Question about lens sharpness

13 years 3 weeks ago #46677 by Casey T
What determines a lenses sharpness? Is it the glass used in the camera or the positioning of the glass elements inside the lens?

My Passion is being behind my camera and my family.
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13 years 3 weeks ago #46699 by KCook
A camera lens is made up of several glass elements (or individual lenses). They will typically be different materials, but a few in the set may be the same material. Each element needs to have the curves on the front and back surface to a precise radius (almost always a different radius for the back from the front). Then these elements have to be sequenced in one certain way, with precise spacing between the elements. Point being, the possible variations for lens design are literally endless. The consumer cannot learn all this stuff, that is what degrees in the science of optics are for. So I wouldn't recommend a lot of DIY analysis. Instead rely on the lens reviews that try to measure the final lens performance.

Kelly Cook

Canon 50D, Olympus PL2
kellycook.zenfolio.com/

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13 years 3 weeks ago #46723 by effron
Yeah, what Cook said..........:thumbsup:

Why so serious?
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13 years 3 weeks ago #46841 by PhotosGuy
Generally, a lens was considered sharpest at 2.5-3 stops down from the maximum aperture. Now with the "crop-sensors", we're using mainly the center (sharpest) portion of the lens & I'm not sure where the dividing line is.
But when you get up near f/16, you will start to lose some sharpness to diffraction, so the old saying, "F/8, and be there." works a lot of the time. ;)


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13 years 3 weeks ago #46909 by Zardoz
Another aspect about sharpness is also related to prime lenses, which means they are not zoom lenses. Prime lenses have less lenses to do the job and that inherently means the lens will be sharper. The obviously means you have to position yourself to make the framing of the shot you want to make, which can be difficult when the subject is moving around. Another thing to consider is filters, two major thoughts is do not use one, and only use high quality ones. It all goes back to how much glass the light has to go though again. Some think I have a 3K lens and a $30 piece of glass in front of it, my images are going to be less sharp for that and do not use filters. Others say that I have a 3K lens and I want a $30 filter to protect that lens even though it may affect my final sharpness.


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13 years 3 weeks ago #46965 by bdroberts
:agree:
however the thought as to price is another. The range across a given focal length is pretty wide.
If I buy a Nikon 135mm it will be sharper than say a Sigma of the same FL. Now they may be equal at F11, but at 2.8 the cheaper lens will have some edge fall off.

It is the same with most things, but even major brands have lesser grades so know what your buying and buy from a reputable dealer.

BD Roberts, M. Photog., CPP, EICPP

www.bdroberts.com

Photo Consultant to the industry

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13 years 3 weeks ago #47160 by Henry Peach
While some of the opinions expressed here are very popular, I would encourage anyone to do their own lens testing. I no longer worry about whether my zooms aren't as sharp as my primes or my Tamrons and Sigmas aren't as sharp as my Canon Ls, because I've done the testing and stared long and hard at large prints and pixel peeped at 100% magnification. They are all amazingly sharp. I've come to the conclusion that when I have softness issues it's almost always my fault, operator error, rather than lens flaws.
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