Re: Upgrade Realist lens?

[P3D Sam Smith <sam@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Excellent notes on lens design by Bob Howard. I'm especially intrigued by
this statement:


>Also the
>newer lenses designed for contrast in small prints may lack resolving
>power under extreme magnification which is what we do when we project or
>examine in a good viewer (the reason grain is apparent except in slow
>films.)

If I understand it correctly, the resolving power of the "taking" lens can
increase apparent grain at a given magnification. Lack of detail makes the
appearance of grain more prominent. If so, then stereo photographers are in
a constant battle, for objects out-of-focus would also increase apparent
grain. This would be a catch-22 situation, for if you stop down beyond the
optimal aperture of the lens to increase depth of field, you'd be losing
resolving power due to diffraction of light. This is especially a nightmare
when you get into stereo macro work.

I suspect this has been brought up before, but Bob has explained it in a way
that even idiots like me can understand. We're not all propeller-heads here!

On a similar topic,is there any practical way of resolving the DOF problems
when shooting through a microscope? 

Sam


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