Sharpest EF Lenses (according to DxO)

[mackguyver]

Many people are singularly focused on lens sharpness (I'm guilty, too), so I thought I'd check out DxO's sharpest lenses for each focal length / zoom range and share the list. These are the P-MPix scores using the 5DIII and are should be just about every production model that they've measured, but I may have missed or accidentally included a few. The duplicates are where there is a tie.

By Focal Length

Primes
Canon EF 600mm F/4L IS II USM 20
Canon EF 500mm F/4L IS II USM 19
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM 21
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM 22
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM 17
Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM 14
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO 17
Carl Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZE 22
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro 18
Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 100mm f/2 ZE 20
Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 16
Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Canon 20
Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro 17
Carl Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 21
Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM A Canon 21
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM 18
Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM 20
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 28mm f/2 ZE 18
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2 ZE 17
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM 19
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM 19
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 21mm f/2.8 ZE 15
Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM 14
Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 ZE 16
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM 15

Zooms
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD 14
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x ON 14
Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Canon 14
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x 19
Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM Canon 13
Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S 20
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM 13
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM 15
Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM 13
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM 12
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM 21
Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM A 18
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD 17
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM 18
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 14
Tokina AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX 17
Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM II Canon 12

By Sharpness

Primes
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM 22
Carl Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 2/135 ZE 22
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM 21
Carl Zeiss Distagon T* Otus 1.4/55 21
Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG HSM A Canon 21
Canon EF 600mm F/4L IS II USM 20
Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T 100mm f/2 ZE 20
Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM Canon 20
Canon EF 35mm f/2 IS USM 20
Canon EF 500mm F/4L IS II USM 19
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 IS USM 19
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM 19
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro 18
Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM 18
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 28mm f/2 ZE 18
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM 17
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO 17
Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro 17
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 25mm f/2 ZE 17
Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 16
Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 ZE 16
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 21mm f/2.8 ZE 15
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM 15
Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM 14
Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 USM 14

Zooms
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM 21
Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM S 20
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x 19
Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM A 18
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM 18
Tamron SP AF 28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di LD 17
Tokina AT-X 16-28 F2.8 PRO FX 17
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM 15
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD 14
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x ON 14
Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Canon 14
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 14
Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM Canon 13
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM 13
Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM 13
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM 12
Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM II Canon 12

 

[MTL18]

In your opinion, is this accurate?

I'm curious because they rank the 190 dollar 40mm well over the 2200 14mm f/2.8 (Canadian prices).

 

[Loswr]

I'm curious because they rank the 190 dollar 40mm well over the 2200 14mm f/2.8 (Canadian prices).

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=454&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=810&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

 

[mackguyver]

Generally speaking, the wider the lens, the harder, and thus more expensive, it is to make it sharp. Also, sharpness is just one factor of lens design or "personality" as Canon calls in for the cinema lenses:

 

[Don Haines]

In your opinion, is this accurate?

I'm curious because they rank the 190 dollar 40mm well over the 2200 14mm f/2.8 (Canadian prices).

It is easier to make a long lens sharp than a short lens.
It is easier to make a narrow lens sharp than a wide lens.

 

[edwyun]

I'm surprised the 135/2L is not on the list.

 

[Andrew Davies Photography]

I have followed DXO from the early days, they started off quite hit and miss but over the years have found them to be fairly accurate.

I own the 24 IS and 35 IS primes which are on there and both deservedly so, the 35 can cut a piece of paper at 50 feet . There again the 40mm 2.8 canon is on there too which i find hard to justify as i owned that and sent it back - could have been a dud but was not impressed.

Newcastle Teesside
Durham Darlington Wedding Photographer www.andrew-davies.com

 

[dolina]

Could you post the marketing date of the lens?

 

[mackguyver]

I'm surprised the 135/2L is not on the list.

I think it was #2 at that focal length, but that Zeiss costs over $2,000!

I have followed DXO from the early days, they started off quite hit and miss but over the years have found them to be fairly accurate.

I own the 24 IS and 35 IS primes which are on there and both deservedly so, the 35 can cut a piece of paper at 50 feet . There again the 40mm 2.8 canon is on there too which i find hard to justify as i owned that and sent it back - could have been a dud but was not impressed.

Newcastle Teesside
Durham Darlington Wedding Photographer www.andrew-davies.com

I keep hearing great things about the 24 and 35 IS lenses, so it's not a surprise. Also, the 40mm has no competition, but it is a sharp lens. I sold mine after using it for about 5 minutes. I have too much overlap with my other lenses.

Could you post the marketing date of the lens?

That would be a lot of work (this was just a simple copy & paste), but if someone else wants to do it, go right ahead

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

First, the ratings only apply to a specific camera body. Certainly not across brands.

People tend to look at the numbers but misunderstand what they mean. They are forever comparing ratings from one brand to another, a 12mp camera rating to a 32mp rating. The DXO ratings cannot be used that way.

Sharpness (Acuity) is far from the only quality of a lens, in fact, most lens reviewers measure contrast (MTF). DXO's score, unfortunately does not tell us a lot about a lens, and it is not a measure of sharpness. Certainly acuity and MTF are factored into their score, but it is incorrect to use the DXO overall number and say that represents sharpness.

What factors in to their rating? - They say:

"
The DxOMark Score considers the overall performance of a lens plus its performance when used with a specific camera body.

• The Optical Metric Scores consider the classical or standard measurements used to rate the performance of a lens, such as sharpness, distortion, vignetting, transmission and chromatic aberration."

Do they measure coma
What about Autofocus accuracy or speed
What about IS



Their is a lot of improvement that needs to be done in their ratings, several times they have been called out for totally wrong ratings, and after defending them, they silently updated them to correct them.

I would not put much if any value in their ratings, since they seem to be unreliable, and use undisclosed weightings that often do not seem to match the real world values that other reviewers take into account.