danmitchell Online Image Upload: Off
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p.2 #14 · Anyone really like/love their 17-85? | |
It may depend on the definition of "sharp."
Hmmm. I never managed to do that with the 17-85. I did get a few fine photographs out of it, but never with sufficient resolution to go beyond 12 x 18, and that not with any consistency. (I absolutely do get that kind of consistency with the gear I now use.) This despite often shooting with a tripod and generally aiming for the best resolution aperture of around f/8 on that lens.
I have one really wonderful once-in-a-lifetime shot of some cloud shadows across a Sierra peak that would be beautiful larger, but with my best post-processing techniques I cannot get print results that I'm happy with beyond (and just barely at) 12 x 18. I have other images that look quite good as web jpgs but which just don't have sufficient detail for larger prints.
The specific issues that I saw with my lens included:
- significant CA and softness in the corners. While the CA can be improved in post, the softness couldn't - there wasn't sufficient underlying detail to work with.
- general softness, particularly with low contrast subjects. Detail in grass and foliage often blurred out to an unacceptable level.
I'd consider the possibility that it was my technique that was at fault, except that I don't have these particular issue with my other lenses.
So, for me, the 17-85 ended up looking like a convenient lens to use on a crop body if you wanted to keep things light and simple and weren't going to make prints bigger than letter size.
Perhaps this is just a case of different standards of sharpness. I'll admit that there is no "right" level of sharpness and that it varies depending upon intended use and so forth. It would be interesting to do side-by-side comparisons between some of these prints (24x36 from the 17-85 and (!) 11 x 14 from a heavily cropped G5) - maybe we'd see that there are differences, and then have to consider their significance.
My upper limit for an image that I'd sell as a "fine art" print from an 8MP original (shot from tripod with L lenses, typically) is 16 x 24 from a good original. (I'd go larger with certain other types of uses, but not for a high quality framed print.)
YMMV.
Dan
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