sharpest lens ever

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Lenses are, for the most part, designed to do specific things. No lens will perform "the best" in all situations. Photographing something flat and don't want distortion? Use a dialyte (Artar, Ronar) or plasmat (G-Claron, Fujinon-A) designed for reproduction work. Want something with a fast aperture? Use a planar (Xenotar, Planar). Landscapes? Try a general-purpose plasmat (Sironar, Symmar, Fujinon-W) or maybe a tessar (Xenar, Nikon-M). Anyhow, as mentioned before nearly all modern lenses will be diffraction-limited by or before f22.

There are no silver bullets here, so don't listen to anyone who offers to sell you one.

[sinhof]

I read, that there was question about sharpest lences. My 3 CZ:s are such ones. My best lences for general purpose are Super Symmar HM:s, for close up-working they are G-Clarons and Apo-Ronars. For portraits with orthofilms they are Bistigmats and Hermagis. Because, there is not one "the best", I have ten or more "best lences" for their own purposes.

[E. von Hoegh]

Brian, you may be right about the OP. With n = 2 (this thread and the one he started on problems with a 135 Optar), we can't make any objective decisions. Subjective, yes.

I wish posters would stop asking "what's best?" when their real question is "what will perform well enough and fit my budget?" The two questions are very different.

The best is the enemy of the good. Voltaire?

[Dan Fromm]

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

The good enough is the enemy of the better.

sinhof, your information about lens quality is out of date. I adore my little 38/4.5 Biogons and see no reason to replace the one I shoot or the spare, but there are now better lenses in that focal length. So is your information about who made what. f/4.5 Biogons were made by Carl Zeiss (BRD), not by CZJ (DDR).

[John Kasaian]

Get a dozen lenses of the same make & model and send them off to a lab for testing. Keep the sharpest and send the rest back.
OK, thats not what you wanted to hear.
There are plenty of lenses that are justly famous for being sharp. If you do your part none of them should dissapoint you.

[Mark Stahlke]

Getting back to the original question, the Apo-Grandagon 55mm, SSXL 110mm, and Fujinon-C 300mm are, in my opinion, the best lenses in my 4x5 kit.

[Brian C. Miller]

The sharpest lens is the one that just broke and glass shards are all over the floor.
The best color rendition is your blood after you've cut yourself picking up the pieces.

[Jim Galli]

Oh sweet Jesus. One of these questions.

8 1/4" late Red Dot Apo-Artar. Diffraction limited. It didn't make my pictures one teensy bit better.

Petzval. I'll sell you a 210 RD Artar. Major Silver Bullet Lens!! You can perform black magic with one of these. Zoom in from outer space and count hairs on a persons head.

[Armin Seeholzer]

Hi my favs are 240mm APO Sironar S, APO Skopar 450mm
My favs in Bokeh are 1. APO Skopar 2. Xenar 480mm 3. Universal Heliar
My favs in 3D look is Universal Heliar!

The sharpness is maybe the less important of the 3, because all lenses are at around f22 very sharp if they are in good working order and never where dropped.

Cheers Armin

[E. von Hoegh]

Petzval. I'll sell you a 210 RD Artar. Major Silver Bullet Lens!! You can perform black magic with one of these. Zoom in from outer space and count hairs on a persons head.

Actually, the central zone of a good Rapid-Rectilinear or an Aplanat is pretty damn sharp. And I have a 16 1/2 inch Artar which covers 8x10 and is therefore four times as good as the 8 1/4" (winking smiley)