Who says the 35/f2 has no magic?

Photomonkey wrote:

TRIODEROB wrote:

absquatulate wrote:

TRIODEROB wrote:

absquatulate wrote:

It's just rendering, only the photo creates any magic, the lenses is just a tool to assist in image creation. I understand the enthusiasm for some lenses, and that in itself can motivate us to go and take more images, and once in a while come up with something we love, but in reality it's only us that can make the magic happen.

what if I could show you where highly trained professional optical engineers from germany and japan are not in agreement with this statement ?

It's not a statement from an optical engineer's perspective, it's a statement from photographer's perspective.

would you find it interesting information ?

Go for it....

the 35 1.4 is very close to this design

here is what Zeiss has to say about it:

"The C-SONNAR T* 1.5/50 ZM is a very special lens; based on a classical lens design concept from the 1930´s. .... This lens ‘draws’ your subject in a fine, flattering manner and is therefore ideally suited for portraiture. It renders a sharpness that is slightly rounded, being less aggressive than in contemporary lens designs..."

That is marketing speak for "We didn't know how to make lenses as sharp as we can today".

"sharpness that is slightly rounded". Really? What does that even mean? I presume it is in contrast to the squarish sharpness that is all the rage? Or are we moving on to trapezoidal sharpness this year?

There is sharpness and there is contrast. Tightly related in the subjective evaluation of an image. Aberrations add to the mix but in simple terms sharpness is objective as is contrast. The amount and proportion of each renders the image and thus the subjective appreciation of the image.

Then we have the crowd that notes a good macro lens is "too sharp for portraiture". I think I prefer the lens that is "too sharp" to the one that is "too soft" for photography.

you can say what ever you want but the 1.4 gives the look I want and Fuji knows what they are doing

the F2 on the other hand lacks the magical rendering

here are a few of mine from yesterday