StaaleS
Established
The 135mm f/2L also deserves a mention. A superb piece of kit.
Zeiss ZE lens Recommendations?
- Thread starter jke
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hellomikmik
Well-known
makro planar 50/2 (to start with)
i have the ZF version but I guess it's almost the same as ZE. I also have 35/2 and 100/2 but somehow the 50 is the my favorite (for the moment)
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1038&message=33429049
i have the ZF version but I guess it's almost the same as ZE. I also have 35/2 and 100/2 but somehow the 50 is the my favorite (for the moment)
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1038&message=33429049
E.M
Well-known
I think the 14-24 nikkor has excellent quality for a super wide angle zoom.
But it is expensive , doesn't take filters and it's very wide .
http://www.etiennemichiels.com
But it is expensive , doesn't take filters and it's very wide .
http://www.etiennemichiels.com
jke
Well-known
I think what I am going to do is rent lenses from Adorama, starting with the 35mmL and the 24mmL. I don't think they are renting any of the Zeiss lenses yet, but given the recommendations here, I at least need to know for myself how these lenses shoot before I totally discount them.
Buying Leica lenses was sort of like Nascar - buy a Summicron and turn it to the right.
But Canon AF lenses often seem to have sample irregularities. The first 17-40mm lens I got had to be returned because the left 1/4 of the image degraded the closer the focus got to infinity. Thus the Zeiss recommendation.
In the Zeiss, the consensus seems to be (from a night's worth of reading Fred Miranda) people really like the Makro-Planars (100mm and 50mm) and the 21mm f2.8 Distagon. The other lenses have pluses and minuses, but all of them get an enthusiastic thumbs-up on the rendering of color and detail, with an emphasis on 3-D-like image quality. So I will take that under advisement. 🙂
Thanks for the advice here!
Buying Leica lenses was sort of like Nascar - buy a Summicron and turn it to the right.
But Canon AF lenses often seem to have sample irregularities. The first 17-40mm lens I got had to be returned because the left 1/4 of the image degraded the closer the focus got to infinity. Thus the Zeiss recommendation.
In the Zeiss, the consensus seems to be (from a night's worth of reading Fred Miranda) people really like the Makro-Planars (100mm and 50mm) and the 21mm f2.8 Distagon. The other lenses have pluses and minuses, but all of them get an enthusiastic thumbs-up on the rendering of color and detail, with an emphasis on 3-D-like image quality. So I will take that under advisement. 🙂
Thanks for the advice here!
jke
Well-known
I hear you. The photos that started this journey of mine long ago (back when there was just a Canon 5D and no mkII) are from one of my Flickr contacts who pretty much uses a 5D and a 35mm f1.4L lens exclusively during his travels. And boy does he travel! Quite a torture test for man and equipment it seems. So on that visual recommendation I thought hmm, maybe I could deal with a digital camera.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nygus/
And thus began the circular hand-wringing on lenses, which is not usually what I like to spend a lot of time doing (I'd rather take photos.) So at some point I will just walk in and put my money on the table and walk out with a box of some sort and that will be it.🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nygus/
And thus began the circular hand-wringing on lenses, which is not usually what I like to spend a lot of time doing (I'd rather take photos.) So at some point I will just walk in and put my money on the table and walk out with a box of some sort and that will be it.🙂
M
Makten
Guest
I've had ~40 lenses for my Nikon D700. The Zeiss 35/2 Distagon ZF is THE best of them, in my opinion. The ZE is identical optically. The only real drawback is its size and a bit of barrel distortion.
jke
Well-known
Makten - thanks! From the photo samples I've seen, I like that lens. I am torn between the 35mm and the 28mm, the latter being what I use most with my Leica. But I think I might eventually get the 21mm lens, so the 35mm makes a lot more sense in terms of focal length. All three seem like great lenses.
In case anyone is interested in this ongoing sense-making I am stumbling through, I rented a 24-105mm f4.0L IS USM (represented to me as one of the sharpest landscape/travel zooms Canon makes) and a 35mm f1.4L USM (the lens I originally intended to get before I got sidetracked into second-guessing-land) and I shot a bunch of test shots alongside my 17-40mm f4.0L here.
In case anyone is interested in this ongoing sense-making I am stumbling through, I rented a 24-105mm f4.0L IS USM (represented to me as one of the sharpest landscape/travel zooms Canon makes) and a 35mm f1.4L USM (the lens I originally intended to get before I got sidetracked into second-guessing-land) and I shot a bunch of test shots alongside my 17-40mm f4.0L here.
jke
Well-known
Bump for more lenses!
