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with the One Dollar Resolution Chart

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I cut a one dollar bill in two, taped it onto a piece of cardboard (one half around the center, the other half on the top right corner), and took lots of pictures of it, with several lenses and with several settings, with manual focusing, with a tripod, with mirror lock-up, etc.

The One Dollar Resolution Chart


Then I cropped a couple of interesting bits of those images, and pasted those 100% crops in the nice tables you can see below. These results neutralize field curvature: the result for "center" is taken from a picture in which I was focusing at the center; the result for "corner" is taken from a picture in which I was focusing at the corner.

The camera used was a Canon EOS 550D. I set the white balance the same for all shots, and set sharpness at the minimum.

The lenses I have tested are the following:


Modern glass:
Tokina 11-16 f/2.8
Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 (non-VC)
Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS(kit lens)
Canon 50mm f/1.8 II
Tamron 70-300 f/4-5.6

Vintage glass*:
MIR-20M: 20mm f/3.5 (age unknown) (M42)
Nikkor 20mm UD f/3.5 non-AI (1967) (Nikon F)
PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 non-AI (1968) (Nikon F)
Leitz Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 (1978) (Leica R)
Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/1.8 Pancolar "zebra" (1968) (M42)
Rollei Planar HFT 50mm f/1.8 (1970) (Contax/Yashica)
Leitz Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4 (1976) (Leica R)
Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 non-AI (1979) (Nikon F)
Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 (1969-1984) (M42)
Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 non-AI (1964) (Nikon F)
Leitz Elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8 (1966) (Leica R)
Micro Nikkor 100mm f/4 AI (1975) (Nikon F)
Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm f/4.0 Sonnar "zebra" (1964) (M42)
Leitz Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (1976) (Leica R)
Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm f/2.8 Sonnar "zebra" (1970) (Pentacon Six)
Leitz Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (1967) (Leica R)
Pentacon 200mm f/4 (age unknown) (M42)
Carl Zeiss Jena 300mm f/4.0 Sonnar (1974) (Pentacon Six)

Others:
Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 on Olympus EPL1 (totally different camera, but I was curious)

*: many of these lenses were supplied by fellow Spaniard DSLR shooter, and deep lensaholic, Ignacio Sánchez.





please visit my equipment recommendations







CENTER - 100% crops
 
 
f/1.8
f/2.2
f/2.8
f/3.5
f/5.6
f/9.0
Tokina 11
-
-
Tokina 14
-
-
Tokina 16
-
-
Tamron 17
-
-
Canon 18
-
-
-
Canon 20
-
-
-
MIR-20
-
-
-
Nikkor 20
-
-
-
Canon 24
-
-
-
Tamron 24
-
-
Panasonic 20
Canon 35
-
-
-
Tamron 35
-
-
PC-Nikkor 35
-
-
Leitz 35
-
-
Canon 50
-
-
-
-
Tamron 50
-
-
Canon 50
CZJ 50
Rollei 50
Leitz 50
mNikkor 55
-
-
-
Helios 58
-
Tamron 70
-
-
-
Nikkor 85
Tamron 90
-
-
-
Leitz 90
-
-
mNikkor 100
-
-
-
Tamron 135
-
-
-
CZJ 135
-
-
-
Leitz 135
-
-
Tamron 180
-
-
-
CZJ 180
-
-
Leitz 180
-
-
Pentacon 200
-
-
-
Tamron 300
-
-
-
-
CZJ 300
-
-
-


CORNER (focusing at center) - 100% crops
 
 
f/1.8
f/2.2
f/2.8
f/3.5
f/5.6
f/9.0
Tokina 11
-
-
Tokina 14
-
-
Tokina 16
-
-
Tamron 17
-
-
Canon 18
-
-
-
Canon 20
-
-
-
MIR-20
-
-
-
Nikkor 20
-
-
-
Canon 24
-
-
-
Tamron 24
-
-
Canon 35
-
-
-
Tamron 35
-
-
PC-Nikkor 35
-
-
Leitz 35
-
-
Canon 50
-
-
-
-
Tamron 50
-
-
Canon 50
CZJ 50
Rollei 50
Leitz 50
mNikkor 55
-
-
-
Helios 58
-
Tamron 70
-
-
-
Nikkor 85
Tamron 90
-
-
-
Leitz 90
-
-
mNikkor 100
-
-
-
Tamron 135
-
-
-
CZJ 135
-
-
-
Leitz 135
-
-
Tamron 180
-
-
-
CZJ 180
-
-
Leitz 180
-
-
Pentacon 200
-
-
-
Tamron 300
-
-
-
-
CZJ 300
-
-
-


CORNER (focusing at corner) - 100% crops
 
 
f/1.8
f/2.2
f/2.8
f/3.5
f/5.6
f/9.0
Tokina 11
-
-
Tokina 14
-
-
Tokina 16
-
-
Tamron 17
-
-
Canon 18
-
-
-
Canon 20
-
-
-
MIR-20
-
-
-
Nikkor 20
-
-
-
Canon 24
-
-
-
Tamron 24
-
-
Panasonic 20
Canon 35
-
-
-
Tamron 35
-
-
PC-Nikkor 35
-
-
Leitz 35
-
-
Canon 50
-
-
-
-
Tamron 50
-
-
Canon 50
CZJ 50
Rollei 50
Leitz 50
mNikkor 55
-
-
-
Helios 58
-
Tamron 70
-
-
-
Nikkor 85
Tamron 90
-
-
-
Leitz 90
-
-
mNikkor 100
-
-
-
Tamron 135
-
-
-
CZJ 135
-
-
-
Leitz 135
-
-
Tamron 180
-
-
-
CZJ 180
-
-
Leitz 180
-
-
Pentacon 200
-
-
-
Tamron 300
-
-
-
-
CZJ 300
-
-
-


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