Re: lens tests

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@apple.com>]

While not entirely worthless for comparative shopping, I don't believe
that any lens test really works with regard to what a lens does in 
the hands and eye of the photographer. I've seen great pictures taken
with supposedly junk lenses and junk pictures taken with great lenses
.. even in my own photography.

Some of my old cameras with what must be junk by modern standards for
lenses take black and white photos with a certain luminous quality that
is obviously a result of flare and other aberrations ... regardless,
the pictures are delightful, if I've used the camera for the right 
subject and gotten the right exposure. 

So whether Pop Photog's lens test are more accurate or better thought
out than BAS or ColorFoto's is relatively inconsequential as long as
they are honest, give the parameters they are testing, and are 
consistent in methodology. I'm more interested in what the photo 
editors have to say about how the lenses produce an image than 
with lines/mm numbers or contrast numbers. 

That's my farthing's worth, anyway. I do get tired of all the mumblings
of which version of what lens is .02% better resolution than the next
one sometimes. Anything produced by Leica has been generally speaking
a very superior optic, same for most of the Nikon AI-S series and
Zeiss lenses. They each have their different qualities which is why 
it's so much fun to work with each of them. 

Godfrey