Paulmilngavie
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 p.3 #15 · Zeiss/Oly -> 5D Compatibility List | |
I recently got on eBay a very clean inexpensive copy of a Carl Zeiss 28 f2.8, and it works fine on my 5D. I have had absolutely no problem using it on both my EOS 1D mark II and my EOS 5D. No mirror catching, no focusing trouble, or anything. I have heard others speak of having problems. But I suspect that the adapter ring is the key to getting it right. As someone said above, you need to use a correct one, as tolerances are very fine. I don’t know who made my one as I got it used. All I can say is that it is painted matt black.
Of course I lose the advantage of electronic communication between camera and lens. And, yes, I have to focus wide open at f 2.8 and then close down to shoot. I get aperture priority and the camera easily handles metering. I do check the histogram, and then compensate exposure accordingly to get it spot on. If I do all that – and it is not complicated with practice – the combination of Zeiss lens and Canon body works excellently.
Optically the Zeiss is far superior to my Canon 17-40 mm f4 zoom. In fact, the Zeiss at its worst (f2.8) beats the Canon at its best (f11). Why such a difference in performance? Well, first, Canon is Canon and Zeiss is Zeiss. Secondly, the Canon 17-40 on the 5D is really 17-40 as there is no crop factor; and 17 mm is very wide angle indeed! By now everybody knows that Canon full-frame sensors have difficulty handling wide angle lenses. Canon tele lenses don’t have the problem; it concerns wide angles only. Nikon wide angles, on the other hand, have less difficulty since Nikon had the good sense years ago to redesign their wide angle lenses to work better with digital sensors. The bigger the Canon sensor the greater the problem becomes. That is why my 17-40 gave slightly better results on my 1D mark II than on my 5D. So, since my Zeiss 28 f2.8 is not as wide as my 17-40 it may thus create less problems for the full-frame sensor. Well, that’s my hypothesis anyway.
The results of my tests (and there were pretty rigorous!) leave me convinced that Canon wide angle lenses don’t hold a candle to Zeiss. [Caveat: Some Zeiss’s, like the 25mm f2.8 are not up to the usual Zeiss standards, so be careful!] True, I am pitching a prime against a zoom. But Canon’s prime lenses will not, by all that I hear, compare any better.
Now I hope to add some more Zeiss glass to my kit, or maybe a Leica or two. No more wide-angle Canon glass for me! But I will keep my dud Canon 17-40 lens….for when I need automation more than quality.
Boo to Canon!!!! How, after decades of designing excellent products – on the cutting edge of photo-optic development – did they fail so badly? Are they incapable of making a good wide angle zoom lens to go with their digital full-frame camera bodies? Maybe they put so much R&D into their bodies they had no time or energy left to improve their lenses. Well….there is Nikon.
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