justruss
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 p.2 #3 · How do you test your lenses? | |
binary visions wrote:
I think a lot of responses to these kind of questions boil down to the above, and I think it's kind of insulting to the OP.
Do you honestly believe he cares how brick walls and test sheets look? Or do you think, maybe, that brick walls and test sheets can help quickly and reliably expose flaws in a lens that might otherwise get overlooked initially, especially by a non-pro who might not be as in tune with their gear?
I agree that it's important to just go out and shoot. But the last big, used lens purchase I made, I printed out a test chart and shot a few frames. Why? Because "shoot real subjects" is great - but real subjects don't always encompass all aspects of a lens all the time. Isn't it better to be able to put your finger on exactly what is wrong, then have a nagging small issue that you may not be able to quantify?
I get that a pro is going to shoot a few thousand frames very quickly, and is going to have an immediate and meaningful frame of reference for comparing their past work, but not everyone is a pro and subjects vary. My first 500 frames with my new lens were almost entirely small birds in the center of the lens. I could call that good, because they looked good. What if my next 100 frames filled the viewfinder and the left side was out of whack? What if something was only slightly out of whack and I had to doubt whether I caused a problem?
People shouldn't fill their lives with test charts and brick walls. There's no need to measure every characteristic of a lens outside of, "does it work for me?" But testing has its place....Show more →
I don't think it's insulting to the OP.
After all, the OP asked us how we test our lenses. Many/most of us said "we don't." The OP actually wasn't referring, necessarily, to brick walls/test charts, since the OP shoots a familiar scene.
But none of that matters. Many of us simply don't go out to test our new lenses. We go out and use them. And until something seems wrong we keep using them. I think many/most of us run on the assumption that, more or less, lenses work. Lemons are rare. If we don't notice a problem there probably isn't a problem.
Sure, there are folks in this thread who lament today's QC (though I don't think they back those claims up statistically... notably the poster a few back who says that but then says he's never gotten a dud...huh?), but I think they're just falling into the classic, "Back in the day, TK was better" trope-canard. Yeah, washing machines don't last like they used to (see: consumer reports); lenses I think are built better today, with higher QC, than ever before.
And I don't think I agree (as a pro) with your assessment of pro vs amateur checking/use. The big difference isn't that we're more developed of eye, or we see problems quicker-- it's that we don't really care about optical perfection in that sense. That's a generalization, but I think it's true. Amateurs are far more likely to be concerned with getting a "great copy" than a pro, more concerned with perfect sharpness/evenness across the frame, and more likely to see a problem. To most pros the camera/lens is just a dumb tool that allows US to visualize and make a scene. It just needs to be good enough to let us do the real work.
Oh well, I guess it's a dead horse we be a'beaten.
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