I was thinking today about what makes a good lens? Well, I don’t believe there is a straight answer to that question. I know some photographers think in terms of resolution, sharpness and charts. But I don’t want to take images where everything is sharp, that would be boring to me eventhough I can respect others who do that sort of thing. I don’t believe art can be measured in charts.
My point is what you look for in a lens is subjective, but here is what I like:
- Bokeh
I started of as a painter (and still look upon myself as one eventhough it has been ages since I painted anything). I want soft transitions, a painty feeling. Bokeh is very important to me in a lens. I often try to use the contrast between soft and sharp.
Butterbokeh of tha Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8
- Build quality
My theory is if I like the feeling of the lens, holding it and looking trough it, I will take better pictures becuase I can feel comfortable with the tool. I like the feeling of the lenses I keep, if I don’t like the feel I usually sell it.
Yashica MC Zoom 35-70mm 3.5-4.5
- Speed
A faster f-stop make the viewfinder brighter. This is important if you use manual lenses like I do, brighter viewfinder means easier to focus. But sometimes there can be other reasons – some of my f3.5 lenses give a clearer, brighter viewfinder then others.
Yashica ML 50mm/1.4
- Colours
Contrasty, saturated? Actually I can see the use of most qualities here for different occasions, but I tend to like saturated colours or black and white photographs with good contrast.
Colours of the S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
- Sharpness
Ok. Sometimes I want to make a sharp image to, or at least a part of it.
Waterline with Yashica Zoom
- Peculiarity
Some lenses you just got to love. Like the Industar 50-2, small baby pancake and silly looking. Russian-improved tessar ;) That lens has personality.
Or the Yashinon-DX 50mm/1.7 with it’s silver frontrim, it’s buttery bokeh and sharp details. Made by Tomioka.
I guess the header for this paragraph could also be “personality”.
Industar 50-2 on Zenit ET
My most important factors are build quality, maximum aperture, sharpness, and contrast… so basically most of the stuff in your list! I totally agree that all of these things are important in choosing a lens. Bokeh can be subjective, but I usually don’t fret over it (even when I get big ‘ol pentagons in my photos!).
Hi Brian! Well built lenses can be so fun to use :) About good build, you should check out the Industar, silly little lens but check these pictures out on MfLenses. It is just insane what that little thing can do…