If you have a f/1.4 lens then all else being equal it will be sharper at f/2 then an f/2 lens. Most lenses will be their sharpest stopped down a couple of stops. Different people like different things, and modern photographers will, naturally, work the craft differently than the "old masters" before them, but to call shallow DOF an "overrated concept" in todays photographers is just plain ridiculous. I don't mean to put you down hard, but really, this question has been asked over and over again, and it's just as silly every time. And you think creamy bokeh is a problem today? Just google "large format portraits" and see how portraits used to look. Have you seen large format portraits from the really "old masters"? Do you know how razor thin the depth of focus is on a large format camera? People have difficulty focusing at all because of how innately shallow the DOF is in large format cameras. Lastly, pretending it's something from "modern photography" is ridiculous at best, grossly ignorant at worst. There are more photographers than ever before, because of the incredible access to hardware and the incredible ease of operating it, so naturally you're going to be seeing more photos that are barely average in genuine quality. What you're doing wrong is generalizing everyone shooting wide open as "bad" photographers. It's a basic technique for separating your subject from the background, or to highlight certain features while subduing others. Sure, a great portrait photographer will do more than simply shoot wide open and expect that to make the photo, but shallow DOF is simply fashionable. This has always been the case, even with the "old masters". Photography as an art form goes in and out of various fashion cycles. I'm sorry, but this is rather pretentious bullshit. And it's fault of all the BOKEHLICIOUS photos we see online, it is as if we have forgotten what good photo is about. I often become very confused what aperture to use, everything beyond 2 seems to me as some unknown land. Every beginner and even more advanced photgrapher treats the lens "speed" and sharpness wide open as the main factor in buying a new lens. When you look at today's photography, in professional! portals and magazines, it's mostly bokeh, it's just a PRETTY PHOTO. When you're looking on some old masters photos, the aperture looks like something from f4 to f8 and these photos are still amazing. Bokeh is nice, photo is taken in golden hour so it has really good lighting, DOF is so shallow that you barely can see the person's nose. But why is large aperture practically glued in every second person's lens? I'm talking here mostly about portrait work and full body shots. We love that oh, how creamy bokeh, we love shooting in night with pretty decent speed.
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