Be careful when using sharp lenses

Wednesday 16 March 2022, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 4,391 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

New generations of lenses now produce particularly sharp images. But all that sharpness has a major downside. A model found that out to her great shock. With this article, I want to urge everyone using sharp lenses to be careful. Perhaps even to use less sharp lenses.

Recently, I spoke to a photographer who had an unpleasant experience with his latest sharp portrait lens. Photographer Frits does not want to be named for obvious reasons, so I will call him Bob in this article.

Bob had bought the latest lens for a portrait session in his living-room studio. He had saved for a long time to get this beautiful 135mm lens, which was widely praised for the incredible sharpness of its images.

Oh dear, thought the model. That lens is very sharp indeed.

"I had wanted this lens for a long time," Bob told me. "The reviews were unanimously positive about the sharpness of this lens. Although the price was higher than I could really afford, I decided to buy it anyway."

Things almost went wrong during his first photo shoot. The model he had asked to pose complained about the sharpness. Every hair, every pore and all the warts seemed to stick out of the photo. This was, of course, due to the three-dimensional effect that every review had mentioned.

Things really went wrong after Bob had scheduled his second photo session. Almost immediately after the first photos had been taken with the lens, the model said that the sharpness was unpleasant.

Things almost went wrong, that was a shock.

Bob continued: "I knew I had to be careful with this lens. The image was simply sharp, but I thought I had it under control. Looking back, I should have listened to my model. Then none of this would have happened."

After those first photos, disaster struck. The model cut herself badly on the sharpness of the lens. The result was a deep cut with a lot of blood. Fortunately, Bob had taken a first aid course, which prevented things from becoming worse.

"I managed to stop the bleeding," said Bob, who was clearly upset by what had happened. "Fortunately, the model will not be left with any scars. But one thing is clear to me, I will never use those sharp lenses again. It is not worth it."

There was blood everywhere. Never such a sharp lens again.

Knowing Bob, I think he got a little too enthusiastic with this lens. He knew how sharp it was, and he should have paid more attention. But it can be a lesson for all of us. If the model complains about the sharpness, it might be wise to use a less sharp lens. Accidents can happen so easily.

The photos in this article are for illustrative purposes only. They are not photos of the model from the article.

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