Don't worry: The FA77/f1.8 is a great lens. You cannot go wrong with it.
BTW: To me, the resolution numbers that Yoshihiko Takinami found for some lenses (especially the FA77/f1.8 and the M85/f2) are not consistent with my own results which are much higher for these lenses. Now, which results are true? Well, I guess that it is easy to measure a resolution that is lower than provided by the lens, but it is near impossible to measure a resolution that is too high.
Arnold
Joseph Tainter schrieb:
I would have bought this by now if I could find one. Thankfully, Lasse just reminded me of Yoshi's page, where there are test results on it. The numbers at wide apertures don't look good: 55 from f1.8 all the way to f4.0. (That is, the lens does not improve until f5.6.) The FA 43, which many malign for its wide-open performance, is just as good as the 77 wide open, and improves by f2.8. Both lenses are far weaker than the FA 50 f1.4 wide open, which in turn is weaker than the FA 50 f1.7 (which I have) wide open. (The 1.7 is not on Yoshi's page, but the F version was tested on Photodo.)
(Yes, I know, one of you smart-***es will tell me that the FA 50 f1.4 is far better at 1.4 than the FA 50 f1.7 is.)
Popular Photography, OTOH, reported that the FA 77 does quite nicely at wide apertures. When I asked about this lens a few weeks ago, list members who own it said likewise.
Here's how I would use it: Since my zooms are high-quality, I use primes primarily in low light, and use them at large apertures, including wide open. If I like an image, I print it at 7 x 10" (i.e., A4) or thereabouts on my Epson 870. I don't expect lenses to be perfect at large apertures, but do I need them to be decent enough for such enlargement. My FA 31 is, but so far I have not found any tests of it like Yoshi's.
So, owners of the FA 77, may I trouble you again for your assessment of how this lens performs at wide apertures? Will images be suitable for enlargement to the size I indicated? If you gave me your assessment before, please give it to me again.
The fact that Lens A is weaker wide open than Lens B does not mean that Lens A will not give decent enlargements at the size I need. This is what I am trying to ascertain.
Thanks, everyone,
Joe
