performs at what length or aperture.

Only providing a number is akin to reading a review that says that they like/don't like the lens. We read reviews to know why they like or dislike it.
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
Hard to swallow that some third parties are giving our beloved Nikon a run for it's money! Hopefully leads to better innovation/pricing for our benefit.
 
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