Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

DXO is not very good at comparing lenses. They use the pixel count of the camera used with the lens in a way that does not accurately judge the sharpness of the lens. There are other characteristics that make a lens stellar & these are not even judged by DXO. I would never use there data to select a lens. Bab

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

I like both primes & zooms. There are times when zooms are more convenient, but when I really want something special, I reach for my primes. Bab

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

Definitely. My absolute favorite lens is soft and full of flaws. Those qualities are what make it great. Stopped down it becomes bitingly sharp, and loses most of its character, but remains an excellent lens.

Oh yeah, that lens was made way back in 1937 and lacks any form of lens coating.

Here are two recent images with the 1937 Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm f/1.5 Sonnar, wide open on the Leica M-E.

Mr. Kimura

(Download)

Mrs. Kimura

(Download)

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

These days I only own one zoom, and it is attached to a compact camera, though a very high quality one. That camera is the Leica X Vario, and even though it has a zoom lens, I actually use it as four separate and distinct primes, a 28/3.5, a 35/4, a 50/5.1 and a 70/6.4. Its dreadfully slow, but even sharper at 50mm than my Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron (current version), which has long been regarded as one of the very sharpest lenses available.

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

DXO does there ratings with camera lens combinations & the higher pixel count of cameras like the Nikon D810 in combination with a lens will give that lens a higher rating. Therefore, DXO does a very poor job of rating lenses. There are a lot of other sources that do a better job. But if taking everything that DXO writes as gospel gives you what you need to get through the day go for it. Though there are some very fine lenses made by other manufacturers that are excellent, Nikon & Canon both make very fine lenses & take turns topping one another. Canon has come out with some very fine zooms recently & is currently in the lead. Bab

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

:thumbup:

asiafish Loc: Bakersfield, CA

I'm a big fan of Canon's 35mm f/2 IS prime. VERY sharp, decent bokeh, very flare resistent, and nice and compact for a stabilized SLR lens. If I was to buy another DSLR, it would be a 6D with the 35/2 IS.

vsimmons

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SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

I don't usually get involved in these discussions as they have no beginning or end.
It's easy to interject what we believe to be true with little or no factual evidence. I've said for a long time that DXO is a private sector for profit company developing software and testing to develope that software for itself and if it can continue to install those numbers as a way to drive traffic to its door, it will certainly do so!!
That many consider them somewhat of a standard has nothing to do with actual factual accuracy.
There are not to many testers/evaluators that I trust to be knowledgable with a tech background but one of those photographers that I admire is Thom Hogan, a true-blue nikon man. In one of his articles on DXO(he is not a fan because of their ambiguous testing numbers), he makes a reference to the fact that Nikon is a DXO customer and user and Canon is not.
You might want to check that article out! Just Google, "Thom Hogan, Do you belive in DXOMark?". It's an interesting read coming directly from a hardcore Nikon shooter that understands the facts and has a technology background, not to mention a photography insider and expert.
Houdel, I'm sure you're enough smarter than I am to provide a link for others to be able to use.
As for me, ANY camera will provide all the IQ that I can use. It's whether or not the camera/body combination can deliver what I try to shoot with a high enough consistently good hit rate.
How sharp my lenses are will not make my photography better, only I can improve that, not my camera! ;-)
SS

Haydon

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

I can't believe what I'm reading.

What is a lens without a camera; its a paper weight.

The only way to judge a lens is with an image taken with a specific camera.

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

If the lenses are not tested with the same camera, then it is a test of the combination & is not a test of individual lenses. There is no scientific result if there is more than one variable. Anyone knows that. So believe what you are reading.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

The only way it can be used is in combination. So what good is some theoretical evaluation. It means nothing by itself.

Grammieb1 Loc: New Orleans

Then as I said, it is a test of the combination, not the lens. If the same camera is used in the test, it is a test of the lens. Therefore DXO lens test have no value unless you are trying to see what lens of the same brand is best for your camera. There is no scientific or logical basis for choosing lenses of different brands in their testing methods. If you think there is a basis, science is not what you are using in your evaluation. DXO is a software company, hoping to sell software with there charts & figures. They are not winning any awards for scientific evaluation. Bab

jazzman1 Loc: South Of The Border

I agree