sharp lens?

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

Veteran
I have the 24-105mm 4.0 and 50mm 2.8. I'm shooting on the Canon 5d mkIII

What would be a good prime lens to add to what I have to give me a bit more sharper image? Thanks
 
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Pretty much anything. Those are decent lenses you have - but they are NOT known for great sharpness.

But you have to narrow it down for us a bit first.

1. - do you want a wide lens? A telephoto lens? Or a medium lens like your 50mm?

2. - how much can you spend on ONE lens? There are good options at $300 and there are good options at $3,000. Narrow the price range down for us too.

3. - can the lens be manual? Or do you need it to have autofocus?
 
I'm assuming your are reffering to the 50 1.8 (not 2.8). Those lenses can be pretty sharp when closed down. They are pretty soft wide open. The 50mm closed down past 3.5 is very sharp. If you are feeling like it isn't sharp enough then perhaps it's more in your sensor's resolving power than in your lenses.

Some lenses that are among the sharpest out there are as follows:
Sigma 50 1.4 Art (to replace your 50)
Canon 24-70 f4 (to replace your 24-105)
Sigam 35 1.4 Art
Canon 100mm Macro 2.8 (L or non L series)
Canon 135 F2
Canon 300 f2.8 II
Canon 70-200 II
 
If you are trying to get a sharper lens for video on the 5D, I think you are actually dealing with the limitations of the camera itself. There are very few lenses that aren't broken that have less resolving power than video from the 5D. An image tends to look sharper if there is a limited depth of field, however, so a nice, cheap fast lens like the 50 1.8 or 85 1.8 can really help make the image pop. I also think replacing the 24-105 f/4 with an f/2.8 zoom would make you happier with the result when shooting wide open. Then, just add sharpening in camera or in post.
 
cpreston said:
If you are trying to get a sharper lens for video on the 5D, I think you are actually dealing with the limitations of the camera itself. There are very few lenses that aren't broken that have less resolving power than video from the 5D. An image tends to look sharper if there is a limited depth of field, however, so a nice, cheap fast lens like the 50 1.8 or 85 1.8 can really help make the image pop. I also think replacing the 24-105 f/4 with an f/2.8 zoom would make you happier with the result when shooting wide open. Then, just add sharpening in camera or in post.
Click to expand...

i completely agree with you about the limitations of the 5DkIII as to seeing more sharpness.

when i shoot my 5DkIII (not often anymore) i try not to shoot wide and establishing type of scences but rather tighter shots where i can engage some shallow DOF. the illusion seems to be that when one small area of the shot is in focus by point of contrast to the OOF areas it does feel more sharp "because" of the in and out of focus areas.

david
 
Question is.... Do you need wider apertures? I hate going below 3.5 / 4 on stills lenses because the focus roll is so sensitive that I risk missing focus on moving subjects.
So I would be perfectly happy with a 4.0 lens if it is sharp.......
 
With the discussion of sharpness and the 5DIII, I have to ask. Are you shooting RAW on the 5DIII? Does it fit your work flow at all?

I haven't had a chance to shoot RAW on the 5DIII, but I understand the quality is fantastic. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit my workflow right now, I'd love to give it a try if I could work that way.

Good luck!
 
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