Digital BW, The Print

On 9/6/02 6:56 PM, "Jerry Olson" <jerryolson@...> wrote:

> Leica and Contax lenses once were the best in the world. That's no
> longer true. Today, several lenses can and do produce sharper images
> than Leitz. The Canon 3.5 Macro lens was judged by popular photography
> to be the sharpest lens they ever tested. It recieved their A+ rating at
> 16x24 inches. I own the lens, and I have had many leica and contax
> lenses in my photo career. This Canon macro lens is indeed the sharpest
> lens I have ever owned for 35mm Photography. The second best was the
> Leitz Elmarit 90mm. It beat out the 90mm Summicron, and I was very
> surprised at that! Today, most pro lenses are so close to each other in
> quality, that for all practical purposes I don't think it really makes
> much of a difference which brand you own.  But 30 years ago, it was
> Leica and Contax, no doubt. I cannot imagine any current pro lens that
> couldn't make an incredibly sharp 11x14" print. And my D60 can certainly
> equal any of these cameras at 11x14 inches.

My main preference for M series is size...they are tiny in comparison to SLR
lenses.  Four lenses  (15mm, 28mm, 50mm, 75mm) a camera and a light meter in
a pack smaller than a lunch box.  My digital SLR and my 14mm wide angle
won't fit in the same bag.  I agree that with the evolving lens market there
is less difference than there used to be.

Robert