Surprising Results regarding sharpness

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Jeff_Stapleton
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p.1 #1 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Well, I recently (Monday night) picked up a 7d and the 28-135 kit lens as an upgrade to my 30D.

I've had a finnicky Sigma 24-70 that backfocused badly on my 30D. I was hoping some MA would fix my problems. Well...while microadjusting with the LCD zoomed in I realized that outside of AF, you could check optimum sharpness with Manual (duh...right?)

What I found was interesting. I'm not an "L" guy due to $, but I feel I have a great kit. Here is how my lenses stacked up to each other as far as sharpness goes.

85/1.8
300/4L
28-135 IS ?!
18-55 (original)?!
50/1.8
Sigma 24-70/2.8 EX DG

So, my sigma may just be a lemon. It is terribly soft. The thing is, my 50/1.8 isn't that bad. What was shocking was how well the 28-235 and the stinking original 18-55 EFS kit lens performed. Perhaps I just got lucky?

I know that there is more to a lens than its sharpness, but I am quite pleased with my two kit lenses. With the price of the 50, it may be time to check out some others...and the siggy...what do I do with it? I won't use it, but I don't want to pawn it off to some other poor soul.

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:25 AM

EB-1
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p.1 #2 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Sigma lenses are notorious for variability - even worse than Canon zooms.

EBH

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:33 AM

AGeoJO
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p.1 #3 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Jeff_Stapleton wrote:
...and the siggy...what do I do with it? I won't use it, but I don't want to pawn it off to some other poor soul.

If still under warranty you can get Sigma to calibrate that lens and you can sell it afterwards.

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:40 AM

kewlcanon
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p.1 #4 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Sell it to Joshua

AGeoJO wrote:
Jeff_Stapleton wrote:
...and the siggy...what do I do with it? I won't use it, but I don't want to pawn it off to some other poor soul.

If still under warranty you can get Sigma to calibrate that lens and you can sell it afterwards.

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:43 AM

garyvot
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p.1 #5 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

The 28-135, 50 1.8, and 18-55 are all excellent lenses, and all Canon lenses, regardless of price, should be "sharp" if working properly. Nothing to be surprised over, really.

Edited on Nov 06, 2009 at 04:51 AM · View previous versions

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:49 AM

seraphkz
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p.1 #6 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

is the 85 1.8 really that sharp?
man i really shoud look into this before buying a 85 1.2...

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:50 AM

EB-1
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p.1 #7 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

There is not usually a simple answer. The desired MTF depends on the distance from the center, aperture, magnification, sensor and pixel size.

EBH

Nov 06, 2009 at 05:02 AM

armandcp
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p.1 #8 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

seraphkz wrote:
is the 85 1.8 really that sharp?
man i really shoud look into this before buying a 85 1.2...

Bought 85 1.8 refurbished from B&H and I just love it. Sharp already at 1.8, at 2.0 is super

Nov 06, 2009 at 06:20 AM

vince
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p.1 #9 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Can't comment on the 28-135, I never liked mine, but even the original 18-55 (mark-1) was a very decent lens compared to the other options at low price points. The new 18-55 IS truly is a stunning lens. I literally did a double-take when I saw the results from my all-plastic doorstop 18-55 IS because I thought the photos were from my 24-70L.

I have never had any luck with the wide sigmas and tokinas. One sigma 28-70/2.8 I used was soft at all apertures till f/7.1 and the tokina AT-X Pro 28-80 would front focus like mad on my old film cameras, so I dumped it. I don't trust sigma and tokina's QC.

Nov 06, 2009 at 03:01 PM

AmIgone
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p.1 #10 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Jeff_Stapleton wrote:

The thing is, my 50/1.8 isn't that bad.

I bought my 50mm f/1.8 II for low light. I used it for 2 years and never stopped down past f/2.0. I always thought it was a little soft but I thought, hey it’s a $80 dollar lens. Then I got a used 1Ds2, so I was checking out all my glass on that body. I was outside shooting the neighbor’s dog with the 50 f/1.8 and I decided to stop down to f/5.6. When I looked at them shots, my jaw just about hit my desk. I had no idea this lens was that sharp.

Nov 06, 2009 at 03:19 PM

kakomu
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p.1 #11 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

AmIgone wrote:
I was outside shooting the neighbor’s dog with the 50 f/1.8 and I decided to stop down to f/5.6. When I looked at them shots, my jaw just about hit my desk. I had no idea this lens was that sharp.

The thing is that most lenses out there will sharpen dramatically when stopping down. For instance, there are a bunch of zooms that have a max aperture value of F/5.6. If you stop those down to F/8, they sharpen dramatically. My EF-S 55/250 produces some excellent results when I go to F/8 at 250mm.

As far as the 50 F/1.8 is concerned, it really comes into its own at f/2.8 and is flawless by f/4. Softness at apertures wider than f/2.8 is typically due to thin DoF which can be a bear if you focus and accidentally move too far in any direction, focus/recompose and pixel peeping.

