Who makes the best lenses?

[sony_photographer_jake]

I would like to know who makes the best lenses. I know there are a lot of manufacturers of lenses. For instance are Sony lenses, G and Carl Zeiss better than Canon G lenses optically. Are Nikon's G lenses better than Canons and vice versa.

[chris-p]

Canon and Nikon don't make "G" lenses, but Canon do make their L series.

Also, there is no simple answer to this question. Best in what way? Sharpest? Most contrast? Best built? Least geometric aberration? Least colour divergence? Cheapest? Most expensive? Prettiest? Fastest? Biggest?

No one company makes "the best lenses" no matter what some people think. Some lenses are very good. It may be that Canon make the best 50mm fast prime (the EF 85mm f/1.2) but Nikon may make the best fisheye lens in the world (the ultra rare 6mm f/2.8).

Or the Leica M range, the Hasselblad H lenses. The lenses for the Pentax 645 were absolutely legendary...

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by chris-p

Canon and Nikon don't make "G" lenses, but Canon do make their L series.

Some Nikon lenses, like the older Nikon AF 70-300mm F4-5.6G, did have the G suffix attached.

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

Some Nikon lenses, like the older Nikon AF 70-300mm F4-5.6G, did have the G suffix attached.

OB you are, as usual, right.

Of course, the use of the G suffix on these lenses is different to the Sony G series of lenses, as you know, denoting a particular range of Nikkor lenses from entry to professional level, easily spotted by the lack of a manual aperture ring.

The Sony "G" moniker, used to demonstrate the use of ED glass, larger apertures and better build quality, is perhaps more synonymous with Canons "L" designation.

[sony_photographer_jake]

Also, there is no simple answer to this question. Best in what way? Sharpest?

For example the Sony 70-300G and the Canon 70-300 equivalent. Is the Sony sharper than the Canon lens or vice versa. Is the Canon sharper than the Sony @300mm

[chris-p]

Originally Posted by sony_photographer_jake

For example the Sony 70-300G and the Canon 70-300 equivalent. Is the Sony sharper than the Canon lens or vice versa. Is the Canon sharper than the Sony @300mm

This is almost impossible to answer, but lets have a go.

Firstly, it depends on what camera the lens is mounted to. If you look up the Sony lens on DxO you find that it's resolution scores (the closest thing to "sharpness") on the a900 are much better than the a200. Not really a surprise.

The closest Canon lens is the 70-300 DO IS which is more expensive, quite rare and a relatively old design so it's not really a straight comparison. However, the Canon lens benefits from the diffractive optics system. But again, this really depends on the camera you mount the lens on.

Stick the Canon lens on a 1D/5D/7D and the Sony lens on a a200 and run the standard tests, the Canon lens will look better. Swap them round and stick the Canon lens on an EOS 1000 and the Sony lens on an a900 and the Sony wins.

Basically, this is a fruitless argument. If the Canon lens is sharper than the Sony lens, so what? You can't use it (without an adaptor and MF only) on a Sony camera. It's not all about lenses. It's about the combination of lens and camera.

[OldBoy]

The easy answer is that the more you pay the better the lens but there are a few exceptions. Minolta made lenses that cost as much as the top Nikon or Canon lenses and gave great results. Most Minolta lenses will work on the Sony DSLR cameras. One such lens was the Minolta AF 70-210 F4 nicknamed the Beercan and loved by their users.

[Oly Paul]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

The easy answer is that the more you pay the better the lens

I think I would quantify that by saying the faster the lens, there are a lot of cases where a f4 lens is optically better than a f2.8 even though it is cheaper.

A bigger price does not guarantee a better lens optically just a faster one.

[KeithT]

Leica, then Carl Zeiss. Specsavers aren't bad either

[chris-p]

Jake, looking at your recent threads, are you actually happy with the camera and lenses you've got? Or after advice as to whether or not to change your camera?

I ask because all your recent posts have been asking either if Sony are as good as someone else, when Sony will be as good as someone else, or who is better than Sony in some very specific area.