Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/15

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Handheld Limit of Noctilux
From: Paul vanPeenen <paddler@istar.ca>
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 1998 18:23:39 -0800

>Sharpness is relative.  There is no definitive line between a sharp and and an
>unsharp photograph.  It is a conintuous spread from very sharp to very blury.
>As evidenced by this thread, each person has his or her own opinion of where
>the line is.  What one person finds acceptably sharp is unacceptable blury to
>another.

I can't get my head around that.

Notwithstanding (I've always wanted to use that in a sentence) the type of
film used, a photograph of something or someone is sharp or not.

For obvious reasons, a photo taken with 100 ISO film will be "sharper" than
one taken with 3200 ISO film.

It's true that a photo is a continues spread from very sharp to very blury
but the subject of that photo is sharp or not. The interpretation of the
subject by the photographer and where he/she chooses to focus within the
scene is dependent on that photog's vision but it's still sharp or not.

Depending on the equipment and film and developer used, The subject of a
photo is sharp or not. But all those being equal, a shot is sharp or out of
focus. What's acceptable is relative but the actual sharpness is a fixed
something or other, not open to interpretation.

Anyway, that's how I see it and how most of the people that make decisions
about my work see it too.

The phrase: "It's a nice moment, Paul, but it's soft." is one that rings in
the back of my head.

Pv

Paul vanPeenen and Liz van'terve
paddler@istar.ca