Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Charlie: I'll agree this is dificult to understand. I am talking about the _impression_ of sharpness. Fine details can create an image that looks softer. Anyone who uses photoshop can tell you about this. Unsharp masking is exactly redefining the relationships between similar tones to make them less similar giving them the appearence of sharpness. So it also goes with lens design. The Leica designs favor resolution of small details, something you see on fine grained slides or in carefully reproduced prints. On softly focused machine prints those details aren't resolved, so the lenses that have harder contrast with less detail can give a greater appearance of sharpness. I shot Nikon for years. The Nikkors make lovely 4x6 proofs, some of them better than those from the Leica glass. At 950%, full magazine page size, all of the details are resolved and the Nikon images look soft, because the fine details aren't there. At 950% the Leica images have lots of detail, and that's when you see the reason for shooting Leica. Tom At 11:02 PM 1/22/98 EST, you wrote: >In a message dated 98-01-22 19:47:13 EST, you write: > ><< > >I use Leica lens for these reasons. > ...... > 2. Detailed images. Often the micro details visible in a Leica image make an > image look less sharp. But the details are what allow those great > enlargements. > > > Would you please explain how this differs from sharpness? > > Tom Shea > >> >And while you are at it, please explain how details that make an image less >sharp can also allow those great enlargements. > >Charlie > >