- AN lens is over-engineered. They didn't have CAD to help them design a lens that is perfectly "sharp enough" at a certain resolution so just made a design that had way more resolving power than it needed.
The downside is that the AN lens probably cost more new when adjusted for inflation. e.g. Voigtlander lenses for Nikon may seem expensive but adjusted for inflation they are comparable in price to Nikon's made in Japan, all-metal lenses from back in the day.
- Sample variation. Maybe your new lens is a dud; it happens
- user error. More than once I have seen a lens review call a lens soft when the test picture is obviously not focused correctly
- AN lens is over-engineered. They didn't have CAD to help them design a lens that is perfectly "sharp enough" at a certain resolution so just made a design that had way more resolving power than it needed.
The downside is that the AN lens probably cost more new when adjusted for inflation. e.g. Voigtlander lenses for Nikon may seem expensive but adjusted for inflation they are comparable in price to Nikon's made in Japan, all-metal lenses from back in the day.
- Sample variation. Maybe your new lens is a dud; it happens
- user error. More than once I have seen a lens review call a lens soft when the test picture is obviously not focused correctly