What makes a great lens great?

rrusso · Sep 13, 2017

Just a short video on what I believe to be waaaay too prevalent in judging a lens:

Alan W · Sep 13, 2017

I wish I had the last couple of minutes of my life back,

BrianVS · Sep 13, 2017

Is the answer "Glass"?

Hatchetman · Sep 13, 2017

Fast sharp and cheap.

Kawaiithulhu · Sep 13, 2017

So the Great Pictorialists vs Group f/64 Wars are not over?

Dali · Sep 13, 2017

When the sage points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 13, 2017

"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept" - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Sometimes images made from a Petzval lens excite me.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 13, 2017

rrusso said:
Just a short video on what I believe to be waaaay too prevalent in judging a lens:

Please don't ever do that again.

Dan Fromm · Sep 13, 2017

Mainecoonmaniac said:
"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept" - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Sometimes images made from a Petzval lens excite me.

But catman, Petzval lenses used as their makers intended are very very sharp.

rrusso · Sep 13, 2017

Kawaiithulhu said:
So the Great Pictorialists vs Group f/64 Wars are not over?

I'm not familiar with that...

E. von Hoegh said:
Please don't ever do that again.

Oh, c'mon, lighten up a little.

Kawaiithulhu · Sep 14, 2017

rrusso said:
not familiar with that

Fun little article on that: http://archive.boston.com/ae/theate.../exhibit_pits_group_f64_vs_the_pictorialists/

removed account4 · Sep 14, 2017

the thing that makes a great lens is the person using it, not the lens. you can give someone the "best" of anything
and if the person doesn't use it well it isn't the best. a lot of people love silver bullets but they only work on werewolves

jim10219 · Sep 14, 2017

Math is what makes a lens good.

Speaking of math, here's an equation:
drugs + puppets + boredom - something important to say = that video

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 14, 2017

Dan Fromm said:
But catman, Petzval lenses used as their makers intended are very very sharp.

I didn't know that. But the swirly bokeh on Petzvals add in interesting element to a photo.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 14, 2017

Lenses are like wine. Some people obsess over the quality and who makes it. Some like to collect lenses like wine and are snobs. Most wine and lenses are pretty good and I won't spend a lot of money for for either. I say forget the snobbery about lenses and wine. Bring your lenses and take some photos and share it. Take out whatever wine you have and share that too! What is good is about a wine or a lens is what kind you have. It's the moments you have and create with them that matters. Stay thirsty and keep taking pictures!

faberryman · Sep 14, 2017

What makes a great lens great? A great photographer.

Peter Schrager · Sep 14, 2017

Mainecoonmaniac said:
Lenses are like wine. Some people obsess over the quality and who makes it. Some like to collect lenses like wine and are snobs. Most wine and lenses are pretty good and I won't spend a lot of money for for either. I say forget the snobbery about lenses and wine. Bring your lenses and take some photos and share it. Take out whatever wine you have and share that too! What is good is about a wine or a lens is what kind you have. It's the moments you have and create with them that matters. Stay thirsty and keep taking pictures!

You have never drank a bottle of laFitte rothchild ..just saying...otherwise most swill is the same in my book

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 14, 2017

Peter Schrager said:
You have never drank a bottle of laFitte rothchild ..just saying...otherwise most swill is the same in my book

Casting pearls to this swine if that happened.

rrusso · Sep 14, 2017

Kawaiithulhu said:
Fun little article on that: http://archive.boston.com/ae/theate.../exhibit_pits_group_f64_vs_the_pictorialists/

Interesting read, I do remember that now, was just drawing a blank for a while there...

I have this vision in my head of the modern Pictorialists marching out en masse, Holgas at the ready...

jim10219 said:
Math is what makes a lens good.

Speaking of math, here's an equation:
drugs + puppets + boredom - something important to say = that video

Drugs? Eh, I doubt that, unless you're talking the prescription kind...and he might be bored. But the point of the video was that with all the new lenses, including new "versions" of existing ones, there seems to be a trend toward a goal of "absolute sharpness corner to corner wide open", lightning fast af, zero to minimal ca, etc. Well, that's all fine and good, but there are tradeoffs.

Peter Schrager said:
You have never drank a bottle of laFitte rothchild ..just saying...otherwise most swill is the same in my book

Honestly, I wouldn't know LaFitte Rothchild from Boone's Farm.

I do enjoy a good single malt, however...

I suppose it's a subjective issue, but I tend to concentrate on the empirical qualities rather than the romantic/emotional ones.

Yes, his camera was surrounded by some pricey Zeiss glass, and maybe that was a poor choice on his part (giving the impression he's a lens-sniffer...I don't think he is), but the message is one I agree with, and I thought he went about it in a lighthearted, humorous way.

Anyway, thanks for the comments so far. Taking the video out of the equation, I'm still curious as to what you all think.

blockend · Sep 14, 2017

I'm a lens philistine.

E. von Hoegh · Sep 14, 2017

Mainecoonmaniac said:
I didn't know that. But the swirly bokeh on Petzvals add in interesting element to a photo.

If you find the technicolor yawn interesting.

Marco Gilardetti · Sep 15, 2017

I guess this video may have touched some "delicate spots", otherwise many people should reactivate their sense of humour. Although the video definitely wasn't what I expected to see, once I got the point it was amusing and provocatory.

John Koehrer · Sep 16, 2017

I wanted to wring the chicken's neck with it's first squawk

RalphLambrecht · Sep 17, 2017

Alan W said:
I wish I had the last couple of minutes of my life back,

you and me both.

FujiLove · Sep 17, 2017

I realise it's a tongue-in-cheek question, but I'd offer up two answers:

1. Putting it in front of a great subject.

2. No lens can ever be described as 'great', only, ''great for...".

Combine 1 + 2 and you have a photo which is likely to generate a lot of GAS and way too much online debate.

What makes a great lens great?

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