Originally posted by ukbluetooth Maybe you can accuse me of pixel peeping but I have been trying to ascertain how sharp my K10D is with a variety of lenses (in particular the sigma 10-20) - and I am stuck.
How sharp is sharp? How do you judge? How much do you magnify the image to judge? Is it all subjective? What should I compare it with? Are there any standards?
Obviously I am lost in a maze. Any help would be appreciated.
Sharp is very subjective in one sense, and objective in another. The subjective sharp is that as long as the printed/displayed image is sharp to you, the lens is sharp. This will depend highly on how large the final product is.
I am coming to the conclusion that with my K10D, I can bring an image shot at the lower ISOs to 20x30 inches (or the equivalent magnification cropped). However, some of the lenses in this world will not support that degree of enlargement, which is why you see some rather expensive glass in my signature.
My personal opinion is that the K10D is lens limited for my purposes. If you only want to update your Flickr site with pics so the family cn see them, you will be perfectly happy with a lens that focuses and exposes correctly, and costs a whole lot less than my DA series of lenses, the least expensive of which cost me about C$700.
I realize that this does not even come close to answering our question, but that is because only you, in the end, can answer it. I don't pixel peep, but I do examine corners with detail to see the enlargement I can get away with.