Sweet Spot

[Charles C. Weston]

How does one find the "sweet spot" on any given lens?

[D70FAN]

How does one find the "sweet spot" on any given lens?

Experiment with standard settings for aperture (and zoom). In my experience most consumer lenses work their best at apertures above f6.3. Exceptional lenses due well at virtually all apertures.

In the case of a standard zoom lens (f3.5 to f5.6+) try each of the marked settings (18, 35, 50, 100, etc) wide open (lowest f setting) to about f22. This should give you a good idea of what the best combination is for a given lens.

Every lens I have has been profiled and I (more or less) remember the best operating point. Note that every lens (even two of the same lenses) can have it's own unique characteristics, so profiling each lens you buy will pay off later. And sometimes will show that the lens needs some additional tweeking from the factory, or replacement.

It's not as hard as it sounds. ;)

[aparmley]

It just takes some time and patience and attention to detail! A lesson I have learned, plan before attempting these pictures. have exactly what you are going to do written down, why you are doing this and the time of day, could be useful later. I like to find a fixed object, mount my camera on my tripod, make sure you have all the other settings right, or how you would like them prior to beginning.. I have had to start over many times because halfway through I noticed I forgot to change the ISO back to 100 or forgot I left WB on Tungsten or something along those lines... so make sure all of your settings are where you want them first, and I like to use the timer on my camera so there is no chance of me accidently shaking one shot more than the next...