old versus new??!!

[oldmandon]

As the title says.
How do the lenses of old, ie the 35 to 105, the 35 to 70, the 100 to 300 etc the ones with the metal mounts that were considered to be semi-pro lenses in their day compare to the lenses of today?
The reason I ask, is that I have/had a 35 to 135 ef lense and was using it as an every day lense and it seemed fine in every aspect except one, the pics never seemed to be sharp, there was always a softness to the images. However, this is also the case with my new efs 55 - 250is lense.
I'm trying to establish whether the old lenses are still worth buying, and also if they suit my 50D, or do I really need to go out and buy that 24-105L (wish list) and the 100-400L (wish list 2)
I am under the impression that the 50D NEEDS to have quality glass in front, or it will show up the flaws in the lense, is this the case, or do I just have a soft focusing one?
HMMMMM more questions than I intended to start with, but hopefully some light will be thrown onto the matter and I'll be pushed (gently) in the right direction!!!!!!

Looking forward to your replies

[doktorstamp]

Re: old versus new??!!

Lenses designed for digital cameras capture and focus the light in a marginally different way to lenses dedicated to film, which explains some of the problem. (I'm no physicist so unable to give the scientific explanation)* I would suggest you visit your local camera shop and try a few lenses, if all produce a soft focus then the camera has a problem. Somewhere, either here or read in the dim and distant past was mentioned the calibration of the camera to the lens being used. Realise this isn't the wished for all-singing-all-dancing answer you hoped for, but it should give you food for thought, or another avenue to pursue.

*see and read articles by Geoffrey Crawley

Happy Xmas

Nigel

[briansquibb]

Re: old versus new??!!

The 50D gives good qualty pictures on the standard 18-55IS kit lens.

Look up the section about microfocus in the user manual - you might like to try calibrating the 55-250; it is not a difficult procedure

[DrJon]

Re: old versus new??!!

IMHO the 18-55 IS (note the IS) is actually a pretty good lens, it's built slightly cheaply and has no USM, but optically it's a good one (certainly better than my 17-85 which cost about 10x as much).
John