Zeiss Distagon T* 1,4/35 ZE and ZF.2 announced

I'm so glad they included the number of words and characters at the end of the release. Saves me from having to count them myself. So tedious.

I don't quite understand what Zeiss is doing with this lens. It's massive for a 35mm prime. Perhaps it makes more sense for serious video users?

I also don't love the recent Zeiss bokeh. I looked forward to the 50/1.4, but never bought one because it seemed to do schizo things with OOF. And, this 35.... The background lights aren't bad, i suppose, but the glass of wine with the mickey in it - it looks overly complicated. I really dislike the engineering efforts toward ultimate sharpness with recent lens designs (Zeiss and Nikon). The good lenses are already sharp enough. I want solid AF with beautiful bokeh. Too much to ask?
 
I believe older C/Y mount 35/1.4 has one aspherical element and floating focusing group of elements to counter focusing shift in close range.
 
morgan said:
I've been seriously considering picking up a 5D Mk1, you can find them for under 1k now and I could just use a 35 as a 35....
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Or you can get an EOS 1n for about $100 and use film. I use the EC-B (? forgot exactly) focusing screen on mine that has a tiny split-rangefinder in the middle. Manual focusing is a breeze!

You can't get that for the 5D ;)
 
photogdave said:
The opening paragraph of the press release is hilarious!

"A woman is sitting at the bar of a dimly-lit cafe. Lost in thoughts, she doesn’t notice the glass of wine the bartender places before her. From a distance, a photographer tries to capture her mood. He brings her face, which is leaning toward her phone, into focus. Everything around her becomes a blur, and the lights in the background coalesce into a wild “dance” of diffuse shapes."
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and check out the sample photo!

PI_0141-2010_2.jpg
 
photogdave said:
The opening paragraph of the press release is hilarious!

"A woman is sitting at the bar of a dimly-lit cafe. Lost in thoughts, she doesn’t notice the glass of wine the bartender places before her. From a distance, a photographer tries to capture her mood. He brings her face, which is leaning toward her phone, into focus. Everything around her becomes a blur, and the lights in the background coalesce into a wild “dance” of diffuse shapes."
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I got stucked to this word. how far from distance, with 35mm ? or is photog using it adapted in u4/3 camera ? :D

anyway, interesting glass. I own same specced Nikkor (non-AI) and its also heavy and big for a prime.
 
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I always wonder if corporations that write this stuff really believe their own BS. Besides the frothing, it is obvious that this shot was posed, as are virtually all industrial shots. Just try getting a discrete shot like that with your behemoth ZF 35/1.4 aimed at the subject like a bazooka. Gimme a break...
 
I want this lens and I don't care how big it is ... with the D700's superb IQ and this new 1.4 Distagon there's no excuse for not producing stunning 35mm low light images.

I noticed it's not listed on the Zeiss Shop pages yet though!

After pixel peeping the files from my 50mm f1.4 Planar on the Nikon, it would be hard not to want this piece of glass. It won't look out of place on the D700 but could look pretty funny on a little rangefinder at 120mm long!

:D
 
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lenses.jpg


Apparently to scale... The 35L is big, but not out of place on a 5d sized camera - it's hood is really big though, so it might actually be slightly longer than the distagon f1.4 with hoods on. It's the hood that bugs me most about the 35L, being so long, so maybe the distagon won't be so bad. It is rather obese in diameter though.
 
Check out the bokeh in the background of the sample image. Considering my experience with the current range of Zeiss ZF lenses, I would bet that this thing is going to absolutely incredible. The Zeiss ZF/ZE 35/2 is already my pick for the best performing 35/2 on all formats.
 
Actually I'm still out of town ;-)

Well I guess the difference is to see what rangefinder M users think....we both know how excited SLR users must be
 
leicashot said:
....for Canon and Nikon Mounts only, but could this be a sign of what's to come for M mount?
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Probably not. Their SLR and RF lenses are pretty different construction-wise - look at a Distagin 35/f2 and a Biogon 35/f2 side by side. It's nice that they offer a modern fast SLR 35 now, but whether they produce one for rangefinders is a different matter.

They seem to have ditched their ZK Pentax mount though.
 
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