I took a look at the full version of the shot with the camels lying down (4th image) taken with the 12mm @ f/10 on the X-E1 and it doesn\'t look that impressive to me. Look at the camels on the right lower part of the frame. I would have expected more from a prime of this caliber.
rscheffler wrote:
Look at the Bryce Canyon image directly below it and it\'s very sharp across the frame. I\'d chalk it up to early or preproduction sample variation or simply an error in shooting technique.
There are three variables between those images that without a doubt affect the visual apperance:
1: ISO 800 vs 200, there is obviously NR processing artificial smoothness in the Petra image.
2: Aperture. At f/10 on APS-C, the loss in micro contrast due to diffraction is easily visible.
3: The camera: X-E1 vs NEX-7
Hmm, I overlooked the difference in cameras used - thanks for pointing that out. I feel the minaret and winter river scene suffer from similar edge smearing (trying to look past the high ISO NR of the minaret image, which was the same photographer as the Petra scene). And the second Bryce Canyon image feels odd - the left 1/3 of the image is quite soft. It would seem the depth of field is not deep enough to compensate for the nearer focus point on the right side, yet the center of the image is sharp at infinity, implying there is some field curvature to keep in consideration.
