How to tell if you have a bad copy or just bad expectations?

urbeker · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 8

I recently got my hands on a 28mm f2.8 zuiko for my 350d. I was excited having been confined to my modern 1.4/50mm and more recently a czj 135mm, I was looking forward to the wider angle. I took some great portraits and was pleased with the results. Then I tried some landscapes and I was disappointed. It hadn't been sharp at 2.8 for the portaits - that was expected - but with the landscapes at f8 it still seemed very soft and much softer at those distances at 2.8.

I can't decide whether it's a bad lens or my inexperience with the focal length and how sharp it should be. I tried testing the sharpness against my kit lens and it was fractionally better but not really noticeably. My 50mm at f2 is sharper than the 28mm at f8 and that can't be right, can it?

I'm away from the computer with my shots so I can't post any examples right now but I would appreciate any input.

ManualFocus-G · Expire: 2014-11-24

urbeker · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 8

I didn't do any landscape comparisons as I only brought the 28mm with me. I actually didn't do a direct comparison with the 50mm and should really take that comment back. I don't think I was focusing past infinity but it is a possibility.

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

on the 350d you don't have liveview and it is difficult to make precise focus
kit lens are often as good as prime because they are optimized for crop sensor

Lena · Joined: 24 Apr 2012 Posts: 495 Location: Pl

Do you have focus confirmation in your D350? Sometimes it tends to cheat with some lenses. My D90 permanently does so, especially with non-Nikon lenses via adapters. If you try the lens out a bit more, you will know if this might be the case with your camera.

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7554 Location: Hong Kong

I had been using 350D for my manual lens for sometime. I cannot focus well even I have a magnifier attached to the view finder. After I changed to NEX-5N, the photo taken by same lens is much sharper especially on fast primes. A cheap NEX-3 or NX100 should be good enough if you have tight budget. Wink

urbeker · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 8

After some further experimentation, it turns out the lens is actually pretty sharp when used for the same sorts of compositions that I use with my more tele-lenses and the problem was I was expecting to get the same kind of sharpness with landscapes. Anyway lesson learned staring at 100% crops of a new lens and then trying to compare apples to oranges is a bad idea.