stan weisleder

I would like to know what the absolutely sharpest lenses are. I am in the process of buying new equipment and might switch from Canon to Nikon, depending on the sharpest lens available in full frame format.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

I've never shot Nikon, but as far as Canon goes their MkII lenses, such as the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L II and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L II are the latest and greatest and are excellent. Nikon has excellent lenses but my understanding is that Canon lenses are as good or better and that there is a greater selection to choose from. Between the 2 companies, I would choose the body that works best for you. They both make fine lenses.
Welcome to the Hog!

Haydon

Canon's 70-200 2.8L is unparallelled. There 24-70 2.8 II is a sharp as a prime. But, both of these zoom lenses come at a premium price.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Extensive testing has been done by third-party labs to answer just this question. Almost any lens ever built can be viewed here, and sharpness ratings are compared:
http://www.dxomark.com/Lenses/Ratings

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Zeiss made several lenses for NASA that were generally considered to be the finest lenses ever made. Let them know you're in the market and they'll jump at the chance to unload them. Got a big checkbook?

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

Sharpest full-frame lens is the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Otus for SLR, and the Leica 50mm f/2 APO Summicron for any 35mm format.

The regular (non-APO) Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron is also incredible (my sharpest lens). For Canon or Nikon, stick with the high-end primes and you will get close, but Leica and Zeiss are better.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

So this list of "any lens ever built" shows 28 items per page and the first Canon lens does not appear (and is all alone) until Page 7. MT, with considerable respect for your acknowledged expertise and experience as well as that of DXO, I find it hard to believe there is no bias at work in DXO's formulation of the list.

stan weisleder

I would like to amend my original question by expanding it to;
What is the absolute most sharpest zoom lens available for full frame 35mm format???
I believe that a few years ago Zeiss came out with a 2.8 20-70 zoom which is now available from other companies. Are they imitations?

stan weisleder

I would like to amend my original question by expanding it to;
What is the absolute most sharpest zoom lens available for full frame 35mm format???
I believe that a few years ago Zeiss came out with a 2.8 20-70 zoom which is now available from other companies. Are they imitations?

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

Zoom? That takes all of the REALLY good stuff out of consideration.

stan weisleder

That's because I really hate to drag a whole bunch of lenses with me, let alone having to change lenses at the risk of missing a shot.

stan weisleder

That's because I really hate to drag a whole bunch of lenses with me, let alone having to change lenses at the risk of missing a shot.

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

I neither carry a bunch of lenses nor miss shots. Usually just shoot a 35 or 50 and leave the rest at home, or carry one other in a pocket (rangefinder primes are VERY small).

I ditched the zooms and the desire to cover every formal length years ago.

jcboy3

DXO measures lens/camera combinations. You will see the ratings of the lenses vary with different camera bodies. For the most part, the ratings/measurements are highly dependent upon pixel density and existence (or lack) of an AA filter. Because the Canon bodies are 20 MP or 22 MP, they are not going to register the same sharpness as on a 24 MP or 36 MP sensor; hence the preponderance of Nikon 810/800/610 combinations.

For example, compare the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 on Canon 5d Mark III (sharpness 22P-Mpix) and Nikon D610 (sharpness 23P-Mpix) Very close.

This means the lens is better than most camera bodies.

It also means that it is difficult to use DXO to compare across camera bodies.

But it also means that you should switch to Nikon if sharpness is your only criteria.

You can select a filter for zoom lenses in the lens filter section. Select "Optical Metric Scores", and the default will be rank by sharpness. And then buy a Nikon D800E with a Nikon AF-S 70-200 f/4 ED VR lens.

For a few bucks more, you can get a T-shirt made with a picture of the camera/lens combo and the words "Sharpest zoom ever".

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

In my opinion the OP should ask the UHH Administrator to remove this post and should then pose his REAL query which is totally different from his original post. Stan, I have no interest at all in your revised question tho I have considerable experience with a wide range of full frame 35mm cameras. You thoughtlessly wasted our time with your initial question.