pj81156 Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Like most of you I read lens reviews before I buy them. I have been doing this since the 50’s when Popular Photography used to regularly test camera and lenses. Now I get my reviews on line. A conclusion. All lenses are sharp at f8. Usually at f5.6 and f11 too. Even the cheapest third party lenses. Only the high priced glass is really sharp wide open or down one or two stops. So, buy the cheapest lenses and shoot aperture priority at f8 whenever possible. OK, I recognize that this is not always the possible but, I think it does say a lot about lenses. My favorite lens is my Minolta MC 50mm f1.4. I have read reviews that this may be the sharpest 50mm lens ever made. True or not, (probably not) I really don’t recall ever shooting it at less than f5.6. So, for me, most of the time, the f8 rule is quite reliable. And how fast glass is so unnecessary for me. And how it pains me to think of all the really expensive glass I have bought over the years. And how relieved I am that even my cheap 135mm Minolta MD f3.5 lens at f5.6-f11 will give me the results I want. Now, go ahead and beat me up.

Bill_de Loc: US

All lenses sharp at f8

Probably not. But then it depends on what each individual considers sharp.

There are enough sites that actually test lenses. They are most likely more relevant than a post on UHH.

But, as long as we are having fun with photography, this is the place to be.




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camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Today it is kind of difficult to find a lens, OEM or Independent that will not be sharp. Look at the kit lenses or better yet, look at the images posted by Sylvias from England and see how sharp the images are, a great majority of them shot with a Canon kit lens.
"f8 and be there has been popular for as long as I can remember and indeed a majority of lenses are at their best at around f5.6 or f8.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

That's fine if you never shoot in low light, or situations where you need a lot of DOF.

one_eyed_pete Loc: Colonie NY

Whenever I get a new lens the first thing I do is shoot a series of images to learn and compare the specific characteristics of that lens. I have bought some inexpensive lenses and some expensive lenses. From my testing I can confirm the more expensive lenses have demonstrated better sharpness at wider f-stops but in general my lenses produced best sharpness at f 5.6. My favorite lens was my used Canon 70-200 L f 2.8 which demonstrated identical tack sharpness from f 2.8 up to f 16.

royden Loc: Decatur, GA

Glad to read last sentence. I’ve been saving up for a version ll. Maybe be I should get the version l. I have the original 100-400 but sometimes wish I had a 70-200 and a coupler instead. Oh well. Merry and a Happy.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

It’s interesting that f8 is the largest aperture on the cheap 500mm Kalimar lenses.

Bill_de Loc: US

"f/Stop Range Fixed f/8"

I believe F/8 is the only aperture on that lens. Keeps things cheap to make.

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gouldopfl

I would think that would depend on the genre and the lens. I routinely shoot macro at F/11, F16 and higher.

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Uh huh. No f8.0 for me in the dark. Thaz where I hafta open waaay up to f5.6 and sacrifice a coupla virgins to the DoF god.

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CORRECTION: Its the SMALLEST aperture.

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Has NOTHING at all to do with economizing.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Even if we assume that your lenses are all pin sharp across the image from edge to edge at f/8, your one size fits all approach does not address the desirable ability to vary DoF, or the best way to capture images in low light photography using natural light, or the creation of out of focus backgrounds behind your subjects, or the ability to control IO levels, or the creation of lovely bokeh.

You suggest this so we can get reasonable images using potentially mediocre lenses. That may work for many people, especially those with less experience or on a limited budget. However, by self-limiting how you use a lens you are eliminating much of the creative results of a good lens in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Most of my lenses are fast primes. I use the aperture best suited for the results I am trying to achieve. If I was going to follow your approach, I might be better served using a good quality point and shoot.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

Correction #2. F8 is the largest aperture, F32 is the smallest. I have one in the other room. I got it off eBay for a total of $38 years ago in like new condition. In high contrast scenes such as snow it has copious amounts of purple fringing but is actually a fun lens to play with considering it cost me $38. Probably wouldn’t be as much fun had I paid $100. Had I paid $200 I probably wouldn’t have a single good thing to say about it.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

This is really not a surprising discovery, if you stop to think about it. All complex systems and machines have to have a design anchor point. All adjustable machines must also have a target design point...a different sort of anchor point or starting point for the designers and engineers.

Radio receivers are an interesting example. Almost all AM radios worked "better" at the low end of the band. Working with circuits at the lower frequencies was just easier, and it was easier to build components that worked at the lower frequencies. Transmitters too. Of course, that was partially offset in practice because stations at the high end of the band could get by with smaller (shorter) antennas. Smaller inductors, too.

In the case of lenses, an f/8 lens is very convenient to work with. All dimensions are just convenient. Nothing about them is awkward to deal with. So the designers started about there as a sort of center point and worked out in both directions. The result is that optimum performance ends up at that starting anchor point. It's most likely still done that way today, even with computer assistance, and especially with computer automation. Besides, if you do something to make one of the extremes better, it's going to improve the middle too.

It's just how design works.