Sharpest lens under $600.00

[david israel]

<p>I was wondering what is the sharpest lens out there under $600.00? I know what is sharp in the "L" series/high end stuff. Just want to know what people out there think and what is everyone's opinion?<br>

Thanks!</p>

[angel_bocanegra]

<p>Sharpest what? wide open, three F stops above the widest, zoom, prime... Pretty much every lens is sharp at some point. Trick is to find its sweet spot and learn how to properly expose for maximum sharpness.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Probably the EF 50 2.5 CM: tack sharp across the frame wide open to F22 with my 5DII. The EF 85 1.8 USM is a distant 2nd as it needs to be stopped down a bit and never nails the corners. The EF 35 2.0, 24 2.8, 28 2.8 and 50 1.8 are not too far behind: decent wide open but are sweetest a stop or so in.</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>How about the sharpest lens for $100. The 50mm f/1.8</p>

<p>Are you asking b/c you are interested in seeing the differing opinions or are you in the market for a lens and want to know what is good? If you want to buy, then we should have more info about what you shoot to help you decide. If you just want to opinions for the sake of discussion, then disregard this paragraph.</p>

[Alex]

<p>EF 100 mm F2.8<br>

EF 50 mm F1.4<br>

EF 80mm F1.8<br>

EF 70/200 mm F4</p>

[Charles_Webster]

<p>EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro</p>

<p>One of the sharpest lenses I've used in 45 years of shooting.</p>

<p><Chas><br /></p>

[chrisnielsen]

<p>Lotsa lenses are sharp. What are you going to use it for?</p>

[buffdr_rasouliyan]

<p>EF 100 mm F2.8 Macro<br>

EF 70/200 mm F4</p>

[jack_nordine]

<p>For crop bodies, definetly the 60mm 2.8 macro. For full frame, 100mm 2.8 (non IS), 100mm 2.0 and the 50mm 2.5 CM.</p>

[ben_goren]

<p>Here’s another vote for the 50 macro. Damned fine lens.</p>

 

<p>Cheers,</p>

 

<p>b&</p>

[Andy Collins]

<p>I'd say the 85/1.8; super sharp with great build quality.</p>

[anov]

<p>Our own Bob Atkins tabulated that here:<br>

<a href="http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/best_canon_eos_lenses.html">http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/best_canon_eos_lenses.html</a></p>

[mneace]

<p>My vote is the EF 100mm F.28 Marco. The EF 50mm F1.4 is nice, but it's not as nice as that macro lens. At least not my copies of the two anyway.</p>

[nigel_craig]

<p>My 50/2.5 Macro is soft on one side of the frame and is only sharp across the whole frame stopped down to about f8</p>

[mneace]

<p>Bob needs to update the prices on that lens review. </p>

[gabriel_l1]

<p>I haven't vetted all of these, but I have difficulty imagining a sharper lens than my 60mm f/2.8 macro.</p>

[mark_pierlot]

<p>The sharpest cheaper EF lens I've used is the 50/1.4. In fact, stopped down a bit it's one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used at any price point.</p>

[KenPapai]

<p>I'll be the 3rd to mention the EF 85 1.8 -- It costs under $400 and is a *<strong>superb</strong>* lens. A lens I hope Canon never changes because it's perfect. However, you still have to pay extra to get the lens hood.</p>

[g dan mitchell]

<p>Odd question, especially if you contemplate using this information to make a purchase. If that is your plan, this question needed to <em>follow</em> a few other far more important questions:</p>

<ol>

<li>What focal lengths are you looking for?</li>

<li>Zoom or prime?</li>

<li>What are your needs regarding apertures?</li>

<li>What will you shoot?</li>

<li>What will you do with the photographs? (Large prints? on-screen jpgs?)</li>

<li>Given that there are many very "sharp" lenses, will you only consider the "sharpest?" Why?</li>

<li>If lens A is sharper in the center at f/4 but lens B is sharper in the corners at f/11, which do you regard as sharper for your purposes?</li>

</ol>

<p>Having the very "sharpest" wrong lens could be a huge mistake and a waste of your money, especially if you don't really shoot or print in a way in which these tiny increments of sharpness difference would turn out to be remotely visible.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<blockquote>

<p>

 

<p ><a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=304507">Nigel Craig</a> <a href="http://www.photo.net/member-status-icons"></a>writes</p>

 

<p>My 50/2.5 Macro is soft on one side of the frame and is only sharp across the whole frame stopped down to about f8</p>

 

 

</p>

</blockquote>

You have a defective one. You should take it to Canon for alignment. My old EF 70-200 L was exactly like that: blurry on left side and and needed to be stopped down to F8. Canon aligned it for free although out of warranty and it was tack sharp wide open at F4.

[alan_green4]

<p>the two sharpest lenses i know of are the 135 f2 and 60 2.8 macro. only the 60 is below $600.</p>

<p>ps - to me, the 60 is sharper than the 135, even wide open</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I think that in terms of subjective opinions, many, if not most, people have some sort of drum to beat. One lens or another is either their pet or their pet peeve.</p>

<p>If you want more objective data, the Photozone.de <a href="http://www.photozone.de/all-tests">site</a> does about as well as anybody in showing measured tests of "sharpness" and other lens variables such as vignetting, distortion, etc. They have tested a smaller group of Canon lenses on 35mm sensors than on APS-C, but if you have an APS-C body, pretty much anything you'd be interested in has been covered at one time or another.</p>

<p><em>Sharpness</em> , in any case is something that has a number of different dimensions (e.g, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accutance">acutance</a> , <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_resolution">resolution</a> , overall contrast, and others). As Angel pointed out, a lens may be crappy wide open and excellent at f/8.0 and, more rarely, vice versa.</p>

<p>Moreover, lenses do vary from one sample to another (as some Photozone reviews show), so a lens may <strong>generally</strong> be superb, but any one example (inevitably, one would think, the one YOU buy) may be poorly centered or have other flaws.</p>

[bob_himmelright]

<p>sigma 70mm f2.8 macro....surprising but true.</p>