Finally, The Carl Zeiss 28mm f2.8 Biogon Report

jsrockit said:
Anyone using this lens with an M8? How's it working out?
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I've just ordered one, which will arrive in a week or two. I'll let you know how it performs on M8 as soon as I've been well enough acquainted with it. ;)

This thread was one of the reasons I decided to buy it. I've got the Voigtländer 28/2 Ultron today, which is great. But it's a lens that works best when shot wide open.

Thanks Avotius, for the fantastic report!
 
Great report on the Biogon lens.

On what you said about the film - if you found TRI-X had too big a grain for your tastes, then you will be disappointed with HP5 plus. That film demonstrates larger grain in D76 and Rodinal than TRI-X. I love that look, but if you are after a smoother look then go for Neopan 400- higher contrast than HP5 but smoother grain.

Cheers,
Jaans
 
I am pleased you are happy with your Biogon, but the first two are hideously oversharpened and my Canon 610 P&S will do better than the rest of them.
 
Ronald M said:
I am pleased you are happy with your Biogon, but the first two are hideously oversharpened and my Canon 610 P&S will do better than the rest of them.
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Hardly oversharpened, I'd say they're about right, and I would LOVE to see some shots like that from your canon 610.
 
jsrockit said:
Anyone using this lens with an M8? How's it working out?
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I think they are a great combination. I am using an IR cut filter and do not have the lens coded...I made a profile with cornerfix but haven't bothered to use it yet, as I can't really detect any significant color shift. I'm sure it's there, it just doesn't bother me.

Sorry for the semi-lame samples below, but it's winter and I'm not getting out as much as I'd like!

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I have been using the 28mm on my R-D1 and now with my M8.
I have 2 issues here:

1. Can someone tell me is it that the lens are unable to focus till 0.5m?
Usually my focusing would only starts only at the 0.7m, is this a malfunction?

2. And sometimes towards turning the focus dial close to 0.5m, it has a squeeky sound, what can I do about it?

Otherwise this is a great lens...
 
hon910 said:
I have been using the 28mm on my R-D1 and now with my M8.
I have 2 issues here:

1. Can someone tell me is it that the lens are unable to focus till 0.5m?
Usually my focusing would only starts only at the 0.7m, is this a malfunction?

2. And sometimes towards turning the focus dial close to 0.5m, it has a squeeky sound, what can I do about it?

Otherwise this is a great lens...
Click to expand...

Some of the ZM lenses can focus closer than what the RF mechanism of the M8 does. So there's nothing wrong, you'll just have to stop at .7 meters or guesstimate the distance when focusing closer.
 
hon910 said:
I have been using the 28mm on my R-D1 and now with my M8.
I have 2 issues here:

1. Can someone tell me is it that the lens are unable to focus till 0.5m?
Usually my focusing would only starts only at the 0.7m, is this a malfunction?

2. And sometimes towards turning the focus dial close to 0.5m, it has a squeeky sound, what can I do about it?

Otherwise this is a great lens...
Click to expand...

Hi Steven,

I thought we cleared this up back in September 2008 ;) I guess my word alone wasn't good enough :eek:

This time, I found the information on page 124 of the manual for the Leica M8.2 (link to manual here). Please see the page below. The same limitation of a rangefinder-coupled minimum focus distance of 0.7m applies to all other M-mount cameras. As for the squeak, your lens might have gotten some dust or something in the focus helical. A relube will fix it as good as new.

4310683105_405c5a5d7e_o.jpg
 
THanks to Avotious for the Photo-Essay!! well organized and thoughtful. I was also relieved to just see ANYthing about this Biogon 28/2.8 on the forum, unless I missed it. It seems to be s/w undervalued. I really like the color shots provided. I bought this lens in 2005 and immediately took it out on a 2 month trip in Asia without really "studying" its signature. I shot mostly B&W that trip, but I have come to feel that I do like it better w/color.

I also saw the post about a month ago re: a guy on a trip in Vietnam with a Biogon 35/2. His color shots were really nice, the color renderings with these Biogons is just impressive, and he was only shooting Reala. I use the Zeiss hood with the 28, its a great hood, strong and light with a quality spring tension push and twist mechanism, without filter.

About 6 months ago I picked up the 21/2.8 Biogon and was floored, for its price point. I have mostly shot color with it: its a quality and typical "modern" lens: sharp and contrasty, and still fast for a WA lens. I keep reading that the f4.5 version is even sharper, but I see now need for more sharpness, I would just recommend the faster 2.8, especially for digital: the crop factor for M8s and the RD-1s which I use it on.

Finally, the 28/2.8 has been my grab-n-go lens on my RD-1s, since it puts into the 42/2.8 category:--> pretty slow for a "normal" lens, so I was considering the CV 28/2 to pick up some speed and DOF. Would be nice to see a direct comparison of these 2 lenses on RFF. We'll see, the Biogon is a pretty sweet lens, hard to give up. But Im moving toward narrower lenses rather than wider, and the heritage Leica collapsible Summicron and Summitar are my current test projects..........
 
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An excellent review - informative and delightful too. Thanks for taking the time to share it here.

I'm very happy with my ZMs (25/2.8, 35/2, 50/2, 50/1.5) which, except for a couple of fast CVs, are all I use. I like the consistency of imaging and handling. Makes for less development and post-processing variations, thus more predictable results. The Zeiss "look" is to taste, of course. It agrees with me.
 
I find the "flatness" of the image esp the high mid tones being amplified a little bit boring for my taste. I find that it is very close to my old vintage lenses but alot alot crispier... hmm... Is there any reason why the color images have a green cast to them? What film were you using? Tom is spot-on for zeiss' negatives to brew for contrast as the mid tones tend to be higher. it is indeed more forgiving than Leica's asph lenses. Interesting fact.

Let me do an Elmarit asph field report and we'll see ;)
Thanks to Avotius for the lovely report! Appreciate that!
 
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I think some of the color images have a green cast due to artificial/mixed lighting. They would need to be cleaned up PP.
 
Interestin report with good pictures: thanks Avotius. I like the 28 focal length but now the photo/hobby budget is too low !
robert
 
I like the 28mm focal length and have been waffling back and forth between the ZM f/2.8 or the Elmarit-m ASPH. I checked the price of the Leica a few days ago and noticed it had gone up by $200. :mad: Then, checking again on the Zeiss, I see it also went up to over $1k. :mad::mad:

Anybody else notice this? Maybe I should pony up the bucks before they increase again ....
 
From what my economy friend tells me, the value of the US dollar will continue to decline, making the cost of goods, particularly from oversees, continue to increase. My friend, though not a professional per se, advised me to buy now any item that I would be buying in the next 2 years anyway, since the price will continue to rise. The US administration keeps printing more USD, not good to keep inflation down. Im afraid the US economy is worse than what the general masses (including me) realize.........so about buying that nice piec of glass now vs later??.........
 
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