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Field shot aperture series crops—80/2.8
The resolution chart page is predictive of what me might see on a flat (planar) outdoor subject for the Hartblei 80/4. This page confirms those findings.
Images taken on the 24.4MP Nikon D3x. Try as I might, it’s really hard to make a level image. A bubble level on camera top disagrees with the ballhead level, and both disagree with the built-in “virtual horizon”. And unless I screw my head on straight in the morning, it’s a challenge.
A Picture Control Contrast = +1 setting was used in Nikon Capture NX2 to compensate for the low contrast lighting. White balance was set to Cloudy. The f/11 frame was “pulled” -1/6 stop to better match the f/8 frame in brightness.
Crops
Center (slight off-center)
Contrast is low wide open, peaks nicely at f/4 - f/5.6, and holds well through f/8 and f/11.
Mid area
These crops are at the top edge of the shifted frame, outside the unshifted 35mm frame.
Results remain unconvincing until f/8, with f/11 offering the best contrast and detail.
Top left
At the extreme top left shifted corner, results at f/2.8 and f/4 are undesirable. Things perk up at f/5.6 and start to look fairly good at f/8, with f/11 offering the best results.
Conclusions
The same results seen on the resolution chart are present at near-infinity focus. Shoot the 80/2.8 at f/11 when using full shift, and excellent results are possible.
Distortion is very low, making the Hartblei 80/2.8 quite usable for architecture.
Vignetting is a non-issue by f/4, and largely irrelevant given the optimal shooting aperture of f/11.