How much sharpness can I get from a zoom?

[Pigelin]

For now I have the canon 50 mm f/1.8, which is good with nice sharpness and a very decent price. Unfortunaly my standard zoom lens is the canon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6, which have not so good picture quality. But now I wonder, can I get the sharpness and good picture quality from my prime in a zoom? The prime is pretty cheap, but perhaps you can never get the quality from a prime in a zoom at decent cost?

[RichardTaylor]

Try shooting mid range apertures, like F8, and see how that looks.

[kirbinster]

From a good zoom lens you can get great sharpness. I shoot Nikon, but I think the Canon "L" series glass is the good stuff. When I use my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR lens I get pictures that are sharp as a tack.

[ishootRAW]

Take a look at the Tamron 17-50 2.8. It is considered one of the sharpest lenses under $1000

[Hill Country Hack]

I have the same Canon 18-55mm IS lens and I get very sharp photos in the midrange apetures and midrange focal point. It is my favorite walking around lens (I only have two lol). I have gotten very sharp images at both ends of the focal length. May it be technique, bad copy?

[Dave C.]

+1 to the 70-200 2.8 VR (nikon), as said above the Canon L series is also a great lens. My 70-200 2.8 VR is without question the best lens I have ever owned. Takes the cleanest pictures of any lens I have ever owned. compared to the 18-200 it is a night and day difference, had i know that when i originally bought the 18-200 I never would have wasted the $$ on it, and instead saved an extra couple months to buy the 70-200.

Can you tell i like this lens? :-)

[Arnold23]

Dave > is it great for low light conditions? or night photo shoot?

[Dave C.]

Originally Posted by Arnold23

Dave > is it great for low light conditions? or night photo shoot?

i would say it is very good for low light since it has a 2.8 aperture, so it will let a lot of light in, now this doesn't mean that you can shoot in the dark, with no light.

just take your 50mm and set it to f2.8 and that will be how much light the 70-200 will let in also.

[sk66]

I think the key to the question is "at a decent cost".
To get sharpness from a zoom that rivals a prime, it's not going to be "at a decent cost". It's going to be the most expensive version there is out there...

But you can get excellent sharpness from almost any lens if used at it's "sweet spot".

[Pigelin]

Compared to my 50 mm the zoom is never as sharp, even though I use it at good apertures. I just wanted to get a hint for what I can get with a zoom. I don´t think I will be buying a lens over 1000$, not in a near future anyway. But a relatively sharp standard zoom lens with good low light capability would be nice to have.The only problem then is the price...