What does it mean: This Lens is Soft

ChasCS

You can buy a great program from Reallusion, that is made specifically for touching up the face...

Face Filter Three

Make Your Misses, look the way you want her to, too.
& Thee vane Mr. Too... Smile ;-)

Eh @Golf, thanks man!!...

Photobug

PitchBlack, sure not my preferred type of pictures. I want more sharpness than what is shown in these.

Msmoto

I do not find Emily Soto my cup of tea. While I do not have a problem with the sharpness issue, there are other things I find less than desirable.

Golf007sd

I think that if you look in the pages of a lot of fashion magazines, you'll see many soft photos....Canon with a 50mm/1.2 almost always at f1.2 and she almost never nails the focus.....he sort of thought about it and said that he probably relied too much on tech.

So yeah, while I love sharpness, I think it's not the be all and end all of a lens. I've started liking the 58/1.4 more and more even though it's not sharp.

@donaldejose, TTJ and PitchBlack: Thanks for your contribution and in your own way making my point; in that, just because an image is not "sharp" it does not make the lens or the photo, irrelevant or not appealing.

The fashion in which the photographer finally chooses to share his or her photo with the public at large is what counts. Hence, we do not always need to see every eyelash or pimple on a skin for the image to be labeled "acceptable."

Having a "sharp" lens has it place, no question about that, but so often I feel that buyers so easily reject or label a lens not worthy of acquisition due to the whole argument of being "soft" for this or that. Hence, relying to much on tech and not one's creativity.

Side bar: I have've had the pleasure of shooting with the Canon 50 1.2, it is a very sharp lens, but only if used properly (Note: not saying Emily doesn't know how too). A friend of mine has one and he could not figure out what he was doing wrong (was getting very soft images) until I showed him how to use it properly. It only cost him lunch :P

WestEndBoy

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Check out Emily Soto here. I love her photos but they aren't sharp.

http://www.emilysotoblog.com/category/magazine-editorial/

I like those photos too, except for the ones showing excessive moodiness or attitude - never could stand that in a woman. Thanks for sharing Pitchblack.

mikep

i think it really depends on the picture and the place where its going. sharpness isnt high on my list generally speaking ... sometimes i see stuff that is just out of focus, not a lens problem at all, and i dont like it, but that "sharpness" people speak of doesnt matter to me.

assuming that the picture is in focus, if its a good photo you wouldnt notice that "sharpness", because you would be too busy admiring the photo