[stevebrot]

However, is this whole sharpness thing overrated?

Agreed...the photo below is soft overall, but I like it and so do the people I have shown it to and because of that, I am quite satisfied.




Steve

(Jupiter-9 at f/2.8...what can I say )

[stevebrot]

Woodworkers have a term for extreme sharpness - scary sharp

As in "fingers on the floor" sharp?


Steve

[stevebrot]

Isn't using a DSLR with MLU basically turning it into a mirrorless camera?

The text in the originally linked forum post basically says just that.


Steve

[stevebrot]

From your profile pic I didn't think beard trimming was a concern

Oh...there is quite a bit of maintenance involved with such a beard. The gardening analogy is topiary.


Steve

[Madaboutpix]

Image #1: Tack-sharpness plus bokeh on a budget (okay, lens-wise) - full-res image here: Twister - Marc

Image #2: Tack-sharp with less-than-latest-generation body (but shot from a tripod, w/ Mirror Lock-up, and a serious lens) - full-res image here: Country life - Marc

I trust both would yield satisfying large prints. Now, if they were even sharper than they already are, would I be proportionally happier? And what would I have to invest to get there? A case of diminishing returns, I guess.

[HoutHans]

I have to day that, as a woodworker, I like my tools scary sharp. This simply provides better control and yields better results (and if you cut yourself the wound is cleaner and heals quicker). The analogy with sharp scissors or chisels doesn't really worm. For photography as well as woodworking there is an important role for a lack of sharpness. Some corners in the things I make have to be at an exact angle and need to be sharp. However, I may not want all of the corners of furniture I make to be 'tack sharp'. So for me the whole sharpness thing is fairly nonsensical in the abstract. Sharpness has its function in images, just as the lack of it. For the afficionados, we could coin the term 'pixel splitting sharp'.

[ddharriman]

Madaboutpix

Nice dog.

[Madaboutpix]

Nice dog.

Yeah, he is. Name's Twister. Love him more than I probably should. Alsatian-Podenco mix. Was found with his puppy siblings abandoned in a cardboard box somewhere in Spain. Got him from a shelter in my home region.

Little photo-shy. The poor thing at first used to be too shy to cross a bridge in fact, but when I persevere enough, I manage to get the occasional shot. Full-res here: https://needacreate.smugmug.com/Twister/i-dxC9Bk6

[LensBeginner]

Yeah, he is. Name's Twister. Love him more than I probably should. Alsatian-Podenco mix. Was found with his puppy siblings abandoned in a cardboard box somewhere in Spain. Got him from a shelter in my home region.

Little photo-shy. The poor thing at first used to be too shy to cross a bridge in fact, but when I persevere enough, I manage to get the occasional shot.

You never know why they are shy about something in particular...
The dog a friend of mine had was scared senseless of trucks... turns out that before being found and brought to the kennel (where said friend adopted her), she was abandoned by the roadside on a motorway...