>>3409042>>3409046>>3409050Pro tip: if your photos aren’t sharp, it’s a lot more likely to be because of your failings as a photographer than because of the AA filter. The effect of an AA filter is, yes, real, but it’s *tiny*. Look at the DPReview studio scene tool for the Nikon D800 and D800E or the Canon 5Ds and 5Ds R. Two cameras with the only difference being presence or absence of an AA filter. If you look at them down to the pixel level in the resolution chart parts of the scene, they look about the same level of sharpness with the only real difference being the non-AA version has a slight color tinge and moire from the lack of antialiasing.
Things that are a million times more likely to cost you resolution than your AA filter:
1. Hitting the shutter button a little too hard
2. Mirror slap
3. Not being quite focused correctly
4. A smudge on your lens
5. Using a lens that doesn’t outresolve your sensor
6. Shooting at anything higher than base ISO
7. Smoke, fog, haze, etc in the air
8. Lens flare
9. Not standing perfectly still when you take the picture
10. Shooting at anything but the sharpest aperture your lens has.
What the AA filter WILL do, assuming you do everything else perfectly to get the maximum sharpness you can, is keep your picture from getting fucked up with moire and aliasing. And either way, AA filter or no AA filter, it’s an effect that’s only visible when looking at the shot at 100%, which you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
Stop caring about the optical stack on your sensor. Concentrate on getting better at composition and lighting.
