01 02 03 Snapperific: Every lens has a signature 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Every lens has a signature

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Every lens is different. Some are accurate, some are inaccurate. The differences between them are their signatures.

Even when a company makes 10 000 versions of the same model lens, there will be differences. Slight, yes, but differences nonetheless. These are physical objects and manufacturing tolerances can only get so close. 

The trick is to relish in the differences not hate on them. Some lenses are bitingly sharp and full of bizarre distortions. Some are very well corrected but not terribly sharp all over. Most strike a nice balance.




Strangely enough, we are probably living in the time of the best lenses. Technology just keeps marching on and what can't be fixed in the glass is fixed in JPEG processing in camera. We have become terribly used-to perfection or at least the attainment of it. 

Did you know that many of the great portrait photographers from a century ago were obsessive about finding lenses that were imperfect? That was not a typo. They sought a balance between hard and soft so that their sitters would be flattered but not shown as out-of-focus blobs. They of course didn't have Photoshop. 

Our digital sensors are demanding. So too are we. But, as is often pointed out online, the great photographs of the past are not technically perfect or even close to it. These great images captured moments. That is what mattered. The lens is just part of the tool. 

So know your lenses and which can do what. Use them accordingly. Rejoice if you have one that has character. Look at its signature and decide if it is a doctor's illegible scrawl or a perfectionists boring block letters. Everyone and everything has its place. 


Canon 50mm F1.8 on a Canon 350D


Canon 100mm F2.8 on Fuji Superia on a Canon A1


Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 on an Olympus OM-D EM5


Mamiya Sekor 90mm on Ilford FP4 on an RB67


Nikkor 50mm F1.8D on Lomo 800ASA on a Nikon F65


Sony 16mm F2.8 on a Sony NEX 3

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