Originally posted by PenPusher You've decided on the focal length you want and waded back and forth through the relevant lens club and finally decided on the version of the lens that's going to make you the greatest photographer ever, even if means remortgaging the house and a divorce and then you think "wonder what the reviews say" so you wander over and read every review and you start getting worried because this guy says this and another says something else and it starts to look like your choice might not be the best so you start sweating bricks are you really going to buy the right one.
Of course this is all subjective and the images you see on screen may not reveal everything you want to know, there has to be some scientific base for comparing lenses that the forum could run. Back in the day when film was king the magazines used to be able to give detailed test results so you could actually have an idea how sharp a lens was in comparison to a known standard, which if I remember correctly was the Zeiss Planar on a selected film.
I do realise that film resolution is one thing and digital another, made all the more complex by the disparity between sensors, screen resolutions, processing programs and you name it.
Following several weeks of sleepless nights you abandon the whole idea and decide to stick with what you have, at least it stops the "what's the matter with you now, you've been going round like a bear with a sore head........................".
From time to time I get told I'm over-thinking it. Do you think this is what you're doing?
Is lens perfection what you seek? There's some validity to that if you need 100% accuracy I guess, but none of my lenses are perfect. Which includes all seven of my Zeiss lenses.
The way I've looked at it is focal length. What appeals to me from researching subjects and images of that subject etc. I then narrow that down to the important bits: what appeals to me and what do I want to do with the lens.
So long as I can capture the images I like I don't care about the imperfections. Sure, my Zeiss Makro Planar 2/100 turns highlights at F2 into a sea of purple fringing, but I'm aware of that and adapt what I'm trying to do to minimise/avoid the problem.
If photography kept me awake at night I don't think I'd be doing it.
Find the lenses you like and just enjoy creating I reckon, but good luck with working it all out.
Tas