Peter Figen
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bobby350z wrote:
Want to shoot test charts or actual pictures, simple. Peter already explained the reasoning.
When I start trying out a new lens I don't shoot test charts even though I've got a giant, maybe fifteen foot wide test chart on one wall in my studio, I generally go outside the studio and shoot a variety of things that give me an idea of how the lens performs in different parts of the frame, how it performs close up with out of focus areas in the background to see how that looks at different apertures and maybe down the back alleyway with the cars and buildings. I want to get an idea of how the lens performs under a variety of circumstances so I'll know if it's the right tool for whatever my current image might be.
One example might be the absolutely wonderful Canon 35mm f/1.4 II, when used on the 100s, is almost useless at infinity with major non correctable hard vignetting - not the good type - but as soon as you move closer than ten feet or so, the vignetting mostly goes away (it's still there but now it's the good stuff) and it becomes just a killer lens for environmental portraiture that is so usable wide open that it's scary. Would never shoot a traditional landscape with that lens but for a specific use like I mentioned it becomes an unbeatable tool.
It's kinda the same with that fast Sigma 135. If you're shooting a portrait with it close to wide open, inside or out, the natural vignetting is probably going to make your image that much more compelling without having to do so much work on the image later, if at all. If you need less falloff, you shoot stopped down or you choose a different club out of your golf bag. You grab your Canon 135 t/s-e which has almost no falloff when used unshifted. The point is, is to know the characteristics of whatever lens you're using so you know what to expect and (hopefully) can exploit those properties to the maximum benefit in fulfilling your vision, whatever that may be. It's all about knowing your equipment and using it enough so it all becomes second nature.
Early in my long career, I didn't think as much about the specifics of certain lenses, and since we didn't have tool like Photoshop, you had you light your images to overcome the shortcomings of the lens, or find natural lighting that played up the strong points of a lens. It wasn't as if this was something I gave much thought about, only that, as you were shooting the Polaroids leading up to the final image on film, you would keep making adjustments to your setup until you were satisfied with the image, and, if you're Polaroids look great, your film was only going to look better. Today we have a more immediate and far more accurate feedback system but a lot less mystery.
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