sharpness of lens better at full wide?

[monster]

I have 2 shots of 2 different models sitting in the same chair/same lighting/room/etc.

With one model I am about 6 feet away on a tripod and zoomed in on her face. I was in focus and the background was clearly out of focus.

With the second model I am at full wide and handheld but only about 1 foot away from her face.

The footage while at full wide is much sharper.


So could this be becuse the lens is just sharper at wider settings? (DVX100A)

[GenJerDan]

The wider you go, the greater depth-of-field you will have. That holds true of any camera. Whether the lens itself has better resolution at wider settings, I don't know. But more will be in focus, yea or nay. :)

[Monglane]

Quite a few years back, before the age of digital photography, it was widely agreed that SLR lenses had better resolution if you stopped them down to f/5.6 or 8. I would think this is still true today, because the laws of optics haven't changed--but I'm no authority on the subject !

[monster]

The wider you go, the greater depth-of-field you will have. That holds true of any camera. Whether the lens itself has better resolution at wider settings, I don't know. But more will be in focus, yea or nay. :)


I am not tallking about depth of field. I am talking about her face. Her face was in focus but not as sharp as the other shot where the lens was a full wide.

[khmuse]

For most lens stopping down from full open will usually be sharper. It is possible that for a specific lens this isn't the case, but this would be unusual. In your examples, is it possible that one shot was simply better focused than the other?

[Policar]

I find the lens to be softer at wide open. Maybe it was just out of focus? I think f4 should be sharpest, just because "a stop or two past wide open" is generally considered the sweet spot of a lens.

[Barry_Green]

Quite a few years back, before the age of digital photography, it was widely agreed that SLR lenses had better resolution if you stopped them down to f/5.6 or 8. I would think this is still true today, because the laws of optics haven't changed--but I'm no authority on the subject !
The DVX lens is sharpest at around f/4.8 to f/11. It loses a little the more you open it up, but even at wide open it still retains 90% of its maximum potential sharpness. Stopping down to F/16 or below (there are two increments below f/16) can really, REALLY cause a loss of sharpness.

[GenJerDan]

I am not tallking about depth of field. I am talking about her face. Her face was in focus but not as sharp as the other shot where the lens was a full wide.

Depends. DOF doesn't just refer to subject/background. It also means the tip of the model's nose vs the bridge of the model's nose.

[HybridCreations]

You had 2 models sitting in a room and you wanna talk about FOCUS????:)

[Steward]

That's what I was thinking...!!!