Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

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Archive 2008 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Grant808
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p.2 #1 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi Dietrich wrote:
I wonder how much this one is going for... I never thought the Distagon 21 would go under 1000$ one day!

D21 on ebay

haha...I know that guy...

Dec 05, 2008 at 09:29 PM

Andi Dietrich
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p.2 #2 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

I am sceptical if the new lens is better overall. The Z18's biggest issue is that it does not improve beyond f5.6, well no, the biggest issue to me is actually the shading.
The point is that you dont see everything in the MTF and a wideangle should not be judged at f 5.6 IMO. Of course the eos mount is the step forward and not the performance itself

Dec 05, 2008 at 09:58 PM

Valorin
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p.2 #3 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi, what do you mean by shading with the ZF18? I'm waiting to see what the ZF21 will be like, and choose between that and the ZF18. I anticipate (as everyone does) that the ZF21 will be quite a bit better than the ZF18, but I would prefer 18mm focal length. If I can get sharp corners with the ZF18 at f/11, I might just pass up on the ZF21.

Dec 05, 2008 at 10:23 PM

cogitech
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p.2 #4 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi Dietrich wrote:
I am sceptical if the new lens is better overall. The Z18's biggest issue is that it does not improve beyond f5.6, well no, the biggest issue to me is actually the shading.
The point is that you dont see everything in the MTF and a wideangle should not be judged at f 5.6 IMO. Of course the eos mount is the step forward and not the performance itself

The CZ21 is well-known to perform best at f5.6 as well. My copy sure did. The thing is, it has abundant DOF at f5.6, so it is hardly an issue.

Dec 05, 2008 at 11:27 PM

Andi Dietrich
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p.2 #5 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Valorin, the 18mm has great corner sharpness, sharp at f 5.6 - f 11 depending on situation. Probably a DOF question. Corner sharpness is the only thing I see a real advantage compared to my 16-35ii.

I should have said Vignetting, corners just go black at f4, like many of the old classic wide angles, it starts to get better at 5.6 though, so this may be fine for you.
I know it sounds stupid but I dont see why Zeiss would design a lens which is so sharp wide open and forget to correct vignetting. IMO zoom lenses have set a new standard here and we use WA in a different way than years ago.

Cogitech, so which is your favorite now the old or the ZE?

Dec 06, 2008 at 12:13 AM

Valorin
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p.2 #6 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Thanks Andi. I'm not really worried about performance wide-open or anywhere close. I guess I'll have to think it over a bit more, but it seems like the ZF18 is good enough for me. Plus, I usually add vignetting in post, so having it there to begin with isn't really a problem.

Dec 06, 2008 at 12:22 AM

cogitech
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p.2 #7 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi Dietrich wrote:

Cogitech, so which is your favorite now the old or the ZE?

I haven't decided yet, but either way I am happy to know I will have one or the other for under $1600.

Dec 06, 2008 at 01:55 AM

wayne seltzer
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p.2 #8 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Looks to me that Zeiss improved the corner sharpness as the sharpness rolls off closer to the edge of the frame and at a less steep rate. Zeiss improved their 28 in the corners also.
Brian from Coastal Optics thought the distortion graph of the new 21 is better as it starts curving back to zero closer to the edge of the graph.
Throw in the new ZE functionality for canon users and the new warranty advantage at the price of $1700 and I see the old CZ version heading south of $1200 which is a big ouch for those who paid the $3g at the height of its reign. It will make a nice value lens at that lower price for those landscape shooters who don't need the extra corner sharpness or the better distortion.

The new 21ZE and the 50 f2.0 ZE Makro are what I look forward to in what's looking like a not so rosy New Year. Glad we are getting these lenses before the reduced R&D budgets of the future due to the tanking world economy.

Dec 06, 2008 at 01:57 AM

cogitech
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p.2 #9 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Good bye, everyone.

Dec 06, 2008 at 07:11 AM

TeamSK jay
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p.2 #10 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

cogitech wrote:
Good bye, everyone.

huh?? Where ya going?

Dec 06, 2008 at 07:30 AM

brainiac
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p.2 #11 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi Dietrich wrote:
Of course the eos mount is the step forward

Not if you want to shoot movies on a 5D2. Direct control of aperture rocks. I'm keeping my old one for the moment.

Dec 07, 2008 at 07:30 PM

Steve Spencer
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p.2 #12 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

But for shooting movies wouldn't you want to get the ZF version? That way you could get the optical improvements (even if they are not huge) and the aperture control.

Dec 07, 2008 at 07:47 PM

dcmiller
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p.2 #13 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Andi Dietrich wrote:
I wonder how much this one is going for... I never thought the Distagon 21 would go under 1000$ one day!

D21 on ebay

That one ended at $1580

A new Zeiss ZF 21 is $1430 at robert white at todays exchange rate

Dec 07, 2008 at 10:14 PM

brainiac
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p.2 #14 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

Steve Spencer wrote:
But for shooting movies wouldn't you want to get the ZF version? That way you could get the optical improvements (even if they are not huge) and the aperture control.

That's a good point. I'm probably just too lazy to sell. I have been using my Contax 21 on a 450D a lot recently, and it is a great combination. It's always fairly obvious when I switch from the Oly 21 f3.5 to the Zeiss on that camera.

Dec 08, 2008 at 02:16 AM

asbalyan
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p.2 #15 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

TeamSK jay wrote:
cogitech wrote:
Good bye, everyone.

huh?? Where ya going?

Where is Paul gone... even his server is gone, his great pics and conversion methods too... just little concerned...

Dec 12, 2008 at 03:50 AM

CVickery
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p.2 #16 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

asbalyan wrote:
TeamSK jay wrote:
cogitech wrote:
Good bye, everyone.

huh?? Where ya going?

Dec 12, 2008 at 06:31 AM

carstenw
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p.2 #17 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

I am not quite sure if the charts are indicative, but it looks like they may not have fixed the distortion, which looks very similar. I wonder if it will still have moustache distortion?

Dec 12, 2008 at 09:40 AM

Adapter
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p.2 #18 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

official chart
http://www.zeiss.com/C12567A8003B58B9?Open

Dec 12, 2008 at 11:39 AM

cogitech
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p.2 #19 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

CVickery wrote:
asbalyan wrote:
TeamSK jay wrote:
cogitech wrote:
Good bye, everyone.

huh?? Where ya going?

Where is Paul gone... even his server is gone, his great pics and conversion methods too... just little concerned...

He seemed to be online a couple of minutes ago, but no posts. Like you, I hope everything is OK.

Sorry to anyone who might have been concerned about my message and my absence. I have been quite busy with another project and I needed to go "cold turkey" from FM and other diversions. My "server outages" were related to this project. If you'd like to know what I have been up to... http://forum.cogitech.ca

All the best to everyone. I'll still be visiting here but probably not nearly as much.

Dec 14, 2008 at 03:34 PM

CVickery
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p.2 #20 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs Contax/Zeiss 21mm

cogitech wrote:
CVickery wrote:
asbalyan wrote:
TeamSK jay wrote:
cogitech wrote:
Good bye, everyone.

huh?? Where ya going?

Dec 14, 2008 at 04:17 PM

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