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Re: [OM] Olympus lens values?

Subject: Re: [OM] Olympus lens values?
From: jldasch@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 01 Jan 2001 11:15:30 -0800
>>>>> "George" == ClassicVW  <ClassicVW@xxxxxxx> writes:

    George> John, While I haven't followed this thread too closely,
    George> you're being too hard on C.H., IMO. Many qualities of a
    George> lens can be measured scientifically, and for other
    George> qualities it's not so easy to do. Yes, contrast can be
    George> "measured", but if someone feels there's such a thing as
    George> "too much contrast", That's their subjective opinion, and
    George> I may or may not agree, but I know what he's trying to
    George> convey. You are of the position that everything can be
    George> measured and categorized, but it's not that simple in
    George> photography, or someone with the highest intelligence who
    George> buys the most expensive equipment would automatically turn
    George> out the best photographs. 

You logic is a bit flawed on this point.  In fact, the underlying
implication in questioning the objective differences in lenses is that
one is missing the forest for the trees when they get hung up on
miniscule differences in optics.  I know some highly successful
professional photographers and they treat equipment as a necessary
tool of their profession.  Optics, bodies, and formats are chosen
based on an objective assesment of the requirements of the situation.
Each works in a different photographic realm and choses different
equipment.

Photography is almost entirely a function of the person behind the
lens, not the lens.  The choice of film, lighting, exposure, and
printing all have significantly greater impact on the resultant image
than do miniscule differences between good lenses.

    George> You also state that through modern computer codes one can
    George> accurately simullate all characteristics of a lens? Maybe
    George> one can *attempt* to build a lens with certain
    George> characteristics, but there's just too many intangibles,
    George> and most would say that "bokeh" is one of them. So is a
    George> "3D look". These are not hard and fast computer codes,
    George> they're people's subjective opinions on a lens'
    George> performance.  And I also know what he means when he writes
    George> about the "color" of Canon's lenses, and I feel I have
    George> enough experience, and many others do also, with Canon,
    George> Nikon, Olympus, Leica to *generally* *accurately* describe
    George> their characteristics in a blind study, at least more
    George> accurately than guessing.  You're looking at photography
    George> in too much of a numbers crunching way, photography is not
    George> a science, it's an art, and no amount of computer science
    George> or physics can master that.

The lenses are designed with computer codes and within the limitations
of cost and physics it's possible to design a lens to best approach
any set of criteria.  A photographic lens is not that complex as optics
go, certainly the oil immersion confocal objectives we buy are more
demanding (these run up to $15,000).

Again, my point is that the miniscule differences in top lenses are an
insignificant factor in producing photographic art.  You have used
logically inconsistent reasoning to claim that I took a position which
I did not.

-John




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