On Wed, 26 Jun 2002 03:56:39 GMT, antispam@ftc.gov wrote:


> > Question ... what's the sharpest lens any of you have handled? I have
> > been doing some searching around the web and there are several reviews
> > that seem to suggest that the Nikon AF 50mm 1.8 is actually sharper
> > than the 1.4 version.

>Conventional wisdom has been that super fast lenses are not as sharp as
>their slower cousing.
[...]

This is often true, but not necessarily...
As the FL varies from "normal" and the
speed increases, focus distance becomes
more of an issue along with aperture of
interest. An example: the 50mm f1.2 Nikkor
is quite sharp at its optimum focus distance,
even at f1.2 - but near infinity, it is
quite poor at the edges, and shows problems
even near the center, even stopped down some.
Even f1.8-2 lenses can be excellent wide
open, or nearly so, if near "normal" in
FL, with some exceptions existing that are
excellent around f2 at moderately long FLs
like 135mm or even 200mm...
For more on (mostly) Nikkors, see:
www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html