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Archive 2014 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?

  
 
luan7749
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


I'm using a Sony A7 body and want to find 135 primes lenses for my system. I'm very confused, there are two options :

- Carl Zeiss T* 135 f2 APO Sonnar ZF.2 + Adapter
- Carl Zeiss T* 135 f1.8 ZA + LA-EA4 Adapter

If I choose APO ZF.2 version, I'll can use this lenses on Sony, Canon, Nikon system by adapters and APO but there no AF features.

With ZA version, I'll have AF features, faster, bigger aperture but it can use only Sony system and there no aperture ring like ZF version.

With lenses only, price of ZF version is higher than ZA version. About image quality, color, sharpness, which is better ? Please give me some advice !



May 21, 2014 at 08:48 AM
kape06111
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


Wow, i can only tell you that both lenses are amazing. I tried the ZA version and it is an incredible lens. I didnīt try until now the ZF.2, but what i have seen, it is also a wonderful lens.

May be you can tell us some points about you, Do you have Nikon Cameras?, Do you like to manual focus and have experience with it?

Manual focus the 135 wide open is really a challenge, if you have experience and you have a nikon camera, I would go for it. But if you are starting and donīt have a lot of practice by manual focusing, i would choose the ZA version with the adapter and will enjoy it with the AF.

In my case i would take de ZF.2, but i have a Nikon DF and love manual focusing. But without having the DF i would choose the ZA.

Edited on May 21, 2014 at 09:25 AM · View previous versions



May 21, 2014 at 09:21 AM
kape06111
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


Sorry, repeated.


May 21, 2014 at 09:21 AM
Steve Spencer
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


I think which lens you want comes down to whether and how much you want AF. If AF is important then get the ZA, it is a very good lens. If AF isn't that important to you or if you prefer MF as I do, then the APO is optically superior and corrected almost perfectly. This isn't to say the ZA is bad in any way. The APO just goes that last 1 or 2 percent.


May 21, 2014 at 09:24 AM
Tmuussoni
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


My 0.02$. Both lenses are amazing. Optically 135-Apo is perfect so I'd probably go for the Apo. In addition it makes a great macro lens with extension tubes. I own the Apo now, and IQ wise it's amazing. Best 135mm ever made. However, that said I am thinking about selling it. It's really heavy and to use it comfortably with A7(R) battery grip is highly recommended. And I am not too excited to use the battery grip these days. Im addition with tripod use L bracket is highly recommended to avoid shutter shake. Which I dislike. So I am thinking about exchanging the lens to Leica 135mm f/3.4 APO and the weight would be cut in half. However, the Zeiss is optically superior and A7R with the Zeiss make such an awesome combo. Decisions, decisions...

So if you don't mind the weight go for the Apo-Sonnar



May 21, 2014 at 09:34 AM
luan7749
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


Tmuussoni wrote:
My 0.02$. Both lenses are amazing. Optically 135-Apo is perfect so I'd probably go for the Apo. In addition it makes a great macro lens with extension tubes. I own the Apo now, and IQ wise it's amazing. Best 135mm ever made. However, that said I am thinking about selling it. It's really heavy and to use it comfortably with A7(R) battery grip is highly recommended. And I am not too excited to use the battery grip these days. Im addition with tripod use L bracket is highly recommended to avoid shutter shake. Which I dislike. So I am thinking
...Show more

Hi, I had use a Carl Zeiss 100 f2 Makro-Planar version on A7 body, weight is not my problem. But I don't know why price of ZF.2 version always higher than ZA version ?

And if you want to sell your lenses, please let me know.



May 21, 2014 at 10:02 AM
luan7749
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


kape06111 wrote:
Wow, i can only tell you that both lenses are amazing. I tried the ZA version and it is an incredible lens. I didnīt try until now the ZF.2, but what i have seen, it is also a wonderful lens.

May be you can tell us some points about you, Do you have Nikon Cameras?, Do you like to manual focus and have experience with it?

Manual focus the 135 wide open is really a challenge, if you have experience and you have a nikon camera, I would go for it. But if you are starting and donīt have a lot of
...Show more

Thanks you for this advising, I love manual focusing.



May 21, 2014 at 10:05 AM
crazeazn
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


weight concern? that would be the determining factor for me?


May 21, 2014 at 10:41 AM
Tmuussoni
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


luan7749 wrote:
Hi, I had use a Carl Zeiss 100 f2 Makro-Planar version on A7 body, weight is not my problem. But I don't know why price of ZF.2 version always higher than ZA version ?

And if you want to sell your lenses, please let me know.


Hi. These are just my opinions.

Apo-135 is close to 1 kg (with the metal lens hood) compared to 670 g of the MP 100. Sony Zeiss 135/1.8 is also similar weight. So 135/2, or 135/18, are significantly heavier than the makro-planar 100 on a compact body like the A7. Atleast I find myself preferring to use the battery grip for a better stability. So like I said I would go for the Apo-135 if weight is not a concern and you seek perfect IQ. It's a joy to manual focus and because it's so sharp lens (already from wide open) it's very easy to focus. And I've found that the sharper the lens (wide open) the easier it is to trust focus peaking.

