A camera is one piece of the puzzle, this is why you should invest in good lenses…

Yes, you should consider the camera that you’re putting it on. But if you’re dropping $1000+ on a camera, it doesn’t make sense to use a $100 kit lens. A lot of people jump to buying a camera in hopes for better images, but they neglect on buying a better lens. This is the reason why a lot of amateurs have a lot of photos that feel like “snapshots” and lack that extra pizazz that special photos have. If you’re shooting with a kit lens, you might find that your photos are wide, but not quite wide enough. Or that you can’t get tight enough for portraiture. Or that your lens just can’t bring in enough light to get the shot without shooting at an insanely high ISO. Now, I’m not saying that you can’t get great shots with a kit lens because you most certainly can. But the beauty of competition is that great lenses can be now be had for under $1000 (even $500!). And you don’t need many, just a wide and telephoto prime can take you a long way.

Lens Performance and How to Evaluate Your Next Lens Purchase

Let’s start with what I look for in a lens, and what I look for in lens performance. I look for lenses that are small and fast. For those reasons I prefer a set of primes from wide to a short telephoto lens. For lens performance, I look for sharpness, micro-contrast, a smooth rendering of bokeh and fast AF performance. There are other things to consider such as distortion and chromatic aberration, but those are easily corrected with post processing. One way to evaluate a lens is with a MTF chart, which are generally released alongside the announcement of a new lens. But personally, that’s the only time I’ll look at them. I’d rather rely on 3rd party data (more on that below) and sample images from trusted photographers. Regardless of that, you should understand what are the characteristics of a great lens. I highly recommend the following articles:

• How to Read MTF Charts by Photography Life – An in-depth guide on how to read MTF charts that illustrates the important difference between resolution and acutance.
• Understanding Lens Contrast by Luminous Landscape – This is one of many great technical essays by writer Mike Johnston on Luminous Landscape, this touches on a lot of the same points as the former article but it’s explained in a little more technical fashion. One important concept I’d like to highlight is:

Incidentally, as an aside for those of you who may have seen the articles on “bokeh” (bo-ke, the Japanese word meaning “blur”) in the March/April 1997 issue of PHOTO Techniques, off-axis aberrations are typically the cause of “bad” or confused-looking blur. The relative superimposition of the sagittal and tangential lines of an MTF chart are one predictor of “good” or smooth bokeh.

Thus the closer the sagittal (solid) and meridional (dotted) lines, the smoother the bokeh. It’s important to note that this isn’t a calculation for the amount of bokeh, for that we use HowMuchBlur.com as we highlighted in the previous section and we’ll continue to highlight in the portrait lens section below.

Another indicator is the number of aperture blades in the lens, especially when it comes to out of focus highlights. The best example of this is on Canon, because they have a budget 50mm f1.8 lens at a mere $100. With only 5 blades, the out of focus highlights are shaped like pentagons versus the ideal circles.

Evaluating the Sharpness of a Lens

The problem with MTF charts is that some manufacturers use lab tests, some simulate the tests. Some shoot wide open, some don’t. And many measure by different metrics in their MTF charts. One example can be illustrated with the MTF chart of the newly released Panasonic 42.5mm f1.7 and the MTF chart for the Olympus 45mm f1.8, where Panasonic uses 40 lines/mm (green) and Olympus uses 60 lines/mm (orange). Despite that, the MTF charts appear to show a very similar performance for both lenses, which seem to correlate with early reviews of the Panasonic. But regardless of that, there’s a much better way to evaluate a lens, and that’s through 3rd party reviews from LensTip.com and DxOMark.com (among others).

What are the Sharpest Lenses for Canon, Sony and Nikon?

We’ve previously covered the sharpest, and best lenses for Micro Four Thirds (primarily Panasonic/Olympus), and today we’re covering The Sharpest Lenses for Sony, Canon and Nikon.

Picking up a new piece of glass for your ever-growing camera system is always an awesome experience. Photographers from every corner of the field will have different preferences and reasoning behind every lens purchase, but image quality, utility, price point, and sometimes the so-called “character” (or why people still buy legacy lenses) seem to be the most common deciding factors.

All of which are subjective, of course. What’s good enough for one might be unacceptable for another, just as some may find the premium price tags justifiable, while others turn to third party lens offerings (eg. Rokinon/Samyang) for a better deal.

