How important is sharpness?

[jamiebonline]

Hi guys,

One of the top things people look for in a lens when they come to buying one appears to be its sharpness. The phrase 'tack sharp' pops up all over the place.

Recently I have started using some older manual focus lenses. I love the bokehs and the feel of them is just so good. I think they add something to my work but know there is softness in the corners in some of them. Worse at certain apertures, as is typical, I guess. However, I don't zoom into 100 percent and analyze them myself and I don't think most people, even other photographers, will notice or care either. Also I post mostly online on Facebook and Instagram and my online portfolio on shoot proof, the images are very small to moderately sized. I think it depends on the photography you do. If you are being paid a lot of money to do commercial work, for example, perhaps there is a duty to the client to use the sharpest lenses you can get your hands on, even if the client won't notice. Of course some sharpness is absolutely noticeable. Again it depends to what degree.

So what do you think? How important is sharpness for you? And if I may add a side question, how much do you analyze a lenses performance in other areas too such as chromatic aberration and so on. Would you reject a lens or pay a lot more for a lens based on extensive analyzes of them?

J.

 

[chuasam]

Sharpness is important if your images are too boring to stand on their own subject matter merit.
That being said - if you're being paid, it's way easier to retouch a sharp image.

 

[Vtec44]

Sharpness is important, but it's not everything. A lot of times, I would accept slightly blurry images if it tells a story, creates a mood, or generates some sort of emotions.

 

[goodguy]

It really depends of the shot, more then few of my shots get a bit soft and its not a big deal, as said before if the shot is strong enough composition wise then you can get away with some softness in your shot.

 

[runnah]

I can't stand soft images, I feel like a failure. 99% of the time soft images are the fault of the operator, not the equipment.

That said a photo being soft won't ruin a pic but it would be that much better if it wasn't.

 

[Usul]

If I have sharp image I can do it (or parts of image) softer but not vice versa so yes sharpness is important. But of course soft image isn't obligatory bad image.

 

[KenC]

Sometimes people overvalue sharpness, but as others have said, it's better to have it and then be able to do whatever you want with an image than not to have it available.

As you say, other factors like CA are also important, but these all tend to come together. A lens that tests well and is well-reviewed usually is good in all aspects, although there are occasional exceptions.

 

[limr]

Meh. It's nice to have a good sharp lens for when I want that sort of thing.

But yes, I suppose a pro photographer these days should be concerned with it since everyone wants sharpedy sharp sharp in every last damn pixel.

 

[runnah]

Meh. It's nice to have a good sharp lens for when I want that sort of thing.

But yes, I suppose a pro photographer these days should be concerned with it since everyone wants sharpedy sharp sharp in every last damn pixel.

Psh, film users never have a sharp photo.

 

[limr]

Meh. It's nice to have a good sharp lens for when I want that sort of thing.

But yes, I suppose a pro photographer these days should be concerned with it since everyone wants sharpedy sharp sharp in every last damn pixel.

Psh, film users never have a sharp photo.

Sharpness is so bourgeois. We've moved beyond that

 

[TheUniverse]

We are in the age of super sharp. We are also in the age of PhotoShop smoothing when that super sharpness is just too much.

Not that I'm against sharp in some cases. Such as "scientific" shots where getting all the details you can get can be very important. But in other cases, ultra sharpness is just not that important.

And I can think right away of at least one photographer who made a name for himself because/thanks to the softness of his images: David Hamilton.

 

[PaulWog]

For some shots, the sharper the better. For other shots, content reigns supreme and sharpness is almost irrelevant. As I become more experienced, I realize sharpness is less relevant, but I still want the best sharpness possible when I buy gear. I would pay $1350 all over again to double the sharpness of my 150-600, but for other lenses of mine I wouldn't do that. For telephoto, sharpness means extra reach.

Usually sharpness makes a shot look better. But i do have a few shots that I cropped into that ended up with that magazine level of sharpness... The kind that isn't tack but pleasing... The shots would have otherwise looked not as good when tack (a couple are portraits, a few are landscape).

 

[waday]

+1 to all these comments:

Sharpness is important if your images are too boring to stand on their own subject matter merit.

Sharpness is important, but it's not everything. A lot of times, I would accept slightly blurry images if it tells a story, creates a mood, or generates some sort of emotions.

Sometimes people overvalue sharpness

Meh. It's nice to have a good sharp lens for when I want that sort of thing.

For some shots, the sharper the better. For other shots, content reigns supreme and sharpness is almost irrelevant. As I become more experienced, I realize sharpness is less relevant, but I still want the best sharpness possible when I buy gear.

 

[KmH]

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sharpness.htm

To help understand lens quality - http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/lens-quality-mtf-resolution.htm

. . . ultimately nothing beats simply visually inspecting an image on-screen or in a print. After all, pictures are made to look at, so that's all that really matters at the end of the day. . .

 

[Wizard1500]

This discussion is interesting, and shows me just how out of touch I am with modern photography. Back in the '80's, I wouldn't think of photographing a woman without some degree of soft focus filter on my ETRS.....wow, things have changed.....not saying either is better, just things have changed.....