But like I said the main drawback is the weight. That is also the reason I am probably going to sell it. Unfortunately I live in Europe and I see you live in the States, so it's probably easier for you to get one from States to avoid significant import charges.

Good luck in your decision



May 21, 2014 at 10:58 AM
ryankarr
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


I recently bought the 135mm ZA and it's an amazing lens. I'm a MF junky (this is my only AF lens), but I find AF really valuable for this speed and focal length.

I'd also be wary hanging the 1 kg APO off of the sony's mount while tripod mounted, whereas the ZA mounts via the sony adapter which has it's own tripod socket.



May 21, 2014 at 11:29 AM
briantho
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


About the weight, the original included hood for the ZA135 is ridiculously big and heavy, it's a joke. I bought a much smaller and lighter plastic hood which works just as well.

I haven't used the APO, although I know it's a great lens, but for half the price of the APO, I'd recommend the ZA135. It's a solid lens.



May 21, 2014 at 11:53 AM
Paul Yi
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


I've been pretty happy with 135/1.8 on A7r.....












May 21, 2014 at 12:31 PM
jhinkey
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


briantho wrote:
About the weight, the original included hood for the ZA135 is ridiculously big and heavy, it's a joke. I bought a much smaller and lighter plastic hood which works just as well.

I haven't used the APO, although I know it's a great lens, but for half the price of the APO, I'd recommend the ZA135. It's a solid lens.


Which hood specifically did you buy? A screw-on hood or something that attaches to the bayonet mount of the lens?



May 21, 2014 at 03:58 PM
ocean2059
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


You can use the plastic hood for the Sony 70-200/2.8 A mount lens. It fits the bayonet mount but much lighter.


May 21, 2014 at 04:45 PM
Alex Phan
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


i go with Carl Zeiss T* 135 f2 APO Sonnar ZF.2 + Adapter. I have the same setup. With ZF.2 you can use it with pretty much every system with adapter while ZA limit you to only Sony.


May 21, 2014 at 10:19 PM
wayne seltzer
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


I have the za 135/1.8 which I converted to work on my 1ds3 with crude aperture control. I compared it to a rented 135L and really like the extra bokeh blur potential from difference of the 1.8 vs. the 2.0. Also the extra speed comes in handy for low light shooting. I would go with the lens whose drawing style you like more unless you need AF. 135 wide open focusing is tricky to nail, so AF might be nice if accurate. I wish I had a body with IBIS to work with it which would help in low light. The OOF areas are more strongly drawn with the ZF.2 135/2 than the ZA imho. I see more subject background separation with the ZA. This is subjective from looking at ZF 135/2 posts. The ZA has very low CA but can render some loCA but the APO of course will not have. The amount of loCA of the ZA I feel is less than ZF 100 MP. Both are great lenses and have their plusses and minusses.


May 21, 2014 at 11:59 PM
Phillip Reeve
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


The ZA is one of the best lenses I have ever used, at f/1.8 it is sharper than a Minolta MD 2.8/135 is at f/8 and that Minolta is one of the best 135's of it's era. Bokeh is also super nice.

What I found a bit annoying is that the focuing ring while having nice resistance has some play. I still found it easy to focus it at f/1.8 because of the high contrast but it was a bit detrimental to the experience.
Focusing with the LA-EA4 was swift but most often I used manual focus because all AF sensors are arranged around center of the image and for any off center composition you have to recompose after focusing which I find annoying.
loCA were quite noticeable at times.

If I had the money I would probably buy the Zeiss APO because of the better CA correction, nicer focusing experience and future compatibility.

Here is my Review of the ZA btw: http://phillipreeve.net/blog/carl-zeiss-sonnar-135mm-11-8-za-review/



May 23, 2014 at 09:03 AM
redisburning
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


Both are sharp.

APO correction is a big deal though. Personally I'd spend more and get the slightly slower, but more future proof, ZF APO Sonnar.



May 23, 2014 at 09:07 AM
AGeoJO
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


To a certain degree, they are two different lenses that share the same focal length and have similar apertures. IMHO the selection will depend quite a bit on what you will be using the lens for. The ZA version is really superb for portraits and believe me, the people that you take portraits of will not appreciate their facial details that much. The bokeh rendition of that lens at wide open aperture is gorgeous. On the other hand, if you want to take compressed landscape shots, semi-macro and just everything else, then the APO version is optically (almost) perfect. It is really capable of generation bitingly sharp images with practically no CA. FYI, I posted the images before in different threads. The third image showing incomplete EXIF was taken with the APO version and focus stacked, BTW.



Đ AGeoJO 2014





Đ AGeoJO 2014





Đ AGeoJO 2014





Đ AGeoJO 2014




May 23, 2014 at 10:12 AM
wayne seltzer
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Carl Zeiss 135 f2 APO or 135 f1.8 ZA for Sony A7 ?


The ZA looks to have a quicker transition to OOF than ZF. The bokeh rendering is different between the two.
Joshua, do you have any side by side bokeh comparison shots?



May 23, 2014 at 10:22 AM
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