Digital BW, The Print

Paul,

I think your criticism is simply of the particular Canon shift lens you 
own, and unfair in that you are talking of using it for something it was 
not designed for. For years I shot almost everything I took on 35mm on 
an Olympus shift lens, and it was an excellent performer, sharp into the 
corners even at full shift. Just a pity it doesn't fit on my Nikon.

There are a lot of reviews that do seem to show the 'sweet spot' 
argument is a good one, and also of course using lenses with a larger 
images circle gives less vignetting, which is more of a problem with 
digital than it ever was on film.

However the main point of some of the reviews is that some lenses 
designed for film are not capable of getting the best out of some 
digital cameras (even full-frame digital.) This is true of some very 
expensive glass that performs well on film. Lens designers do usually 
now claim to be designing for digital, and this does seem to mean 
something, not just marketing talk.

Although the lack of a mirror made it possible to design great 
wide-angles for rangefinders (and I'm a great fan of some of these, with 
a 15mm, 21mm, 24mm and 28mm that are great as well as an 'interesting' 
35mm f1.4) unfortunately they don't seem to suit digital cameras.

Regards

Peter Marshall
petermarshall@...     +44 (0)1784 456474
31 Budebury Rd, STAINES, Middx, TW18 2AZ, UK
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Paul Roark wrote:

>>... The advantage of only using the 'sweet spot' 
>>area of the lens is clear, ...
>>    
>>
>
>I think this is a bogus argument that is used mostly as a way to sell
>obsolete lenses to digital camera owners.  For a given price point and all
>else being equal, the larger the image circle, the poorer the lens will be.
>One doesn't get something for nothing.  Covering more area requires more of
>an optical design, not to mention heavier, larger lenses.
>
>Likewise, the need in the full-frame cameras to keep the rear element away
>from the mirror requires a greater sensor to lens space than the smaller
>digital sensors require.  This is significant for wide angle lenses.  One
>reason many prefer rangefinder cameras is that their symmetrical-design wide
>angle lenses are better than the retro-focus SLR lenses.  True, with digital
>we may be stuck with retro-focus due to the problem of more light fall-off
>caused by the sensors when the light angle gets too low, but the old
>full-frame clearance distance is probably way more than optimal when one is
>balancing all the factors that must be considered in the design.
>
>For example, I'm a big fan of the Canon tilt and shift lenses, but that big
>image circle and radical retro-focus design makes the 24 and even 45mm TS
>lenses weaklings when it comes to resolution, etc.  My 45 TS is an expensive
>lens, and it's the poorest lens I've used on the Rebel -- visibly inferior.
>
>Paul
>www.PaulRoark.com 
>
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