How to evaluate lenses?

[benjiboy]

Ben, I'm not sure you know why it makes sense to test lenses at least semi-formally. The main point of doing it is to find out whether a newly-arrived lens is good enough to use. A secondary but still important point is to decide whether the newly-arrived lens is better than the equivalent lens in hand. Which to use, which to move out.

All but one of my lenses are marque Canon FD ones, the exception is a Tamron SP 17mm f3.5 I'm more than satisfied with all of them I have enough lenses for this lifetime and since I have no intention of buying any more and see no reason to potentially make myself unhappy by shooting test charts with them.

 

[markbarendt]

The first (and most important) step in finding out what tools work "best" in a given situation, is to define the result/standard "you" expect/want.

The second step is experimentation and judgement of your result in relationship to your expectation.

Your subject matter is a variable, just like any lens you may choose.

 

[Dan Fromm]

I test lenses by shooting pictures with them, I've had the majority of my lenses for more than thirty years and they are still better optics than I'm a photographer, I have no inclination to start shooting test targets with them and to make a stick to beat myself with.

Ben, you and I are both making the same silly mistake. Each of us assumes that his situation is universal. We're both mistaken.

 

[narsuitus]

How does one evaluate different lenses?
Brick walls? I shoot long city scenes, thousands of houses.

I use different testing methods depending on how I plan on using the lens. Attached are a few photos from previous tests.

https://flic.kr/p/93ks5X
https://flic.kr/p/s4hLUs
https://flic.kr/p/s5xUGK
https://flic.kr/p/aaioyS
https://flic.kr/p/8WBSuj

I recently acquired my first medium format folding camera. Since I plan on using it for landscapes and other scenic shots, I plan on testing it against my known medium format landscape camera, a Fuji rangefinder. This thread has been a big help to me.