The fuzzyness is visible too. While stopping down brings in more detail, with a higher level of sharpness the crispness is lacking. Tough objects like distant trees with small branches lack blackness and contrast. The Elmarit-M at full aperture shows very fine detail, but it is not rendered sharply and extremely fine detail is lost. The Elmarit ASPH gives better imagery at full aperture.
Sharpness is higher, and extremely detail is just detectible.
The reproduction factor of the extremely fine details is higher with a 21mm than with a 28mm. Even if the grain and the film would allow it, the 21mm needs a higher magnification to show the same details at the same format and therefore needs a higher degree of optical corrections at a higher spatial frequency. A comparison can be made when we use the same reproduction rates. I always a reference distance of 100 x focal length, which gives subject detail the same format irrespective of focal length. The test shows clearly that performance at infinity with the latest generations of 21mm is on a very high level.