The 18mm is the weakest of the ZF line up. Zeiss could really help their revenue stream by releasing the 21 - 28 - 35 & 50mm makro. I guess they want to wait and see what happens with the bad reviews on the 18mm ZE first. Check out SLRLENSREVIEWS - Zeiss wide angle.
I have the 28mm ZF - very nice lens - sharp with that rich Zeiss color. I may replace it with a ZE - however I have noticed that the ZF's don't seem to resell easily - the ZF's must not be popular with the Nikon crowd & seem to have limited interest from the Alt shooters.
Best Arch & landscape lens for Canon shooters - 24II TS-E - very "Zeisslike".
I want a ZE 35 f/2, and that is highly regarded at least. Would also love to see a ZE 100 f/2 macro, but only if it's 1:1, which it won't be unfortunately.
mMontag wrote:
The 18mm is the weakest of the ZF line up. Zeiss could really help their revenue stream by releasing the 21 - 28 - 35 & 50mm makro.
"Weakest", perhaps, of what is a very strong group of lenses. This lens is only let down by lower corner performance at larger apertures (due to field curvature). It's not without flare, but it is pretty good for a lens of this width. Overall a fine lens. I am quite pleased with the one I have.
Zeiss have indicated to me that the ZE equivalent of all ZF lenses will be released this year, commencing with the 18mm. That means, providing that they execute as promised, that the wait is now going to be short for all this delightful Zeiss goodness...
Zeiss have indicated to me that the ZE equivalent of all ZF lenses will be released this year, commencing with the 18mm. That means, providing that they execute as promised, that the wait is now going to be short for all this delightful Zeiss goodness... If you go to the Zeiss Webpage and look up the ZE range, you will see that both the 18mm and the 21 mm are now listed.... yummeeee
Do you have any sense of how long it will take for them to go from "virtual reality" to "physical reality" - i.e. available for purchase in a retail outlet? It's been a long wait on the 21mm, info. on the website notwithstanding.
Last Friday I visited IBC (International Broadcast Convention) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and I spoke with the people from Zeiss.
Zeiss had the ZE 18mm on display. They told me it would be introduced next Monday (today). They also told me "next will be another three wide-angles"
Their design department has been very busy to redesign the ZF line into a line of lenses for movie-camera's, called "compact Primes". now they will put their attention on the ZE lenses.
They will bring out all ZF lenses in ZE mount.
Also they will expand the ZF line. (Of course they didn't want to tell me in what direction...)
