Cheap Lens Versus Not Cheap Lens

I did not set out to do this comparison, if I had I would have chosen a more expensive lens for the “not cheap” lens if only to allow for a more dramatic headline. In fact, I didn’t even take these photos with the same camera (though they are similar cameras from of the same brand, so trust me, 99% of the difference is the lens).

No, I had just been searching the backyard for half-way interesting things to photography with the ultra cheap $20 lens I’ve been playing with, and then I happened to wander by again later with another camera and decided to snap the same photo again with whatever lens happened to be attached to it.

Football with Cheap Lens — Football with Modern Lens

These are not straight out of the camera, these are both edited to my personal preferences.

What’s most interesting to me is not the obvious differences. The photo taken with a modern lens is obviously much sharper, had better colour accuracy pre-edit, and is technically superior overall. What I find interesting is that I don’t have a clear preference for one over the other.

For those that are curious, here is how both images looked before being edited:

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