What lens would you consider the sharpest wide open?

[Darko Pozar]

I love my Kodak Ektar lenses for my 4x5 and 8x10 formats. I have always stopped them down beyond f16 for sharpness and in my opinion they are sharp enough for my liking. What lenses would you consider the sharpest incorporating resolution and contrast at widest open? I would love to photograph with the shallowest DOF.

[Bill_1856]

The Planar or Xenotar for 4x5.

[prendt]

I love my Kodak Ektar lenses for my 4x5 and 8x10 formats. I have always stopped them down beyond f16 for sharpness and in my opinion they are sharp enough for my liking. What lenses would you consider the sharpest incorporating resolution and contrast at widest open? I would love to photograph with the shallowest DOF.

It's like wanting a hot cake on ice. Well, to each its own.

[mdarnton]

How about your Ektars? My 12"/6.3 Ilex Paragon is great wide open, and that's where I most often use it.

[Kevin Crisp]

Due to user error I made an exposure with the Fuji 450C wide open. To my surprised the (badly overexposed) negative was very sharp.

[Jac@stafford.net]

The Planar or Xenotar for 4x5.

I use the 135mm Planar when I can. It has just enough rise to shoot across our wide main streets.

This brings up a question: is it generally true that the sharper nominal-normal lenses have less coverage?

[Bob Salomon]

I use the 135mm Planar when I can. It has just enough rise to shoot across our wide main streets.

This brings up a question: is it generally true that the sharper nominal-normal lenses have less coverage?

No. Witness the Apo Sironar S

Yes. Witness the Apo Ronar.

No. Witness the Apo Macro Sironar.

Yes. Witness the HR Digaron SW.

It all depends on your application.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Thank you, Bob. I was fairly sure that there was no simple answer.

[goamules]

Any slower lens will be sharper wide open. For example, a Protar V. For non-wide angle lenses, a Tessar IIB at F6.3 is sharper than a Tessar IC at F4.5. A Dagor at F6.8 is sharper than most faster lenses, etc.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

An easier question to answer (although still largely in the realm of anecdotal evidence) would be which lens is sharpest at f/2.8, or f4.5, or f/5.6...

I can tell you that at f5.6 my 150mm Sironar-S is sharper than my 150mm Xenotar at f2.8 (which is true), but is that a reasonable comparison? Or perhaps it would be better to say that f5.6 my 150mm Sironar-S is sharper than my 150mm Xenotar at f5.6, (also true). Which do you mean? Or better yet, what f/stop do you want to work at?

If you want shallow depth of field you might be better off looking for a long lens, say a 450mm f/9 than a fast and short lens.