ZM 21mm or 25mm

T

tfelton

Ted
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Jul 8, 2005
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Has anyone seen results from or looked through both the 21mm and the 25mm ZM lenses for the ZI? I plan to get one or the other but haven't made up my mind which one. I'm assuming that with the 25mm I could get away with not having a seperate viewfinder, but not with the 21mm. The extra viewfinder for the 21mm adds on quite a bit in cost (even through Popflash) so I'm trying to determine if the 4mm difference is worth it. The closest lens I have in that area (other than a 28mm) is a 35mm for the 645 which is about 23mm.
 
Hi,
IMHO, if you have a 35 and not a 28, I would go for the 25. A 20/21 and 28 combo works well as does a 24/25 and 35. If you are looking for a cheaper finder, the CV ones are very good.

Kim
 
Thank you for you input. Zeiss does mention that the 25mm is a good complement to the 35mm, which I do have. I think I was succumbing to the feeling that if a little is good, more is better.

Ted
 
tfelton said:
Again, thanks for the input. I just ordered the ZM 25mm from Popflash. I'll get it Thursday or Friday.

Ted
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Black or silver? When I ordered a black one I found out afterwards that it was on backorder. I waited over a month and Tony finally found one through his distributor in Hong Kong. I finally got it about 2 weeks ago. If its silver it should be no problem, but I wouldn't be surprised if black were still on back order (unless you already have a tracking #).
 
Ted, I bet you'll like that 25 a lot... I have the CV 25 and it's a fine companion for the 35mm. Have fun! :)
 
tfelton said:
I got black and it was in stock.

Ted
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Well I ask because it said on their site it was in stock, but I didn't find out until a couple days later that it was out of stock. I know they were having a hard time getting the black one (neither Tony or Stephen from CameraQuest had one or knew when they would get one) and I never saw a change on the website about it. Anyways, enough of my story. Enjoy the lens. :)
 
I got the ZM 25 Biogon and am amazed by the color, contrast, clarity, and lack of distortion. No experience with the 21 and it's not likely I'll be able to afford one soon...Enjoy!

Bob
 
The 25mm ZM was shipped from Popflash on Tuesday; I got it today (Thursday) at 10:00 this morning. By 2:00 the first roll of negatives was dry. I went into town and took some standard photos so I could compare against previous shots from the ZM 35mm.

I like the field of view of the 25mm, the sharpness and contract is excellent, and I was particularly interested in how it would perform using hyperfocal focusing. I wasn't disappointed. It is a very sunny day today so I shot mainly at f:11 and f:16 using Tri-X .

Not using a external viewfinder was not a problem. I simply looked at the full frame of the viewfinder in the camera beyond the 28mm marks. The little extra you get on the negative didn't affect anything.

Attached is one sample shot. I was using a UV filter. Popflash only carried UVs so I had to order a Y#8 and YG#11 from B&H. They won't be here until Monday. Also, I can't find anyone in the USA that has in stock the 25/28 lens hood.

Ted
 

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Wow, you didn't waste any time! Its a great lens, haven't used it for B&W yet, though.

Just curious, any reason why you don't get the 21/25 hood? I at first wanted the 25/28 but went with the square 21/25 just so it would be easier to identify between that lens and the 50/2 ZM with hood which is similar to the 25/28. Not sure if that would ever be an issue, but that was my reasoning.
 
As far as the hood goes, I figured that if the 25/28 worked with the 28 it would have closer coverage around the 25 than the 21/25 since that one would have to work with the 21.

Ted
 
I have both the 21 non-ASPH Elmarit, an old 28mm Canon (w/adapter) and the 35 ASPH Summicron. The 21mm hasn't seen the light of day since I bought the 25mm Biogon. I'll never sell the 21 but am currenting enjoying the easy handling and good optical performance of the Biogon. I haven't yet used it enough to say that its optical perf is "great" nor do I believe it yet beats any Leica glass. But I do like it's easy mechanical operation! One quibble: I replaced the Zeiss plastic lens cap with a simple, cheap, screw-in metal cap.

Buy the 25/28 Zeiss finder. It's pricey but worth it. In a pinch, the 28 frame in my.72 finder can also be used to estimate coverage for a 25, but the Zeiss finder is a joy to use.

Lastly: I'm saving the Canon 28mm just in case I ever find a clean and working Epson (or other) digital.
 
I'm finding that I use the ZM 35mm about 75% of the time, the ZM 25mm about 20% of the time, and the ZM 50mm for the balance. I grew up using a Contax IIa and learned to appreciated the simplicity of the camera. Nothing extra on it you didn't need. The new ZI is the same - simple.

By the way, I just sent the IIa off to Henry for his overhaul serivce.

Ted
 
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