Monochrom and Zeiss ZM 21/4.5?

[Dante_Stella]

Has anyone used the Monochrom with symmetrical wide-angles like the Zeiss 21/4.5? Is there much smearing in the corners? Or is that an artifact solely of color sensors (I suspect it is).

Thanks!
Dante

 

[Dektol Dan]

21mm 4.5

21mm 4.5

Smearing? Many/most 21's loose the corner focus even with film, I could show a couple of examples. The 'Italian flag' color shift from red to green in the corners may also happen with film, but it is usually a sensor thing. It's a sensor thing on the M9. Some digital cameras like the Canon 5D Mk I are pretty immune. (Some times newer is not always better.)

All wides vignette, but for me that's part of the look. The ZM 21 4.5 has almost zero distortion, and is dead sharp in the corners. It's almost that good wide open too. 4.5 may seem slow, but on the Mono with it's outstanding ISO range it isn't.

Check out the corners:

 

[Dante_Stella]

Thanks - I am familiar with the sharpness falloff. What I am looking at is this:

- With an M 240, the M-Hexanon 21-35 is sharp corner to corner (it's retrofocus).
- With an X-Pro1, the 14mm is sharp corner to corner (likewise).
- With an M 240, the ZM 21/4.5 and the Kobalux 21/2.8 both have focus falloff at the corners that looks like a sharp image was distorted.

I specifically bought the ZM for a future Monochrom; the idea was to figure out if this behavior persists. If it did, I might boot the lens to help pay for the body.

Dante

 

[Dektol Dan]

On the Mono

On the Mono

Dante:
Rest assured that the 4.5 is dead sharp corner to corner on the mono.

Wide open:

 

[thompsonks]

As is the f2.8 – the corner tinting just doesn't matter in BW.

Kirk