i find the oly to give a real good digital "negative". By wich i mean its really low contrast and holds up really good in shadow area's.
I dont own the CZ 28 but i guess it has a nicer signature to the images, needing less PP. Aside from that i think a 28 will be easier to be outstanding than a 24mm... A bit of apples and oranges
Actually, I have had less trouble finding an outstanding 24mm vs. a 28mm which makes little sense really. The first 24mm I tried was the Olympus OM 24 2.8 Multi coated and its only flaw as far as I can tell is vignetting at wider F-stops and some easy to fix distoriton. My copy is sharp corner to corner by F8, has extremely little flare and gives nice color/contrast though not Zeiss color/contrast. I like the Zeiss C/Y 28mm 2.8 a lot but it really never gives one tack sharp extreme corners even by F11 - at least mine does not. I have been through 3 Olympus 28's, one 2.8 MC and the others 3.5. The 28 2.8 was not that great but both 3.5's are really nice and sharp even at 5.6 compared to the Zeiss. They do not have the Zeiss color or contrast though. I also tried a Nikkor 28 2.8 AIS and it was not quite as good as the Zeiss so I got rid of it. Not good being relative as it gave great color and very little distortion but sharpness was not up to the Zeiss. Apparently their is great sample variation with that particular Nikkor as some are outstanding. I'm currently using both the Zeiss and the Olympus 28 3.5's depending on what I need - sometimes extreme corner sharpness is really not needed and I do prefer the Zeiss 3D color/contrast. I also would say that the Olympus 24 2.8 is one of the best lenses I have ever used and I highly recommend that lens. I doubt you could do better than that lens for 10 times its cost at that focal length and if you can, please let me know what lens that is.
I have Oly 24mm I am impressed with this little lens. It is really tiny but it will surprise you. I concur with Tariq's assessment of the Oly Lens. It is quite sharp but vignetting can be quite present wide open. But stopped down it is extremely sharp. My wife uses the lens on her XTi and the main walk around set up. It really makes the whole gear light and compact.
The Olympus 24/2.8 is exceptionally fine; not as good as a really good 24L, but much cheaper and it easier to find a nominal sample. In the next few weeks, we'll be running another 28mm group test at 16:9 featuring the Leica 28mm Elmarit and the CZ28/2.8, along with an Olympus 28/3.5 and a zoom. I'll post back when it's complete.
Looking forward to that test Mark. The Leica Elmarit 28 2.8 would be in my bag right now if I could justify its $1000+ used price tag(Preferred one with built in hood and E55 filter size i think). I have no doubt that lens will come out on top giving great color, contrast and detail.
Tariq Gibran wrote:
Looking forward to that test Mark. The Leica Elmarit 28 2.8 would be in my bag right now if I could justify its $1000+ used price tag(Preferred one with built in hood and E55 filter size i think). I have no doubt that lens will come out on top giving great color, contrast and detail.
Based on Altie images, I agree that the current Elmarit-R is top dog. What I cannot accept is the short-throw focus and compressed DOF scale. This is the prevailing design mantra for Leica M and R barrels. The otherwise awesome Summicron-M has a ridiculously contorted DOF scale. I focus 28mm lenses by scale, even with an SLR. Lens ergonomics and readable markings have greater import when controls are manual.
