What's the sharpest lens you own?

happysmileylady · May 1, 2009

To go along with that, what camera does it go on and share a pic using it:D

I am having issues with the level of sharpness in the lenses I have, so I wanna drool over other folks uber sharp stuff:D

DsrtVW · May 1, 2009

Nikon 200mm f2 is the best I have. My old tank Nikon 300mm f4 ED is no slouch either.
But they give me the best performance. I do like the Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8 for wider angles
What type of issue with what lenses are you having?
200mm f2 w 1.7 TC at f3.3 Nikon D300

Nikon AF 300mm f4 ED on a NikonD50

300mm on D300

Scott_Quier · May 1, 2009

Probably my EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

mrcoons · May 1, 2009

My 135mm f.2L - no doubt about it.

pathfinder · May 1, 2009

Hello happysmileylady, a Fellow Hoosier!!

I think almost all lenses are pretty sharp if used at their best aperture, with good technique.

I have several very nice lenses from Canon, Sigma, Tamron, Zeiss, and if I do my job, they rarely let me down in terms of sharpness. Composition, exposure, focus, use of tripod, those are all my responsibility, not the lenses.

I do like the Canon 135 f2 L, the 35 f1.4 L, the 24 f3.5 T&S, and the 45 f2.8 T&S as well. All of Canons long L glass is first rate as well.

I have posted what I think are sharp images with a Tamron 28-300 'travel zoom' as well, as seen here. ( Travel zooms are always sneered at by lens snobs)

f8 1/250th

Canon 24-105 L IS that some criticize as 'not that sharp' - (image editing can color how we see an image too, and I have altered this image a bit )

Lots of images do not need to be sharp to be successful and even get published.

One more thing, prime lenses are usually better than zooms, ( although with the advent of more recent advances in optics that is no longer the "TRUTH" it was thirty years ago, but it is still a good for those wanting maximum sharpness ), and pro quality lenses are going to be much better than consumer grade lenses. Most lenses will fare much better when used, not at their maximum aperture, but two to three stops smaller ( in other words, not f2.8, but f5.6 or f8 .) Most consumer lenses will not look their best when shot wide open. I try not to use L glass wide open if I have a choice.

Ric Grupe · May 1, 2009

When we talk about sharpness of a lens aren't we really saying which lens exhibits the best contrast?

Also, I thought that for some mathematical reason (that I don't care to understand:D) that 300mm was the sweet spot optically.

Here is an example of what a 40D and a 100-400L at 300mm can do.

boulderNardo · May 2, 2009

Canon 100mm f/2 ... BY FAR!

Not my best shot, but TACK SHARP

Art Scott · May 2, 2009

Both my SIGMA 70-210 F2.8 and my newer 24-70f2.8 are tack sharp when properly used......both reside on a Konica Minolta 7D ............

Robinivich · May 2, 2009

I must second what pathfinder said earlier, knowing where your lens is at it's best and using good technique are much more reliable ways to get sharp pictures than spending huge quantities of money.

Having said that, my sharpest lenses are my sigma 150mm macro:

And my Canon 70-200f4L, which might actually be sharper:

swintonphoto · May 2, 2009

My Olympus Zuiko 35mm Macro is my sharpest lens. It fits on any Olympus DSLR. The first image was with an E-510, and the second was with an E-500.

windoze · May 2, 2009

happysmileylady wrote:

To go along with that, what camera does it go on and share a pic using it:D

I am having issues with the level of sharpness in the lenses I have, so I wanna drool over other folks uber sharp stuff:D

Back in the day - when i used to own a Canon 300 F/4 on a 20D. As a matter of fact, back then I didnt know what I did to get a "sharp" picture - it just happened. Since then, Ive learned a few things and rarely do I get as sharp pictures as I used to

windoze

tenoverthenose · May 3, 2009

My sharpest is my 85 1.2. Although do I really need anything that sharp?

What's the sharpest lens you own?

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