We are lucky to live in a time when modern lenses can open to extreme apertures and somehow still produce sharp images that render every in-focus detail in sharp relief. Can a lens actually be too sharp, though? It seems like an absurd question to ask, but this interesting video makes a great argument for why that can sometimes be the case.
Coming to you from Steve O'Nions, this insightful video discusses why an ultra-sharp lens may not always be the best choice for what you are photographing. While O'Nions' arguments about the character of a lens are certainly worth considering, what really caught my attention was his point about photographing very old architecture. As he discusses, there is something that gives the resultant image a rather anachronistic feel when we use a super-sharp modern lens to render the ruins. If what we are going for is a photo that transports the viewers to the time and space of the subject, perhaps the best way to approach it is not choosing the sharpest possible lens, but rather the one with the character that best matches the viewer's expectation of that subject's appearance and feel. It is definitely something worth thinking about. Check out the video above for O'Nions' full thoughts on the matter.
Beautiful images and something to think about. Thanks & Merry Christmas :)
I personally like lenses with character, not clinical sharpness. It does seem there is as big an obsession with sharpness as there is with the quality of bokeh. Articles on new lenses are always full of these discussions. The main reason I went with Sony was for the excellent Voigtlander E mount lenses.
I think these structures will look fine super sharp to. There are no argument in that video for why I should not use a sharp lens. He himself even did past, this time he is playing with some toy camera.
Best thing was the nice images, I enjoyed that :)
Yes!
I often use the widest aperture when filming. I want thee subject to stand out. And his images mirror the style of imagery I shoot. Lee
Denver Colorado USA
I don't have the budget to buy a bunch of lenses, so the lenses I do buy, I want to have them as sharp as possible. With today's software, it's easy to make a shot look like the lens you used has 'character'. Of course, if you don't like the processing part of photography, then my take on this subject is moot.
His videos are always lovely.
An image can certainly be over sharp, can a lens? The answer is probably yes, but it's a question for someone who knows about lens design.
However, that wasn't really the subject of the video. The point was that a soft lens is an artistic choice; I view pinhole the same way, and the same could be said of film; or wet plate; or a diffusion filter; or a toy camera with a plastic lens.
For example, yesterday, I was shooting portraits on film, with a Rollei. On the other end, I was shooting a river scene, which had grass hanging from trees (from flooding), and I wanted as much sharpness and resolution as I could get. In a day or so, I'll go back and shoot the same river scene in infrared. Then a few days ago, I was shooting flowers on fast vintage glass, wide open, because I was using the defects of the lens as a feature (in terms of softness).
All of these things are artistic choices.
Yes a lens can be too sharp for a specific purpose.
Today's brutally sharp Sony Zeiss lenses are like the old Hasselblad Zeiss lenses. Great for things like architecture, products, automotive work but a bit unforgiving when shooting people, back in the film days I had a softar filter on my 150mm or a Nikon soft filter #1 to take the edge off...we don't need to see every pore or a speck of dust on an eyelash.
Luckily today I can use photoshop to adjust clarity or other techniques to make people look like people.
I have a couple old Nikkors that are much better for people photos. No AF but enough character to make things interesting.
You can always soften a rock-solid sharp lens in any of a dozen ways - in shooting, in processing, in printing, in selective editing
But if you start with a lack of sharpness, you can't find it when you need/want it
True but some people don't particularly want the hassle of softening sharp images with photo software and actually prefer to create most of the image in camera with minimal post processing. I don't particularly care for modern clinical (as in sharp and corrected) lenses but like lenses with character. You can't really alter a lenses character during post processing.
Then only take photos after consuming alcohol
the only time you want an "unsharp" lens is when you're photographing a wedding where both families are universally ugly
preach on....
"Can a lens actually be too sharp, though?"
Depends on what you are shooting but in general no, a lens can never be too sharp.
Actually the Youtuber never asked that question so the title of this 'article' is a bit misleading.
I like my old Minolta Rokkor lenses on my xe3
Very good point i love it.!
No wonder why Hollywood Golden Age portrait are flawless.
Lenses too sharp? Yes for me in most cases specially sports, car racing, wildlife photography but for adults close-up portrait without any make-up! it's really a hard call.