On Sun, 17 May 1998 17:17:37 GMT, ark@research.att.com (Andrew Koenig) wrote:

>I keep seeing posts from people wondering which of several
>lenses is the sharpest. I wonder... How many of those people
>normally use a tripod for all (or even most) of their photographs?
>
>If you're not using a tripod, the sharpness of the lens scarcely matters.
>Either you use a relatively fast lens at large aperture, in which
>case you're sacrificing sharpness, or you use fast film to get
>a high shutter speed, in which case you're sacrificing sharpness,
>or you use a slow shutter speed, in which case you're sacrificing
>sharpness.
>
>On the other hand, if you are using a tripod, you can afford to stop
>down to f/8 or f/11, an aperture at which just about any lens is
>pretty good. And if that's not good enough, you might want to
>consider medium format :-) [...]

Hmmm, as a tripod hater (the &%$#& things are just too STATIC...! ;-),
let me express an opposing point of view... One can make photos
hand-held that ARE sharp. Bright light helps a lot; using short FL
lenses helps a lot; using longer lenses that are exceptionally good
at wide stops helps a lot; using the sharpest films helps a lot; and
using physically long and heavy tele lenses helps a lot (it is a LOT
easier to use a 300mm f2.8 at 1/125th for getting a sharp hand-held
photo than a 300mm f4 at the same shutter speed). One more thing helps
a lot: "bracketing" for sharpness, then selecting the sharpest image
from among 3-5 similar photos with a good magnifier. I don't bracket
for exposure, but I do take multiple images to insure sharpness (and
it sure beats setting up a tripod for convenience, and is less
inhibiting for selecting a range of viewpoints). If I am going to
bother with a tripod, I might as well plant something larger on top
of it than a 35mm camera ! ;-) BTW, when I first acquired a good
film magnifier (and began to use it...;-), my image sharpness
improved immediately! Also, I became aware (as you mentioned)
that the main differences among good lenses are most apparent at
the wider stops - perhaps this is the reason for the concern among
posters about the relative quality of lenses (the better lenses make
sharp images at wider stops, so they are more useful for making
sharp hand-held photos...;-).