Sharpness, or the quality of contrast, acuity, and level of fine detail rendered by a lens, on the other hand, can be measured and compared. And that’s the sole area we’d be investigating today.

So if getting the sharpest optics available is important for your work, stick around as we round up the sharpest lenses for Canon, Sony, and Nikon.

What is DXOMARK?

If you want to geek out over numbers, MTF charts, and lab testing methodologies for anything camera sensors and optics, DXOMARK is the place to be. They’re the photography community’s number one resource for scientific benchmarks for sensors and lenses, and we’ll be using their data to pick out the sharpest lenses for the top three camera manufacturers.

DXOMARK awards an overall “DXOMARK Score” that takes into consideration every optical quality they test for each lens. Every criterion, including distortion, vignetting, light transmission, chromatic aberration, and sharpness are given a sub-score which would be used to reach a final, DXOMARK lens score. Find out more about their meticulous testing methodology here if you’re interested.

There’s no escape from variables, but DxOMark does an awesome job levelling the playing field by testing lenses consistently with a camera body that best represents a segment. For example, the latest iteration of Canon’s 85mm f/1.4 L gets its best scores when mounted to a 5DSR, a now five-year-old, high-megapixel studio DSLR camera.

It is in this vein that we should note that the scores cited here don’t necessarily reflect a constant level of quality across all possible body and lens combinations. To get more accurate test results, check out DXOMARK yourself and select the specific camera body that you’d be pairing with the lenses we’ll be covering today.

The Sharpest Canon Lenses

Canon is still the market leader. Recent statistics suggests that Canon has maintained a 45.4% global market share back in 2019. Really nothing short of impressive, considering their tardiness to the mirrorless party and all. And because you’re statistically more likely to be shooting a Canon body than any other brand, here are some of the sharpest lenses you can get for your camera.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM – With optical quality like this, who can say with a straight face that DSLRs are dead? The EF 85mm f/1.4L IS made headlines by being the first, pro-grade 85mm prime that offered image stabilization. It also sits comfortably as the third OVERALL sharpest lens in DXOMARK’s database with a 42-point sharpness rating. So if the older f/1.2’s bokeh magic doesn’t appeal to you, you’d have a hard time looking for a sharper lens than the Canon EF 85mm f/1.4L.

Check out the Sarah Seal and Lok C’s hands-on review of the newer, sharper, and dare I say the better EF 85mm L from Canon.

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM – Sitting directly below the 85mm f/1.4L is the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM in DXOMARK’s roundup of Canon’s sharpest lenses. Released two years before the 85mm, and netting a DPReview Gold Award with a 91% overall score, the best iteration of Canon’s 35mm L-series glass boasts an impressive 37 points in the sharpness department. If you find an older Canon 35mm prime permanently glued to your DSLR, the Mark II version of 35mm f/1.4L is easily the most obvious upgrade path.

Fashion and portrait photographer Julia Trotti has an awesome review and comparison video of the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II against the original go-to wide-standard lens that you might want to check out if you’re planning an upgrade.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM – Technically, the behemoth that is the 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM is the sharpest Canon lens ever made according to DXOMARK. So if you’re a wildlife or sports photographer who can justify the cost and the size of that lens, you might want to spring for that beast. Today, however, the ever-reliable EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM will take the telephoto spot since it’ll be a more attainable and more practical lens choice than the 300mm f/2.8. With a 33-point sharpness rating, the 70-200 f/2.8 L Mark II is still a popular choice for wedding photographers, event shooters and even among the fashion and beauty crowd. Not bad at all for a lens that’s a decade old.

Note that the mark III of this 70-200 IS workhorse from Canon had already come out a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, DXOMARK has yet to publish any data for this particular lens. For the sake of coherence, the Mark II version gets our recommendation.

The Sharpest Nikon Lenses

Nikon joined the mirrorless revolution at the same time as Canon, back in 2018, with the release of Nikon’s first true professional-grade mirrorless bodies. The Z mount, admittedly still a maturing system, is the biggest shake-up in the Nikon ecosystem since the introduction of the F mount in the late 50’s. Let’s take a look at the current lineup’s strongest performers.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.8 S – Those on the fence about jumping ship from their Nikon DSLRs and into the newer Z-series can rest easy knowing that the most popular, short telephoto focal length for portraits sits at the top spot in DXOMARK’s Nikon glass rankings. According to DXOMARK’s review, the Nikkor Z 85mm F1.8 S displays “very high and uniform sharpness at all apertures and ranks as one of the best-performing Nikkors in our data-base.” And oh, they gave it an impressive 41-point sharpness rating, just a hair below Canon’s 85mm that’s twice its price.

