You are missing the point. Because photography is a creative medium it does not mean that knowing how to achieve the highest possible performance that ones tools are capable of is necessarily at odds with this creativity.
The high level of technical experience and knowledge of members of this forum is highly impressive and appreciated as far as I am concerned. And this coming from a guy who has frequently used zone plates, which use diffraction itself to resolve the image - AND likes to know if I want to capture some texture on a wall behind a subject what the best aperture choice would be.
I am missing the point?
The point of technical knowledge is just not to give an easy answer to achieve one thing, in this case the highest MTF, but to tell you how photography works so you can function in your medium and create the best result for yourself and your image. Everyone wants to be told what to do because that is easy--this is what the OP wants. Well, photography is not easy and you need to learn to control your medium. "F/11 and be there" is not control.
And you really can see now one really understands the medium. No one has brought up how the image will be perceived by a viewer. Sharpness is more important in giving the perception a photograph is detailed than resolving power. Yes, there are many experts here. I happen to be one of them--as Erik is. I am not advocating the wishy-washy idea that photography is a creative art and you should just let it all hang out and technique is irrelevant. I just don't believe in a formalistic approach to technical quality, mostly because it is not true.
If you want the formalist answer, I can give it to you--base ISO, 1/250s, f/11, on a 200lb tripod, in front of a high-contrast test target. Your images will always be the "best."