Zeiss is next!

t5Nitro

t5Nitro

New member
Well, after doing some thread reading on another board and looking at sample shots from the Zeiss ZE lineup it looks like I'll be going to the distagon 21/2.8 and/or the 35/2 ZE.

Quick quote from the guy who has purchased both of the above (both of his threads on each lens has the same comments for multiple pages), "I'm not easily amazed, I own or owned some of the best Canon glass -
35L, 85L II, 135L and so on. Well, to be brief - my jaw is still on the floor!"

and another person said, "I got the Distagon 21 yesterday (27th) - I've only had a few hours to play with it out in the open, but I too am just blown away by it."

The IQ, sharpness, color rendition, mid tones, contrast, and CA handling blows away the canon L's in their equivalents.

Oh, and the prices of their lenses are a fair amount cheaper. Especially the 35 ZE at a "low cost" of $870 compared to $1,370 on the L.


Have any of you thought of or checked into the zeiss line? I know they are not auto focus but for my purpose I don't really need it. They claim the focus is extremely smooth and the lens itself is built very nicely and strong.

So to my next lens... it'll definitely be the 35 f/2 ZE or the distagon 21 f/2.8 ZE.

Would it be more beneficial to just do the 35 to complement a 24-70? I almost think I wouldn't use the 24-70 anymore after seeing sample photos from this lens. SOOC images are incredible and 100% crops (for you pixel peepers) and edges on the raw image are amazing.
 
I've looked at them but I'm a zoom guy at heart. My kit is already too heavy.


Zeiss makes legendary optics, supposedly this line was made with video in mind. As to your question which one to get? Go through your exif data and see what range you do most of your shooting in.
 
Yea, they also claimed in those threads that it would be great for video due to the focusing ring being so fluid.

Can you view exif data in CS4? I know you can in LR but I hate the program (I just don't know how to use it).
 
I probably would not consider the 35 ZE over the 35L because of autofocus and the stop or so difference in speed. The 21 is pretty interesting though. There are several close competitors in that space. The 24L 1.4, 24L tilt-shift, 17L tilt shift, and the Zeiss 21 are all excellent.
 
I only know zeiss because of their binoculars. I would love to own a binocular from zeiss, but the price is a serious issue on them. I'm sure thieir photography optics are top of the line as well.
 
I had the distagon 21 for a while. I loved that lens!

Both of these were shot with it, but a big print will really let you see what this lens does.

03.jpg


04.jpg


The 24 or 17TS looks pretty close though. :D
 
Right, the other lenses are top notch but the zeiss, in my opinion, has an edge on especially the equivalent L's. As long as you don't need the AF, which you said you would want, then I think zeiss is a great pick over canon for better quality and less cost. Unless you're a big fan of zooms over primes like beerguy mentioned he was.

The T* coating on the zeiss is amazing, too. I looked at a pic shot directly into the sun and it had very little flare to it. I thought that was another unique feature.

I can't send a big hype message on them since I haven't owned one yet. I'm going off of other people's pictures and raving reviews on them. I also want to agree with brent there. When people show sample 100% crops on them some of the shots are 100% sharp. Amazing...
 
Cool pics brent, why did you get rid of it?

I can't decide between the 2. 21 or 35. :D I think the 35 would be used more. Can be used as a walk around lens. 21 is probably getting pretty wide. The lowest I've ever had is 24.
 
I have a Zeiss ZE 50mm. Sadly, I have been pretty busy with life and haven't had a chance to really put it through its paces. I fell in love with it almost as soon as I got it.

You can tell it is a very unique lens and it seems like the lens has it's own personality at times. I think this is mainly personified with its bokeh. I love it, but it definitely seems to be a love or hate relationship. So I would check out some examples before you buy your lens to make sure you're okay with it.

The manual focus takes a little getting used to, at least it did for me for me.. auto focus has ruined me lol. However, it is worth the learning curve.The focus ring is definitely top notch as well. It is like someone dipped it in butter right before it left the factory. It is incredibly smooth and it needs deliberate force to change focus - the ring wont "skip" when you start focusing, and it wont change position on it's own.

The construction of the lens is awesome. It is all metal and really feels solid in your hand.

Although it isn't the same lens you are thinking about, fwiw, it may or may not be of use to see some pictures from it.

Shot on a canon 40d:
3802647141_2d60f0f777.jpg


3894920741_8e12c74ca5.jpg


Wish I had better ones to show you, maybe next time! :)

To sum it up, this lens has instilled a love of primes into me and as I start shooting more again, I can easily see myself using this lens for more and more of my work. I easily see myself buying more Zeiss glass down the road as well.

Also, if you search on flickr for shots for the zeiss lens you are thinking about you will find some awesome groups that do nothing buy the zeiss lenses, and they will have examples that may convince you either way. This is how I decided on mine - just lined up a bunch of test shots from different 50's. Hopefully that helps!

Happy shooting!
 
t5Nitro said:
Cool pics brent, why did you get rid of it?
Click to expand...

The market was getting ready to drop out on the original distagon 21, so I decided to sell before I lost a ton. At one time, they were going for near $5K when people first realized you could use them on a canon. I bought way low and decided to make a little on it by trading for a broncolor pack and head system. :D

From the samples I've seen from the TS 17 & new 24, they are just as sharp and let you use T&S for more DOF at larger apertures. The contax 21 flared quite a bit when shooting into the sun and had troublesome flare spots.
 
If you want a crazy sharp lens for cheap, try the canon 50 macro. It's just as sharp as the distagon.

Thx, for compliments everyone.
 
The lenses that t5 are talking about are, apparently, a completely new line. They'll be rolling out several over the next year.

I agree Brent, I've been seriously eyeballing the new TS 17.
 
I've looked at them and they do look nice. Unfortunately, I'm mostly studio bound anymore and couldn't justify the purchase no matter how bad I would like the 17 to go with my 45 TS & 90 TS. I'm still trying to figure out how to by a p65+ to go with my digital RZ system.
 
I haven't checked out the new one yet in detail. Nice to know they've fixed it.

The first image is the "subway" in zion national park.
 
Alright enough already! I'm going to rent the 21mm. Flaring is my biggest enemy. I am always shooting cities/suns and pretty much always have to use the 85mm 1.2 to avoid flare, but the lens is a bit too tight for my tastes. A wide lens known for very little flaring may be right up my alley.

(btw, getting out of the reef hobby for a while, but I'll be back!)
 
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