Canon 28mm f1.8 sharpness quick test

[kennysarmy]

Tripod mounted and relying on my daughter to position my eye over the focus point

f1.8

f2.0

f2.2

f2.5

f8

and another at f2.5

Canon 40d Av and 100 ISO - light fading at about 7pm this evening...

f1.8 is a little soft but it seems to get sharp pretty quick...

comments anyone?

 

[futureal33]

Looks good from 2.2 upwards IMO

 

[amtaylor]

1.8 would be better but it isnt quite on focus. If you notice the sharpness of the area to the right of the eye and compare it to some of the other shots, that is where the lens is focused in the first picture. It shows a decent amount of detail too in that so pretty good. Thanks for the samples

 

[kennysarmy]

I imagine there will always be some focussing inaccuracies in a test like this comparing single shots at each f stop.
The focus square size was comparable to the whole of my eye when looking through the viewfinder and my eye was at a slight angle to the camera.

Does anyone know how the canon auto-focus system works?
ie does it look for the most contrasty element within the red focus point?

I think if you were printing the full picture at 4*6 you would probably be hard pressed to tell the difference....but it does highlight that if you want maximum sharpness you need to stop down slightly....

 

[amtaylor]

I think if you were printing the full picture at 4*6 you would probably be hard pressed to tell the difference....but it does highlight that if you want maximum sharpness you need to stop down slightly....

Agreed

 

[cuthbert]

I've read reviews of this lens which have stated that it's pretty hopeless wide open, just goes show whilst colour/contrast/sharpness are not optimal the photos are completely usable.

Pretty good for the price I reckon.