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Driving over the pass on the way to Thanksgiving celebrations, had

to stop for a snap of this

Thanks. The lens is the 24-85 3.5-4.5 G ED. It's been a good all around lens, but I've never found it to be terribly sharp. Lately I've been shooting when I can without any protective filter on the lens. And also trying to focus carefully in the scene (about 1/3 of the way between near and far). Also not using the very small aperatures because of diffraction. In the past, I'd just stop down as far as I could to maximize depth of field, and found that at the smallest aperatures I could really tell the loss of overall sharpness.

I think something else might be going on here with the sharpness. Besides having a heavy hand with the unsharp mask, I think the frost on the scene (it's been below freezing and foggy for days here) may have produced a natural version of unsharp masking. A ridge of white around all the foliage.

Anyhow, I've always felt an old 28-105 (macro) lens I have is a bit sharper. And my 12-24 dx and 80-200 2.8 are both noticeably sharper. Despite that, the 24-85 gets used the most.

Hope that didn't put you to sleep. Thanks for the comments. I edited this on an uncalibrated laptop and look forward to getting home where I can revisit it on a bit better screen.

Mac

Hey Mac, thanks for the info.

I've been really disappointed lately with my 24-85 2.8-4. I don't know if it's gotten out-of-shape so to speak, or it's not focusing properly, or what. I'll have to try your tip about shooting w/o filters and see if that helps. Just today I was reading reviews on zooms in this range in case mine needs replaced. I see what you mean about the frost after looking at this more - cool.

Thanks again for the info - appreciate it.