ZM 28mm Biogon and R-D1

andrewch

Established
Local time
7:46 AM
Joined
Jan 13, 2005
Messages
111
I tried out my new ZM 28mm yesterday at the 1st July protest, and here are a couple of pics taken with it.
 
Thanks for sharing Andrew ..... i'm considering this lens myself or the 28 summicron.
If you have more samples on-line please share .... i like what i see from these sample.
The colors seem more kind of pastel.. i like that ...
What is your impression so far?

Thanks

Han
 
The lens is quite well built. It is more solid and heavier than chrome Voigtlander lens ( I have only got a 15mm Heliar, and it felt like chrome-plated plastic to me), but not quite so heavy as chrome Leica lens. Focusing is smooth and well damped. The focusing ring is grooved with a slight bump, which acts as a focusing tab. The lens is extremely flare resistant, and I think you can live without the hood. I thought I didn't either, but it was metallic and extremely well made. Comparing to what one pays for a Leica hood or cap, it is a steal. That means, I succumbed :)

So far I am quite pleased with its rendition of colour and contrast. It is not so contrasty as I feared. It is very sunny today, and I will see how it handles a high contrast scene.
 
I only managed to take a few snaps under the mid-noon sun as it was just devilish hot out there. The contrast of the pictures all came out gentler than that found in real life, thanks to the moderate contrast of the lens. The contrast in the first picture would have been 9-10 stops in real life. The bird was black in colour, and it would be a bit unreasonable to expect any detail in the shadow area. The last two pictures were both exposed at around f2.8 to 4 to show to the SOFA of the lens. Sorry about the out of focus pic, but I included it as it illustrated the smooth SOFA of the lens nicely. One thing about the focusing distance- although it is supposed to focus down to 0.5 metre, the rangefinder of R-D1 will not couple with the lens beyond 0.7 metre.
 
steve...

i just received my 28mm biogon for my rd-1 and have a possible problem that i like to ask you about. when i focus from infinity down to 0.6m everything works like a charm. when i turn the focus ring between 0.6m and 0.5 meter there is no change of focus in the viewfinder. the lens barrel seems to be moving out but no change in the viewfinder. does this sound like a lens problem or a rangefinder problem to you?

david
 
Sounds like the lens uncoupled from the rangefinder. I get the same thing with my 35mm Summilux on my MP. Normal. Just gotta be aware of it.
 
what would cause the lens to become uncoupled from the rangefinder? and why is this normal? just curious, i can't imagine focusing that close on a person with the 28 anways. i did read a post on photo.net mentioning that this is normal with the 28 on the r-d1. thanks.
 
The rangefinder arm moves forward as it follows the lens/cam combo until it reaches its forward stop, and for my MP it's just about .68 meters, but the lens extends a bit beyond that.

That's all- your rangefinder arm is stopping before the lens completes its extension. It might be somewhat variable between cameras, but I don't know the design of the camera well enough to say if it's "normal" at the range you specify or not. Heck- it might be supposed to decouple at .7 meters and you are just lucky?

:)
 
here is a quote from andy piper on photo.net regarding the r-d1 rangefinder:

My R-D1 RF cuts out right at .7 meters. Many M lenses focus a tad closer than the marked .7 on the scale, but they will no longer be moving the RF patch. Result: front focusing. I.E. the lens has focused down to .66 meters (or whatever) but the RF patch only lines up on a subject at .7 meters. Some M's I've had also did this - you just have to watch for it and avoid trying to sneak in those last few cms.
 
Yep, the R-D1's rangefinder is coupled down to 70cm (give or take a cm or two). If a lens focuses closer than that, as the Zeiss 28mm does, it will uncouple from the RF. Nothing is amiss.

-Dave-
 
Back
Top Bottom