Nov 06, 2009 at 03:39 PM

UCDEngBoss
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p.1 #12 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

AmIgone wrote:
As far as the 50 F/1.8 is concerned, it really comes into its own at f/2.8 and is flawless by f/4. Softness at apertures wider than f/2.8 is typically due to thin DoF which can be a bear if you focus and accidentally move too far in any direction, focus/recompose and pixel peeping.

This was also my experience with my 50/1.8. When needed I would shoot at 1.8 or 2.0, but 2.8 was very much better and 4.0 seemed to give "L" like sharpness. I really could see no difference in the 4.0-8.0 range.

Nov 06, 2009 at 04:46 PM

Jeff_Stapleton
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p.1 #13 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

UCDEngBoss wrote:
AmIgone wrote:
As far as the 50 F/1.8 is concerned, it really comes into its own at f/2.8 and is flawless by f/4. Softness at apertures wider than f/2.8 is typically due to thin DoF which can be a bear if you focus and accidentally move too far in any direction, focus/recompose and pixel peeping.

This was also my experience with my 50/1.8. When needed I would shoot at 1.8 or 2.0, but 2.8 was very much better and 4.0 seemed to give "L" like sharpness. I really could see no difference in the 4.0-8.0 range.

Hmm...for sure something for me to think about. I was shooting wide open...but I was also shooting the 85/1.8 wide open. Every time I shoot my 85, I am impressed. My background is 2 years of wedding shooting. My current gig is 85% outdoor daytime sports. When I'm not shooting my 300, I'm usually indoors and out of instinct try to shoot wide open. I'll see what I can get out of the 50 from stopping it down...

...or get a 50/1.4

Nov 07, 2009 at 12:23 AM

David Baldwin
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p.1 #14 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

I've had my Canon 28-135 for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty surprised how good it is at f8 even on my 5D2.

The Canon 85mm f1.8 is of course a cracker of a lens, light, cheap, sharp and focusses practically instantly and possesses great bokey.

Nov 07, 2009 at 12:29 AM

Jeff_Stapleton
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p.1 #15 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

You do the Hokey Bokey and you turn your self around...

Nov 07, 2009 at 02:26 PM

UCDEngBoss
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p.1 #16 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Jeff_Stapleton wrote:
Hmm...for sure something for me to think about. I was shooting wide open...but I was also shooting the 85/1.8 wide open. Every time I shoot my 85, I am impressed.

I think that the 85/1.8 and 100/2 have much better reputations for sharpness wide open when compared to the the 50/1.4 and 50/1.8. The 50's seem to really soften up the wider that you go.

Nov 09, 2009 at 05:35 PM

RobertLynn
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p.1 #17 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

seraphkz wrote:
is the 85 1.8 really that sharp?
man i really shoud look into this before buying a 85 1.2...

My 85 1.8 is sharp at 1.8 and gets better throughout the range. I did a shoot yesterday, and for the heck of it, I shot a portrait at 1.8 (i was using strobe and most were f/4-8) sharp!

The DoF is a pita to get used to with 1.8

Nov 09, 2009 at 06:45 PM

skibum5
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p.1 #18 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

Jeff_Stapleton wrote:
Well, I recently (Monday night) picked up a 7d and the 28-135 kit lens as an upgrade to my 30D.

I've had a finnicky Sigma 24-70 that backfocused badly on my 30D. I was hoping some MA would fix my problems. Well...while microadjusting with the LCD zoomed in I realized that outside of AF, you could check optimum sharpness with Manual (duh...right?)

What I found was interesting. I'm not an "L" guy due to $, but I feel I have a great kit. Here is how my lenses stacked up to each other as far as sharpness goes.

85/1.8
300/4L
28-135 IS ?!
18-55 (original)?!
50/1.8
Sigma 24-70/2.8 EX DG

So, my sigma may just be a lemon. It is terribly soft. The thing is, my 50/1.8 isn't that bad. What was shocking was how well the 28-235 and the stinking original 18-55 EFS kit lens performed. Perhaps I just got lucky?

I know that there is more to a lens than its sharpness, but I am quite pleased with my two kit lenses. With the price of the 50, it may be time to check out some others...and the siggy...what do I do with it? I won't use it, but I don't want to pawn it off to some other poor soul.

i guess you were just viewing all the lenses wide open
the 50 1.8 should be amazingly sharp stopped down a little

Nov 09, 2009 at 06:51 PM

GeneO
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p.1 #19 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

I had the 28-135 for quite a number of years. I was pretty pleased with the results, it was a good all around travel lens - even on a 1D series. I gave it to my son when I got a35L, but I did have some difficulty parting with it

Will find out how I cope with a 1D3 and 35L + 135L when I go to Portland next week.

Gene

Nov 09, 2009 at 11:10 PM

Jeff_Stapleton
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p.1 #20 · Surprising Results regarding sharpness

@GeneO: Those are some beautiful captures.

@skibum: I was trying the 50 wide open. Stopping it down should help

Nov 10, 2009 at 12:06 AM


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