Digital BW, The Print

Paul Roark wrote:
>  
> 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 
> 

Paul,

The Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 seems to be a pretty good lens with a decent max 
aperture. I'm certainly thinking of buying it.

Given the quality you can get from digital at EI 1200 or 1600 - 
considerably better than on film - f2.8 is a decent aperture. Though in 
low light I still tend to want to use the 35mm f1.4 on a Leica body - 
nothing from any SLR manufacturer has ever approached a Leica (or Hexar 
RF) for working in really low light. The Leica body and viewfinder is a 
2 stop advantage IMO,

Regards,

Peter


Peter Marshall
photography.about.com
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