High Resolution 8.5x11 Chrome SD Lens Test Chart, 3-P

I picked this up to check out my scanner. It worked well, but clearly shows that the chart is limited to 800 dpi at a 1:1 scan. I like that the supplier did not try to overstate the resolution. I've attached a small scan of an 800dpi horizontal gauge, and you can see the individual dots in the silkscreen pattern. The vertical 800dpi lines are more closely spaced (the size difference is because of my crop - look at the line / space ratio). You can see that the lines are a little different on the printed chart. On my scanner, you can clearly see. the silkscreen dot and shading patterns. However, as the chart is intended for reduction to a 35mm format, film resolution is going to be 4 - 5x the printed version. Also, the color and shading graduations look good. Overall, for the price, it is a great test target for color, shading and resolution. That said, I could easily see some unethical seller try to reproduce it on inkjet, so this is one of the products where you need to make sure you are getting the genuine article.

The material is thin cardboard. Overall I think this is perfect for amateur work, but I deduct one star because it does feel a bit flimsy (the cardboard could have been thicker) and I can see small imperfections by eye. Most noticeable for me is that some of the color squares have two distinct shades of the same color, and on the purple side of the color wheel you really can't see the individual squares. This target is perfect for amateur work, and for professional work where exact color matching isn't important (think of a YouTuber reviewing a camera lens or photographic film). But a professional that needs accurate colors would not find this acceptable. Then again, you'd be an idiot to expect perfection for $15. You didn't come here to find out if this chart is as good as a $100 chart. You know it isn't. You came here to find out if it's a good buy for $15, and I feel that it is.

Very pleased with the purchase. Would like instructions, but received great answers when I requested user inputs on Amazon. I set up the three cards in my basement arranging them in a diagonal to get a 33 x 24.75" test, which is exactly the 4:3 aspect ratio of my sensor. This is more demanding than simply taking an image of a single card and works very well for wide angle lenses. I use the test set up to find the sweet spot of my new and legacy manual focus lenses. By changing the ISO and the aperture, I can also see where performance drops off, compare lenses and cameras, examine depth-of-field, check AF accuracy (and my manual focus ability), color balance, etc. I compare results with known combinations of newer lenses and cameras tested by www.dxomark.com and get a feel for the how combinations (such as my legacy lenses) not tested by dxomark stack up against my cameras and lenses that are in the extensive dxomark database.

The eyes don't lie and when you shoot a picture of this with a lens, it will tell you everything you need to know about the quality of your lens and your camera. Flip it over and you have the lined graph that will tell you instantly how your lens is performing about the edges. Best investment I've made for checking and testing lenses. Don't know what I did before.

They did a nice job for the price making something pretty, but it is too small be be useful. The color squares are much too small, and who needs a test pattern from the 70's? The larger white/black balance cards (which I got at the same time) are the solution to easy white balancing. I think it would be interesting to have large rgb squares sometime, but the ones on this were just too small.

Good chart to test cameras and lenses

I used this to learn how to use older manual lenses to their maximum potential and it was a huge help. Colors are satisfying and bold. With a good lens, you can see the stair-step pattern of the printed pixels on the card. I imagine it's 300dpi. While a slight disappointment, it didn't really matter in practice. One limit of any printed card is that it won't test extremely high-contrast situations. If you're photographing a dark bird against a bright cloudy sky, there's all kinds of fringing, chromatic aberration, and vignetting that won't show up on a front-lit card. You're going to need a totally different setup for that.

I'm glad it's a three-pack. I keep these in my basement, set up at three distances: 4 meters, 5.5 meters, and 7 meters. In this way, I can compare binocular resolving power, contrast, and field of view, using the closest target that both binoculars can focus on. The vertical lines, in particular, make it easy to determine which model resolves better.