50mm and 100mm Makro-Planars, but (to my eyes) their more
“contrasty” look (for lack of a better word) detracted from their use
in my work. Yes, they are very sharp, but part of sharpness (so I
argue here) is color, and the Zeiss lenses are not true APO lenses.
And that apparently (to my eye) makes a difference.
Then, when I did a lot of work with the various industrial Nikkors,
which indeed are as sharp or sharper than the above mentioned
lenses, the results left something to be desired. So, ‘sharp’ by itself
is not all that sharp, so to speak. In fact, in the end my idea of
sharpness turns on color. I was surprised.
Perhaps the industrial Nikkors lack the modern coatings or
something, so I have to be careful what photo environments I use
them with. Where subtleness of color is not key, they work fine, but
where refined color is paramount, I had best use other lenses.
Hopefully some of you reading this will have the proper explanation
for what I am only able to see as a difference.
All of this was pre-Nikon 800E. With the advent of 36 megapixel
images, all of this becomes (for me anyway) much clearer. What
was something I guessed at with the Nikon D3s and D3x, becomes
more obvious with the D800E. It is clear from the D800E photos
that uncorrected non-APO sharpness lacks something that APO-
corrected lenses appear to have, as in: what I am looking for, call it
sharpness or whatever.
My question and reason for writing this is to seek other opinions on
this and explanations for what I am seeing.
Am I crazy to think that ultimately sharpness, depends on color,
like: perhaps resolving the color fringing with APO lenses?
Are the ultra-sharp industrial Nikkors missing something, like APO
corrections, and if so what?
Do the higher resolution (megapixels) of cameras like the D800E
make all of this more obvious?
What does that tell us we want in a lens for fine color work?
I apologize in advance if I misunderstand any of the technicalities
involved here, so set me straight please. 21