rb61 wrote:
Coming from 40+ years of film, should I still be obsessed with fast lenses? I liked them for easy focusing (MF). Fast lenses became more important as I aged.
Do current autofocus lenses gain any advantage from faster lenses?
Thanks
Many years ago, when I was using Olympus OM 35mm film equivalent, I progressed through three 50mm Zuiko lenses...f1.8, f1.4, and finally, f1.2. The total journey was just about one f-stop, but it was really much, much more than that.
The f1.8 was clearly and unarguably a consumer grade lens. Lightweight and not real sturdy. Serviceable, but not great. Reasonably sharp, but never in the corners. My first real hint of trouble was during my first photography course, when our photographs were judged and graded all the way out to the edges and I got tired of taking hits for my entire image not being good and not being able to do anything about it. (We had to print the whole frame in that class, including at least a little bit of the negative border.)
I eventually found a slightly used 50mm f1.4, which made quite a big difference. In addition to the extra half stop, it had the advantage of being an intermediate grade lens. Not perfect, but much better than the 1.8, and quite a bit better over the entire frame.
When KEH had their retail store in Dallas during the 1990s, it becamea place that I liked to visit. King Grant was there pretty often, and his wife, who was the store manager was also. On one of my visits, they had a Zuiko 50mm f1.2. I didn't really think I needed it, but bought it anyway, and wow... That was a real, professional lens. Yes...it had an extra half stop of aperture, but that wasn't the main point. It was a true, professional grade lens of the absolute best design and construction. It was a joy to use, and it was sharp all the way to the corners. (And yes, it did look really cool taking pictures through that big "windshield."
The prices and weight of those lenses progressed along with their exposure capability. But I guarantee it wasn't just the difference in maximum f-stop among those lenses.
Bokeh wasn't a thing then, by the way, and was never a consideration among those lenses.