Camera Labs

Ever wondered which lens is the best?
Below is a list of the 15 lenses with the best optical quality(sharpness/distortions/resolution etc.) Price and build quality isn't considered.I didn't make the list, it came from 2 professional test labs(I trust their credibility):
1.Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
2.Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF
3.Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical
4.Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
5.Nikon AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED
6.Sony 100mm F2.8 Macro
7.Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
8.Sony Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70mm F2.8 ZA SSM
9.Sony Planar T* 85mm F1.4 ZA
10.Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
11.Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical [IF] Canon
12.Sony 50mm F2.8 Macro
13.Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED
14.Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
15.Konica Minolta AF 50mm f/1.4

Got a link or reference to how they test? For example, #3 while very sharp is also very high distortion.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

You forgot the Zeiss 100mm F2.0 macro,the sharpest lens in that range.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

I thought it would be inappropriate advertising other sites, but since you want to see for yourself here are the links: www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lens-with-Cam ... ric-Scores

www.photozone.de

So I got the 4rth sharpest lens? Great to hear, but Im not that sure that it's true though...
Great news too about the Samyang!

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Ruben

Panasonic DMC-FZ18, Panasonic DMC-FZ28, Canon G5, Canon 350D, Canon 50D + BG-E2N
Tamron 17-50 2.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L USM,
Canon 18-55 II plus lots of Minolta MD/M42 lenses and bodies

While links to some other sites are discouraged, I'm not aware of either of these being so.

The list in the 1st post, at first glance, looks like the DxO rating on resolution with body duplication removed? Where does photozone fit in this?

So it would only rate on however DxO score resolution, and does not factor in distortion as suspected as soon as saw the Samyang in there.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Olympus-Zuiko 12-60

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Olympus e-620 / 14-42mm / 40-150mm
Metz 48 AF-1
Kata 3-N-1 20, LowePro Orion Mini, LowePro Nova 2
My Flickr

Just my personal opinion: the lenses are not all tested on the same body, which makes the results very debatable.

Photozone mentions not to compare results across systems (even if the camera resolution is roughly the same). This is because of different AA filters in front of the sensors and different image processing overall.

Still, I cannot see how it helps knowing that the Canon 85mm f/1.8 when set at f/5.6 (sweet-spot) is sharper than the Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS when set at 200mm and f/5.6 (again sweet-spot). The two lenses obviously were created with different purposes in mind - not to mention the former costs under a third of the latter and also weighs much less.

Then you have to open up the debate to all legacy lenses, some of which are not currently manufactured, and some mounts which have since ceased - where would some of their best rank on this list?

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

@ Popo
I didn't want to duplicate the results with the same lens. It would have no point if i wrote the second and third and forth place go to the same lens.
There are two tabs to chose from, based on their opinion and the optical metric scores.
Photozone haven't ranked the lenses but I compared the test results on both site which came out to be roughly the same.
As I said I didn't make the testing, so don't take it for granted.

The problem with Olympus lenses is that their performance is limited by cameras with small sensors.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

Interestingly enough, the Canon L series lenses are not top of the tests. But were these even tested?



Absolutely.

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

well,nobody said the L lenses were optically the best...there are about 3 or 4 L lenses that shine. I mean,try comparing the 100mm F/2.8 macro versus the Zeiss 100 macro F2 & you'll see what I mean.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
Visit my work here

The Zeiss is £1500 on average, the price of an L lens.

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

Interesting read but I have to agree that the verdicts are contentious. You can't have a conclusive result in a test or experiment if there are no constants such as using the same body.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control