The recent launch of Fujifilm GFX100RF has made a lot of debate in the photography community. Many Fujifilm fans were disappointed with the decision to equip the camera with a certain F/4 lens instead of a sharp option like F/2.8 or even F/2. This backlash mixed me thinking this: Does a sharp lens always make a camera better? And even more important, does it help us create a better image? The more I think about it, the more I realize that passion with comprehensive aperture cannot be beneficial for visual output, but rather to roast the rights that often ignore important businesses.
As a commercial hospitality and industrial photographer, I am not immune to the attraction of fast lenses, especially when shooting of lifestyle work. Like lens Zes Oats SeriesDesigned to give excellent performance on maximum aperture, indisputably attractive. However, when financial, practical and creative trade-bands weigh, I chose to accept the agreement. What is the puzzle of me, which is the number of photographers, who insist on shooting everything on a wide possible aperture – even to the extent of hugging the old lens with defects contained as “character” or “nostalgia”.
No one denies that there are advantages of fast lenses, such as allowing more light in the sensor and getting a shallow depth of the area. But in fact, we do not need them for the vast majority of shots. Creating an image with a blurred background to separate a subject is very good to reduce distractions, but sometimes maintains the reference to the background distinguishes a skilled photographer. In other words, the depth of the area should be used intentionally, and having a lens with a wide aperture does not automatically improve an image. In fact, it can introduce shortcomings such as low sharpness, high costs and optical disaster, which can lead to a set of practical and creative boundaries.
TeaThat practical trade-off
All the factors of the lens are the same, increasing its cost and weight directly affecting the maximum aperture of a lens. And despite the price premium, there is almost no guarantee of better performance in turn. In fact, slow lenses are often easy to design for optimal acumen and improvement. A well -designed f/2.8 lenses can perform better in corners, especially in corners, especially in corners with a f/1.2 lens. Practically, by the time you close to f/5.6, there may be not much difference between the two lenses. If anything, fast lens may experience a decline in performance as it was probably designed to use in broad aperture. This means, for the rest of the time, you will be carrying excess weight and costs for a minimum benefit.
Leica is a prime example of this price-demonstration trade-band. His 50mm lens lineup is more than $ 10,000 for a f/0.95 for a f/2.4 – a shocking price jump! And there is weight and wholesale with an increase in that cost. If there is ease of portability and use, a slow lens may be a smart option.
I am not an optical engineer, but after using a variety of lenses from different brands, I have understood that the lens design is about all balance. Rapid lenses often introduce optical challenges such as less sharp, colorful aberrations, edge tenderness and deformity are used. To make up for these flaws, manufacturers will add corrective glass elements, which at the end make the lens heavily and more complex. This usually causes more lens variation, where some copies can perform better than others. Being said, a well -designed f/2.8 lens can make a f/1.2 lens faster and in contrast, especially in corners. And the benefits of a broader aperture lens can quickly reduce when you start weight of professionals and opposition. It is difficult to justify the increase in cost on something that we do not use often.
Beyond the image quality, fast lenses also come up with the purpose trade. The focus on F/1.2 is much more difficult than as it seems. The underlying shallow depth of the region demands extreme focus accuracy, and all corrective glass linked weight can also motivate the autofocus system to struggle and slow down the elements that focus. In other words, it is very difficult to practically hit and achieve 100% capacity of the lens, which you may think that shallow focal aircraft with exaggerated modern memories, with accurate focus on a sharp lens. Potential focus in the equation add shift issues, and things can be even more difficult. And let’s not forget practicality. If you have ever tried to shoot at f/1.2 in a bright day’s light, you will know that an ND filter is definitely an essential accessory to prevent overaxper.
Creative limits
Let’s be real: A fast lens is an expert device. Its real advantage is actually felt only when a broad openly used with the subject and a distant background, which creates an image with that creamy, Swapnil Bokeh background. However, you are losing a lot of benefits where reference can be brought to your creation through storytelling, especially when everything in the background is out of attention and unknown.
Some of the subjects such as landscape, architecture and group shots will benefit more deeply in the region. While everything can be aesthetically pleasing photos as a result of the shooting of the wide open, they can be considered as the necessary expansion and depth deficiency for the work of the composition, which limits your creative execution – which makes your image weak in the visual narrative, although it can still be satisfactory to see.
It is being said, there are many real -world scenes in our daily life that will not benefit from the extreme depth of the separation of the region. For example, when a subject and background is close together, or when a subject is too far and flat. Keeping this reference in mind, there is a dilemma here: after having a sharp lens that you are going to use wide open all the time, will creately limit your approach, then why is it in the first place?
final thoughts
A sharp lens has its own place, especially in low-light conditions or when subject isolation is important. But this does not mean that it is always Right tool deploy. If you often find yourself stopping your fast lenses f/2.8 or small, ask yourself: Do you really need that f/1.2 glass? Or is it another case of chasing glasses to bragging rights instead of choosing the best equipment for jobs?
What are your thoughts? Have you ever found yourself choosing a slow lens on a fast? let’s discuss.
