Best Sharpness at 18mm wide

[canon450D]

Greetings. Have a question that I hope you can help me with. Which superzoom 18-200/250/270 (Canon mount) has the best sharpness wide open at 18mm? Hiw would it compare to Canon 18-55IS? Thank you.

[mulia]

Originally Posted by canon450D Greetings. Have a question that I hope you can help me with. Which superzoom 18-200/250/270 (Canon mount) has the best sharpness wide open at 18mm? Hiw would it compare to Canon 18-55IS? Thank you.

Your question a bit broad leh. Maybe narrow down a little- If u mean which lenses sharpest at the widest aperture? Then its none, bcos all these superzooms quite soft (for a pixelpeeper like myself), but if u stop down F8, they look reasonable. If u're not gonna do a 200% crop to peep at the pixels then all would do just fine: they're versatile, u dun need to invite dust by constant lens changing, etc, they're light..., but, imo, not sharp enuff.

[canon450D]

Originally Posted by mulia Your question a bit broad leh. Maybe narrow down a little- If u mean which lenses sharpest at the widest aperture? Then its none, bcos all these superzooms quite soft (for a pixelpeeper like myself), but if u stop down F8, they look reasonable. If u're not gonna do a 200% crop to peep at the pixels then all would do just fine: they're versatile, u dun need to invite dust by constant lens changing, etc, they're light..., but, imo, not sharp enuff.

Thanks, Mulia, for your reply. I have been planning to get a superzoom and hope to get the sharpest (at 18mm wide open) of the bunch of superzooms. I am using a canon 450d.

[calebk]

I think you will be hard pressed in finding such a lens, as most superzooms are already limited in the image quality department based on their large focal range alone. Adding to that, if you are also demanding exceptional wide open sharpness, it's near impossible to find any lens that will do that.

Having said that, I do believe the original manufacturers' lenses will probably perform a bit better, so my gut feel would say go with the Canon 18-200.

As an aside, do you really need a superzoom?

[canon450D]

Originally Posted by calebk I think you will be hard pressed in finding such a lens, as most superzooms are already limited in the image quality department based on their large focal range alone. Adding to that, if you are also demanding exceptional wide open sharpness, it's near impossible to find any lens that will do that. Having said that, I do believe the original manufacturers' lenses will probably perform a bit better, so my gut feel would say go with the Canon 18-200. As an aside, do you really need a superzoom?

Er, what I am hoping for is actually sharpness on par with my canon 18-55 IS kit lens. My reson for getting a superzoom is travel use. Trying not to allow dust to enter the body when I change lenses. Oso worried about dropping lens in a hurry.