Digital BW, The Print

Clayton,


> ... my question to Paul was not
> theoretical.  I'm asking him what has been his practical experience so
> far.  


I did some shooting with the Rebel XT, comparing the 18 - 55mm zoom that
comes with it to my old 50mm f1.8 standard Canon EF (cheap but very good)
lens.  In the lab, the resolution tests made it appear the zoom was about as
good as the 50mm.  In actual photos today, the 50mm looked significantly
better.  The 50mm was very good at f4 and excellent from f5.6 on.  The zoom
could only match the 50mm at the center at f11.  

The real problem with the zoom was at the edges, especially in the dark
greenery.  The best the zoom could do at the edges was not as good as the
50mm at f2.8. I'm not sure why it looked so much worse in the field than
lab.  I suspect higher flare contributed to wiped out the shadow details.

So, I've made a full circle on the lenses.  I'm back to wishing my 24mm
Sigma worked.  I may buy a 24 Canon, and use it and my 50mm.  It doesn't
look like using the cheap zoom is going to be a fair test of what an 8 mp
camera can do.  I would not consider a cheap zoom for my film use, so why
should digital be any different?  (I'm not totally anti zoom.  My 50 - 200 L
and Fuji Zi zooms are outstanding.  I'm not, however, ready to drop $800 for
the 10 - 22 until I'm more convinced this digital approach is going to
satisfy me.)

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com