Ziess lenses

MWG · May 19, 2012

Anyone have experience with Ziess Glass? Particularly for Cannons? I know they do not offer AF, but I would be willing to sacrifice AF for image quality. I own a canon 5d mark ii, and im thinking about selling my two tamron zooms, and going all prime lenses.

Mach0 · May 19, 2012

I don't think placing Zeiss glass in front of a cannon is safe.

MWG · May 19, 2012

^ Why not?

CouncilmanDoug · May 19, 2012

the lens will probably break from the blast

Trever1t · May 19, 2012

Ahhaha....boo!

matthewo · May 19, 2012

i just picked up a 85mm 1.4 ZF.1 planar. thats the nikon mount and the .1 is the older model that has no communication with the camera. i can use it in A and M mode on my d7000, and it will meter correctly, and knows what aperture your at when you setup the non CPU lens on the camera. the canon version doesnt have an aperture ring, but the ZE should have CPU connections for the canon, i dont think a .1 version was made for canon mount, as canon users had to use the .1 and an adapter.

i must say its a well built lens, probably the most solid built lens i have ever used, its all metal even the hood, and i have the nikon 24-70 and 70-200 vr II. its image quality is very good, even wide open as long as you get the focus correct, which can be very difficult. if anyone says the lens is not sharp at 1.4 they just didnt get it in focus. i have pictures with the lens wide open at 1.4 and it is very sharp when pixel peeping at 100%. now i also have pictures where i though i had it in focus and they came out terrible.

so its a great lens if you have the time to get it right. i would even recommend focus bracketing if using your view finder. at least with the nikon you can use the focus indicator to get you close, but you can actually move the focus ring of the lens around a decent amount and still be in the focus indicator. its enough at 1.4 to be completely out of focus yet still be indicating focus, and look just fine in the view finder. the other option is a focus screen. also another very good option is Live view mode, thats probably one of the most acurate way to go, but time consuming. put it in live view and zoom in on your focus point and focus via that. its time consuming, but that way i found to be the most acurate and consitant in focus results.

as you can see this len isnt a point and shoot type of lens. it deffently takes time and you might have a bunch of throw away pictures using it close to wide open. of coarse at f4 it much easier to focus, but you do get the cream machine look. at 1.4 and 2 it makes for extremely 3d looking picture. the colors the zeiss lens produces is very true to life and seems to be warmer then most nikon lenses i have used.

any think else i could try to help. even though im a nikon guy. i guess the main way i look at it is. its a great lens to have fun with and if you have time you can get excellent one of a kinda results. i dont know that i would risk loosing important images that i only have a limited amount of time to get the picture, for those i would use use my nikon 2.8 zooms, because i know its going to be in focus every time very quickly.

phramer · May 24, 2012

Matthewo is spot on re the zeiss lenses on the Canon. I shoot a lot of video using the Canon t2i, mostly short documentaries and commercials. As I hobby I shoot photos.

I use the Planar 85/1.4 the 50/1.4 and the 25/2.8. These are by the far the best lenses I've ever used. I use the 85 the most. It produces beautiful bokeh and incredible colors.

The caveat is the focusing! You will be in the manual mode, so it takes time to get your images sharp. If you are doing portraits, still life or landscapes, then you will love using these lenses, as you will have time finely tune your focus. I use the live view mag to pinpoint focus on non moving subjects. I have used the 85mm for some sports stuff, and it is hit and miss. Typically 1 in 3 will be sharply focused.

Overall, the build quality is great and the images are beautiful!

MWG · May 27, 2012

Thanks for the help guys, I bought the Planar 50/1.4 and freaking love it so far. Completely blows my canon 1.8 II out the water. The manual focus takes some getting used too, but its not soo bad.

irfan.in.tx · May 27, 2012

I have been using a Zeiss Contax 50mmm with an adapter on a 5d classic and lately, a 5d mark ii. Its superb. Zeiss Contax lenses can be obtained for about half of the ZE (Canon mount) Zeiss lenses. The color rendition, sharpness (if you focus correctly), micro-contrast and bokeh are superior to equivalent Canon lenses.

MWG · May 28, 2012

Link?

What lengths do they offer in the Contax?

I really want to sell off my 2.8 zooms and switch over to all zeiss primes now, lol.

morganza · May 28, 2012

matthewo said:
i just picked up a 85mm 1.4 ZF.1 planar. thats the nikon mount and the .1 is the older model that has no communication with the camera. i can use it in A and M mode on my d7000, and it will meter correctly, and knows what aperture your at when you setup the non CPU lens on the camera. the canon version doesnt have an aperture ring, but the ZE should have CPU connections for the canon, i dont think a .1 version was made for canon mount, as canon users had to use the .1 and an adapter.

i must say its a well built lens, probably the most solid built lens i have ever used, its all metal even the hood, and i have the nikon 24-70 and 70-200 vr II. its image quality is very good, even wide open as long as you get the focus correct, which can be very difficult. if anyone says the lens is not sharp at 1.4 they just didnt get it in focus. i have pictures with the lens wide open at 1.4 and it is very sharp when pixel peeping at 100%. now i also have pictures where i though i had it in focus and they came out terrible.

so its a great lens if you have the time to get it right. i would even recommend focus bracketing if using your view finder. at least with the nikon you can use the focus indicator to get you close, but you can actually move the focus ring of the lens around a decent amount and still be in the focus indicator. its enough at 1.4 to be completely out of focus yet still be indicating focus, and look just fine in the view finder. the other option is a focus screen. also another very good option is Live view mode, thats probably one of the most acurate way to go, but time consuming. put it in live view and zoom in on your focus point and focus via that. its time consuming, but that way i found to be the most acurate and consitant in focus results.

as you can see this len isnt a point and shoot type of lens. it deffently takes time and you might have a bunch of throw away pictures using it close to wide open. of coarse at f4 it much easier to focus, but you do get the cream machine look. at 1.4 and 2 it makes for extremely 3d looking picture. the colors the zeiss lens produces is very true to life and seems to be warmer then most nikon lenses i have used.

any think else i could try to help. even though im a nikon guy. i guess the main way i look at it is. its a great lens to have fun with and if you have time you can get excellent one of a kinda results. i dont know that i would risk loosing important images that i only have a limited amount of time to get the picture, for those i would use use my nikon 2.8 zooms, because i know its going to be in focus every time very quickly.

Thank you, that's actually very useful.

irfan.in.tx · May 28, 2012

The following article lists the Zeiss Contax lenses:
http://photo.net/equipment/contax/shea-lenses

Please check the compatibility with Canon EF mounts and availability of good adapters before buying.

matthewo · Jun 1, 2012

hope you dont mind, i will post 2 samples, really i havent done too much real shooting with the lens, other then a few testing and messing around.

this is at F2, with the background 2-3 feet behind it. from what i have found, its a bit sharper at f2, and easier to focus, but still gives almost just as creamy of a background at f1.4, not much difference, so i use F2.0 a lot and F2.8 and F4, in reality its still very nice and creamy at f2.8

here is it at f2.0

this one is wide open at 1.4

unpopular · Jun 1, 2012

I used to shoot Contax, and was and am a big believer in Zeiss. I don't have any examples, but they all have excellent contrast and color reproduction, and are built extremely well.

I owned a Planar 50/1.4, Distagon 28/2.8 and a Sonar 135/2.8. Of these, I liked the Planar the most and was probably the best lens I ever owned.