sharpest lens ever

[E. von Hoegh]

The better is the enemy of the good. E., I see that your French is going too. Yes, Voltaire.

Hey, at my age I'm just happy I can haul my geriatric butt to the desk and remember how to turn this thing on.

[Drew Wiley]

Given the fact that almost no one owns a filmholder which actually holds the film truly flat,
and that people rarely use the optimum f-stop with a view lens, but stop down per plane
of focus considerations, this is a pretty nonsensical discussion. Sharp where - closeup?
Infinity? True apo per color work? What is the subjective definition of subjective??? But
given the lenses I personlly use (Fuji A's, C's, G-Clarons, Nikkor M's, etc), I doubt I'll discover anything "sharper" for field use.

[genotypewriter]

Given the fact that almost no one owns a filmholder which actually holds the film truly flat,
and that people rarely use the optimum f-stop with a view lens, but stop down per plane
of focus considerations, this is a pretty nonsensical discussion.

For all we know the OP maybe using a digital sensor. And I love the irony of talking about film flatness as the more "real" concern. Film flatness is as much an issue as field curvature is. Sure... if there's a lot if it, it's bad but most of the time it doesn't make a difference. And even if you solve the film flatness issue, you can't solve the field curvature issues entirely... does that mean one has to give up photography? Can't we shoot anything other than an in-focus wall?

Sharp where - closeup?
Infinity? True apo per color work? What is the subjective definition of subjective???

Perhaps these are points that you should use to enlighten the OP with instead using them to shoot him down. OP's specifically asking for subjective opinions... you are basically saying he can't ask such questions. Don't you think you're doing the wrong thing here by not informing the moderators then?

[Steve Hamley]

The best lens is the one you've tried and know produces the best images for the type of photography you do, with the film (or sensor) you use, and under the conditions you use it.

Cheers, Steve

[E. von Hoegh]

The best lens is the one you've tried and know produces the best images for the type of photography you do, with the film (or sensor) you use, and under the conditions you use it.

Cheers, Steve

Precisely.

[BrianShaw]

Precisely.

... and accurately.

[E. von Hoegh]

And so we are doubly blessed and this thread can be closed without the mention of Hitler. (Grinning smiley)

Ooops! Oh, crap!

[evan clarke]

Is sharp good? Is sharp eminently important? Do it in Photoshop and you can sharpen it until it's unrecognizable!!!

[paulr]

I also compared 210mm lenses and found that there was basically no difference between my 210 Apo-Sironar-S and 210 Apo-Symmar (non-L). They were both really tack sharp, I couldn't imagine needing more sharpness.

I sweated over which of these to get back when doing my first shopping. I could barely tell the MTF curves of the two lenses apart, so it makes sense that the real world differences would be unimportant. I'd like to get some of that sweat back. Maybe it could be applied to more important things ...

[paulr]

Is sharp good? Is sharp eminently important? Do it in Photoshop and you can sharpen it until it's unrecognizable!!!

Depends on the work you're doing, how you want it to look. For different projects of mine, sharp has been very important, not very important, or somewhere in between.

Sharpening after the fact is helpful but has limits (I'd call unrecognizeability a serious limit ...)