Lenses and Optics
About 614 times a day I take a phone call or answer an email that is essentially the same question: “How sharp is this lens?” It’s no different in online forums (ok, actually forums are a lot worse) where pages of arguments drone on comparing the results of this bench-test lab review, these MTF charts, […]
Lenses and Optics
In 2008, I wrote an article This Lens is Soft, and Other Myths that pointed out that lenses and cameras all have tolerance ranges and sometimes a given lens can be sharp on one camera body, and soft on another. At the time, autofocus micro-adjustment was a fairly new feature on camera bodies and my […]
Lenses and Optics
by Stephen Michael Garey What is a Fast Lens? A fast lens is any lens of any type and focal length that has an aperture design capable of opening to f/2.8 or wider. There are fast lenses currently available that open as wide as f/1.2, and there are any number of popular lenses that open […]
Lenses and Optics
Have you seen my acutance? A few words about sharpness and MTF charts Many of you know one of my pet peeves is strident internet arguments between photographers who are splitting hairs or misinformed. One major cause of these arguments is terminology: people use a nonspecific term which means something different to each of them. […]
Lenses and Optics
Today’s topic is prime lenses, those lenses that (GASP!!!) don’t zoom! Wait, don’t leave. This is really worth your time. (OK, those of you who already shoot entirely or mostly with primes can leave, there’s probably not much for you here.) About 10 times a week, in discussing the best lens for the job with […]
