John,
While I haven't followed this thread too closely, you're being too hard on
C.H., IMO. Many qualities of a lens can be measured scientifically, and for
other qualities it's not so easy to do. Yes, contrast can be "measured", but
if someone feels there's such a thing as "too much contrast", That's their
subjective opinion, and I may or may not agree, but I know what he's trying
to convey. You are of the position that everything can be measured and
categorized, but it's not that simple in photography, or someone with the
highest intelligence who buys the most expensive equipment would
automatically turn out the best photographs. It's just not that mechanical.
You also state that through modern computer codes one can accurately
simullate all characteristics of a lens? Maybe one can *attempt* to build a
lens with certain characteristics, but there's just too many intangibles, and
most would say that "bokeh" is one of them. So is a "3D look". These are not
hard and fast computer codes, they're people's subjective opinions on a lens'
performance.
And I also know what he means when he writes about the "color" of Canon's
lenses, and I feel I have enough experience, and many others do also, with
Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Leica to *generally* *accurately* describe their
characteristics in a blind study, at least more accurately than guessing.
You're looking at photography in too much of a numbers crunching way,
photography is not a science, it's an art, and no amount of computer science
or physics can master that.
George S.
jldasch@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<< There is no point in arguing rationally with someone who choses
irrationality as their basis for interpreting the world. Contrast can
certainly be measured, it is a measure of optical scattering (noise).
This contrast is very different from the contrast provided by film and
paper.
<< I would venture that given top lenses from the top manufacturers that
in a scientifically based double blind study very few of the more
nebulous characteristics you mention ("color of Canon", "3D look")
could be discerned. (statistically valid differentiation vs. random
guessing) This would be true even if the test subjects were chosen
from those who espouse the "3D look" or other ill-defined
characteristics.
Classical optics is an old and well understood area of physics. It is
precisely this that allows the manufacturers to design their optics.
With modern computer codes it is possible to accurately simulate all
characteristics of a lens, including the imaging of out of focus
areas, which you feel ("bokeh") can not be measured.
>>
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|