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Zeiss Manual Lenses users

C

cliffpatte

Speed camera anarchist
I have just bought a manual Zeiss 35:2 ZF Distagon

I'd be interested in stories and pictures from ZF, ZK and ZM Zeiss users. I'll be using the ZF on a Nikon D3.

cheers
Cliff
 
Perhaps I need to ask a question, as nobody has replied yet.

How does this lens (or any of the same design/model range with different focal lengths) perform best? I did a few test shots last night in low(ish) light, with the lens wide open as necessary and noticed that it was perhaps not as sharp in the centre of the image is it might have been - is it optimal to use in the middle of the F stop range?

I'll take a few pictures later today with different settings and see how that works out.

Incidentally if anyone is reading and is not familiar with this lens - I have to say that it is a lot better looking than either the Leica Summicron 35:2 or the Nikkor 35:2 AIS - and is industrial strength build, and is a pleasure just to operate - smooth and positive, like a good old fashioned tool should be.
 
Cliff,

All my lenses are sharper stopped down a couple of clicks than at maximum aperture, so it shouldn't be surprising that the 35mm Zeiss behaves the same way. It's a premium lens, however, so it should be usable at maximum aperture.

The Zeiss's MTF graph from Photozone certainly suggests that its performance even at maximum aperture in the centre of the frame is excellent (i.e., >2200), so if you're not getting good results your lens could be defective.

mtf.gif


Joe
 
My 25/2.8 Zeiss has all the colour, contrast and sharpness one could wish for and the only issue I have had is the slightly iffy bokeh discussed previously.

Other than that, it's an awesome lens with which I have been very happy.
 
joe.

you just lost another 100 photography FEPs for posting a lens measurement chart.

vuk.
 
Vuk,

Would a picture of a brick wall be better?

Joe
 
For Joe : http://tinyurl.com/4kw3w5

Unfortuatnely, my Zeiss story "I Can't Believe She's Got Bad Bokeh" -- one man's struggle with classic Zeiss style purple fringing on high contrast edges -- has been licensed for a major motion picture so I cannot provide details here. It's a real page turner though.
 
Urrgh, that's pretty terrible. Not disimilar to the problem I have had with mine but far worse -- although strong directional sunlight into mirrors and sipirt optics is pretty much about the toughest bokeh test you could find.

Matthew
 
I shot a few more this morning around Borough Market and Southwark Bridge, so I'll see if there is one worth sharing later on. I have to say the images look better on the display on the camera than similar shots with the Nikkor 50, in terms of light balance across the frame and contrast but the Bokeh thing could put me of getting any more of these lenses.

Perhaps I'll have to try the Leica with that same subject as above and see how it copes with out of focus reflected sunlight off the optics. Obviously gettting Tom and Robin into the same position is going to be challenging.
 
Cliff,

Just for comparison, here's a shot with Nikon's best 35mm lens, though there's nothing specular in the image to really test its bokeh --

1574204556_fb493f19ec_o.jpg


Originally a Fuji Astia 100F shot, scanned on a Minolta film scanner.

Joe
 
These were taken with a Pentax FA35/2AL, when I was documenting the E-IX development. I think the bokeh is pleasant enough for a plastic, Japanese lens.

6631940-md.jpg


6631947-md.jpg



James
 
Well Cliff already has one is the point in this case.

BTW I don't understand the Pentax 35mm lenses as different people recommend different ones. Certainly that one isn't the one Vuk recommends. Although the point is somewhat moot for me at least as I have a 25 and a 43 and if I buy anything is would be the 31 Limited to give me close to a 50mm.
 
matthewr said:
Certainly that one isn't the one Vuk recommends.
Click to expand...
Think of the FA35/2AL as a poor man's FA31 Limited. I think it is a fantastic lens, and better than the FA50/1.4 in many ways. Vuk won't like it because it's an AF lens.

James
 
Here is a quote from Yoshihiko Takinami, a Pentax lens arbiter.

FA35/2AL is superior to K35/3.5 in point of correction, color saturation, and uniformity of image all over the frame. They are the two best 35mm (focal length) lenses Pentax ever made, IMO.
Click to expand...

James
 
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