I briefly owned 35/f2 and 21/f2.8 ZE lenses in the past and am once again getting the Zeiss bug, but this time I want to try a new focal length because I'm using different (Canon) cameras than before.
I'm torn between the 18/f3.5 and the 25/f2. Based on what I've read so far, it's a difficult choice but I'm leaning towards the wider focal length so I can use it both on FF and crop.
Thoughts?
ps: Of course if money were no object I'd pick up the 15mm in a heartbeat, but that's just not in the cards. :-)
I can vouch for the general qualities of the 25/2 shot on 12MP(Nikon D3) and 36MP(Nikon D800/E). It's unusually good in the close up/extreme close up range compared to my ZF28/2 and ZF 35/2. At infinity, stopping down a stop or two might be needed to maximize contrast on small detail. It's not soft at infinity, but a little low-con.
alfarmer wrote:
I'm torn between the 18/f3.5 and the 25/f2. Based on what I've read so far, it's a difficult choice but I'm leaning towards the wider focal length so I can use it both on FF and crop.
Thoughts?
It would be helpful if you gave us some idea of what you plan to shoot...
Also, I don't see any reason why you could not use the 25/2 on a crop camera. It provides an angle of view equivalent to 40mm on Canon APS-C, which is a great general purpose focal length.
>> It would be helpful if you gave us some idea of what you plan to shoot...
Interiors, groups portraits, possibly some landscapes.
>> don't see any reason why you could not use the 25/2 on a crop camera
Oh I can certainly use it on a crop camera. But I've already got lots of overlapping (and much faster) coverage of the 35-60mm range.
You probably end up buying more than one over the time. Think about the other focal lengths you will eventually want and buy the lenses so that they work well together for your style of shooting.
Should I start with Zeiss all over again, I would likely want 55 and 135 and the logical wide angle choice for me would be either 25/2 or 35/1.4. YMMV.
Can one consider IQ equivalent among the lenses mentioned here? I know the 21mm is super-popular on Canon, but if I'm going wide, I'd like wider.
I'd like to borrow/rent one of the new 135mm lenses when they come out too. I can't imagine using it frequently, but dang that looks like a nice piece of glass.
alfarmer wrote:
I briefly owned 35/f2 and 21/f2.8 ZE lenses in the past and am once again getting the Zeiss bug, but this time I want to try a new focal length because I'm using different (Canon) cameras than before.
I'm torn between the 18/f3.5 and the 25/f2. Based on what I've read so far, it's a difficult choice but I'm leaning towards the wider focal length so I can use it both on FF and crop.
Thoughts?
ps: Of course if money were no object I'd pick up the 15mm in a heartbeat, but that's just not in the cards. :-)
I have the zeiss 15/2.8, 25/2 and 35/1.4 and although they are all great, the 25/f2 stands out for me as the most unique. Small fast and high iq. Skip using it on your crop camera and only on your ff, and it will become your favorite non tilt shift lens. The TS17 is f4. The 15 is only 2.8. The 18 is 3.5. The canon 24 1.4 is soft until 2.8 or more. The TS24 is the only contender to the quality of the 25/2 but it is f3.5.
I agree on the recommendation for the versatile 25/2 as you mention interiors and group portraits..I think of it as a 'cafe lens' optimised for shorter distances and it will be ideal on crop sensors as a quasi 35/2.
Also, these later release CZ lenses will come into their own more with newer high DR sensors. It's expensive because it's very good. Roger at lensrental reported its Imatest as their highest ever at that point in time.
The best of the 25/2 is inside the APS-C image circle. The 21mm is really a full frame lens, each part of what it does needs the rest of the frame to make sense photographically in my opinion...it's one lens from which I almost never crop much. The wider lenses are much more special purpose items.
Finally, 25mm gives you room to expand with Zeiss in both directions, 21mm is already very wide...
It appears to be larger & heavier than the 18mm (?), and still might not be wide enough (the Zeiss 35mm f/2 ZE was not), but what won me over was it's both wide AND fast. Plus it seems to have an overall better IQ rating than the 18mm.
