>>4296422>Something that I heard about zooms is that the high element count and push for optical perfection is what ruins the rendering.This has been fervently denied by every optics engineer. Actually shitty coatings for the element count and not using a hood ruin the contrast. That’s IT. You can see this demonstrated in modern zooms here
https://blog.kasson.com/nikon-z6-7/nikon-24-70-2-8-24-70-4-on-z7-70-mm/In historical context, most coatings were shit. Yes even muh scheiss tee. So zooms had worse contrast than primes and simple lenses had better contrast than complex one.
Schizos like yannick khong never figured this elementary fact out (its also called lens flare) and came up with crazy shit like elements reducing “micro contrast” and ED elements having less “depth rendering” than leaded glass based on asspull explanations and demonstrated by comparing 5 element top shelf nikkor primes to 17 element tamron zooms.
Today element count doesnt predict shit because of how diverse and excellent coatings and element materials have gotten. It varies on a lens to lens basis, and it always varied with shooting conditions.