Bump for more lenses!
I rented a 28mm f2.0 T* ZE and a 35mm f2.0 T* ZE from Adorama, and I added them to the comparison. The images from these two lenses begin here on Flickr. I also added a Nikkor-S 55mm f1.2 w/adapter, just for fun. Limited adjustments, sharpening, etc.
28mm @ f22
35mm @ f22
55mm @ f16
Bump for more lenses!
I rented a 28mm f2.0 T* ZE and a 35mm f2.0 T* ZE from Adorama, and I added them to the comparison. The images from these two lenses begin here on Flickr. I also added a Nikkor-S 55mm f1.2 w/adapter, just for fun. Limited adjustments, sharpening, etc.
28mm @ f22
35mm @ f22
55mm @ f16
RAZOR
Established
I can tell you from experience that the ZE line is phenomenol. I own the 50 f/1.4 and the 85 f/1.4 and they have a signature all their own. If you can live with manual focus they beat the "L" line of primes in my opinion. They are built very well and the focus ring is so smooth you won't believe it. I am currently using them on a 1DMKII with an EC-S focus screen. This is a 1.3 crop body but I have used these on the FF 5d as well. Using these lenses really becomes easier with practice just don't plan on shooting fast moving action with them. Haoda also makes a focus screen that will work with your camera, I used the 5D-A on a 5dMKI and it worked great.
Here is the link for the screen:
http://haodascreen.com/Canon5D.aspx
Good luck with your decision, for what it is worth they give me the satisfaction of money well spent.
Here is the link for the screen:
http://haodascreen.com/Canon5D.aspx
Good luck with your decision, for what it is worth they give me the satisfaction of money well spent.
jke
Well-known
I did shots at a range of apertures. All seemed better than anything I have tried from Canon.
28mm @ f5.6
35mm @ f5.6
Focusing for street work is frustrating though. Hyperfocal settings work well on the 28mm at f8 and f16, but on a dark day like today, I have to learn the balance of f-stop, shutter speed and ISO in order to manage depth of field & focus better, instead of just blasting away at f2. F2 isn't bad by any stretch, but focusing errors (i.e. me) are more frequent. Not sure if the S-screen will improve my average or if a Haoda screen would be better...or if I just need to practice practice practice. After years of using a Leica, I know what I can get away with. With this camera, I am much more unsure about where the focus is.
28mm @ f2.0
28mm @ f5.6
35mm @ f5.6
Focusing for street work is frustrating though. Hyperfocal settings work well on the 28mm at f8 and f16, but on a dark day like today, I have to learn the balance of f-stop, shutter speed and ISO in order to manage depth of field & focus better, instead of just blasting away at f2. F2 isn't bad by any stretch, but focusing errors (i.e. me) are more frequent. Not sure if the S-screen will improve my average or if a Haoda screen would be better...or if I just need to practice practice practice. After years of using a Leica, I know what I can get away with. With this camera, I am much more unsure about where the focus is.
28mm @ f2.0
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gavinlg
Veteran
I have a haoda screen for my 5d. I put it in for like 2 minutes and then took it out and put the ee-s back in. The haoda split screen thing basically does nothing.
jke
Well-known
Gavin - so perhaps you can answer my question. I've read several places where the S-screen is described as being darker at f4.0 and slower. Does that refer to lenses that require stop-down metering only or does it also mean that the S-screen would be darker with a 17-40mm f4 lens as that lens' widest aperture would obviously be f4?
gavinlg
Veteran
Both - With (say) a 50mm 1.4 nikkor adapted to a 5d - if you set the aperture at f4 and tried to focus, it would be darker through the viewfinder than it normally would with the standard focussing screen.
I do use a 17-40mm f4L quite a bit, and it is also noticeably darker through the viewfinder with the ee-s screen than the standard one. it's still useable however, just not as pleasant. I want to upgrade to a 16-35mm f2.8 so it doesn't bother me too much.
In saying that though, the S screen is one of the best additions I've made to the camera - I can correctly manual focus my 35mm 1.4L or 85mm 1.8 about 90% of the time, as opposed to something like 30-40% of the time with the standard screen. Well worth it.
The haoda screen is just an ee-s screen with a tiny little split line thing in the spot metering circle on the 5d. The problem is that the center AF point box cuts right through the middle of the split line, and therefore makes it nearly unusable for me, just adding more screen clutter.
jke
Well-known
Excellent clarification. Thanks!
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