Below is 2 test to see the sharpness / depth of fields (dof) for resp.interior and outdoor scenery. The original were done in raw with camera set to auto-sharpening. Auto CA and saved to 16-bit tif in Capture NX. And finally a bit of "smart sharpening" added in Photoshop CS2 before saved to jpg (50% comp.). Nikon D70's resolution is 3008 x 2000 and the small cutouts are at 100% size.

Conclussion: For the best dof at 10 mm you should use at least F/11. The lens has a min. focus distance around 14 cm and if you have a subject that close only F/22 will do with normal interior / outdoor focusing distance. The sharpness at the longest distances isn't optimal in none of the testshots. I believe this is due to the restricted resolution of the CCD in Nikon D70 rather than the sharpnes/resolution of the lens - read also about Diffraction here.

Ex1. Interior (Original Image Size:3008 x 2000)

Camera: Nikon D70 - Focal Length: 10mm - Focusing: ~ 2.5m -
Sensitivity: ISO 200 - Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority - Remote: ML-L3

Remarks:

This sample might not be the optimal, but I guess it's a common scenerys under common conditions for many panorama-photographers. The camera used has no mirrror lockup so allthough I use an infrared remote the vibration from the mirror might have an inpact on the results with the long exposure time

5 sec - F\22

Ex. 2 - Outdour (Original Image Size:3008 x 2000)

Camera: Nikon D70 - Focal Length: 10mm - Sensitivity: ISO 200 - Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority - Exposure Comp.: -1.0 EV - Focusing at the "eATS"-logo ( frame 6) - handheld

1\1600 sec - F\3.5

1\640 sec - F\5.6

1\320 sec - F\8

1\160 sec - F\11

1\80 sec - F\16

1\40 sec - F\22

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Flemming V. Larsen