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Anonymous
>>165388Yes, most lenses are noticeably better stopped down some. But yes, you can use them wide open and no one will be able to tell the difference without looking at them side by side.
That isn't always true. I had one lens (a Sigma 24-70 f/2.8) that was so poor wide open that you could actually see haze on the LCD without magnification. It was so soft at f/2.8 the photos were unusable. Might as well have had an f/4 lens that was sharp and weighed half as much.
Most camera manufacturer's primes (Nikon, Canon, etc, not Sigma) are perfectly usable through the entire aperture range. I own or have owned a Nikon 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, 105mm f/2.8 and Canon 50mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8. All of them were better wide open than most zooms are at their best. They did get better when you stopped down a bit, but they were 100% usable wide open. That plus my mixed experience with Sigma lenses would make me very hesitant to buy an expensive Sigma prime, especially when it has a reputation for being soft wide open.
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