Watch Jared Polin put this sub $1k prime through ideal shooting scenarios, to more challenging concert environments and see if it performs to your liking.

Nikon NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S – You’ve heard it somewhere before, and you’re going to hear it again: no self-respecting photographer should be without a 50mm prime in their bag. If you were looking to get your first Z-mount prime, do yourself a favor and get the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8. It’s just the perfect standard prime lens to walk around with. And it doesn’t hurt that DXOMARK awarded it a 37-point sharpness rating — Sansmirror founder Thom Hogan even called it the best 50mm Nikon has ever made.

For just $600, it’s quite refreshing how relatively affordable lenses could perform so well. Have a look at Christopher Frost put the NIKKOR Z 50mm f/1.8 S through the typical Christopher Frost battery of tests and see for yourself how excellent of a lens this humble prime is.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED – Carrying the proud F mount flag is the fast, light, and affordable wide-angle prime that won’t break the bank. With a 30 in sharpness subscore, DXOMARK’s data suggests that the 24mm f/1.8G ED is one of Nikon’s best options for landscape, architecture and interior work. This little gem outperforms its $2,000 f/1.4 older brother in both sharpness and chromatic aberration control.

Landscape and adventure photographer Matthew Saville has paired the NIKKOR 24mm f/1.8G ED with the high-megapixel Z7 body and writes:

“The zone of what I would consider great sharpness is, quite impressively, almost the whole image, even wide open at f/1.8.”

I highly recommend checking out Saville’s write up linked above for more of what this $700 lens can do for your astrophotography and landscape work.

The Sharpest Sony Lenses

Sony was one of the photography giants that have greatly contributed to pushing mirrorless into the mainstream. I remember the general wave of scepticism that first met the original a7 series back in the first half of the past decade. Fast forward to 2021 however, and you’d find one of the many iterations of the a7 in the hands of the majority of the top content creators in the world. So if you’re rocking a Sony, whether for work or leisure, here’s some of the best glass you can mount to your system.

Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* FE 50mm 1.4 ZA – Zeiss has a reputation for making some of the best optics money can buy. And I have no reason to believe both Sony and Zeiss have slacked off on this one — the Carl Zeiss Planar T* FE 50mm 1.4 is easily one of the best standard lenses that you can get today. DXOMARK’s 41 sharpness rating for this phenomenal lens backs this claim, and so does Ken Rockwell who thinks it’s the best 50mm you can get for your Sony.

If you’re still not convinced, check out Julia Trotti’s experience with the lens (paired with a 61-MP A7RIV) and have a look at some unedited, 100% crops from a test shoot.

Sony FE 16-35mm F2.8 GM – Five years ago, Sony announced their G Master lineup; a series of premium lenses that are optimized for high-resolution cameras. This super versatile, wide-angle zoom delivers on that promise and then some. It’s got a super useful zoom range, weather sealing, and is relatively light for a luxury zoom lens that can do everything from vlogging to shooting enchanting landscapes. DXOMARK gives the FE 16-35mm F2.8 G Master a solid 34 in sharpness, which is quite impressive for a zoom lens.

Travel and landscape photographer Colby Brown brought this impeccable lens to Iceland and has this to say about his experience shooting with the 16-35mm F2.8 GM paired with an a7RII:

“After shooting thousands of images with this lens, I can testify that it is an incredibly sharp lens. Details look crisp, contrast is great, and there is no denying how impressive the sharpness, especially when used in tandem with the Sony a7R II.”

Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS – The 70-200mm has always been a very competitive focal range. It’s a mainstay in almost every photographer’s bag since this telephoto range is so useful for shooting sports, concerts, events, to just plain old portraiture. The flagship 70-200mm lens offering from Sony does not disappoint at all in the sharpness category, earning a 38 sub-score — which is just insane for this type of lens.

In DXOMARK’S testing, they’ve found the premium Sony 70-200mm G Master outperforms its contemporaries that were mounted to their respective highest-megapixel cameras. If you’re in the Sony ecosystem, you owe it to yourself to add probably the best telephotos in your bag.

Stefan Malloch has done an awesome in-depth review of the Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS that covers build quality, image stabilization, video performance to how it behaves when shot with a teleconverter.