Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

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Archive 2009 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

SKumar25
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p.2 #1 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Andrew Gough wrote:
SKumar25 wrote:
The 21 Zeiss would be great for landscapes, but the distortion could be problem for architecture.

See the bottom step in philber's example from that thread:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

This would be difficult to fix in post. Most wides don't have such a complicated distortion and are easier to fix.

You mean like this:

Ha ha, well done!! Is much detail lost with distortion correction?

Nov 03, 2009 at 03:32 AM

bluetsunami
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p.2 #2 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

The perspective distortion function of PTLens looks amazing

Nov 03, 2009 at 03:54 AM

philber
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p.2 #3 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Thanks for sharing, Andrew!

Nov 03, 2009 at 06:30 AM

Andrew Gough
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p.2 #4 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Very little detail is lost when converting for lens distortion, obviously large perspective corrections will result in significant loss of detail. FYI, there is a process whereby you can send images from your lens and have them included in the database.

Nov 03, 2009 at 01:17 PM

photomadnz
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p.2 #5 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Just got my hands on the ZE 21mm. Luckily I work at a store so have borrowed it for a bit to see how it goes. I have a the Nikon 14-24mm adapted and also the 24mm T/S Mark II. On top of that my copy of the 17-40 is a stunner and is good to go up against. Only did a singe shot tonight so not hugely indicative but interesting. Will post when I have done something more ideal. A bit hard to put it up againt the 24mm because of perspective changes but I will try and frame it up on the same width and let the rest fall into place to try and get close.

Nov 04, 2009 at 04:37 AM

Yakim Peled
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p.2 #6 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Both are very impressive but my heart goes elsewhere... to Canon's 17/4 TS.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Nov 04, 2009 at 08:56 AM

Bobu
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p.2 #7 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

Yakim Peled wrote:
Both are very impressive but my heart goes elsewhere... to Canon's 17/4 TS.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

The 17/4 TS is a fantastic lens, but sharpness and contrast on the 14-24, 21 ZE and 24 TSE II are slightly better, at least on my samples. If I had to sell one of these lenses it would be the 17 TSE. But I mostly do landscapes and not architecture.

Best regards,

Boris

Nov 07, 2009 at 09:52 AM

photomadnz
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p.2 #8 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

I have the 14-24 also along with the 24 T/SII. I have been playing with the ZE21mm. Although I see the 24mm T/S as the sharpest of the 3 (just) I still like the 21mm perspective on certain shots. I would appreciate your thoughts on if YOU find all 3 valuable and if you regretting having so much overlap? How do you find the quality difference on your samples? Thanks

Bobu wrote:
Yakim Peled wrote:
Both are very impressive but my heart goes elsewhere... to Canon's 17/4 TS.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

The 17/4 TS is a fantastic lens, but sharpness and contrast on the 14-24, 21 ZE and 24 TSE II are slightly better, at least on my samples. If I had to sell one of these lenses it would be the 17 TSE. But I mostly do landscapes and not architecture.

Best regards,

Boris

Nov 07, 2009 at 10:22 AM

Bobu
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p.2 #9 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

I'm not sure if it really makes sense to keep all these lenses. On most trips I will probably take only the 14-24mm, the 21mm and the 24mm and add the 17mm only if I plan to make lots of architecture shots. The 21mm ZE could be a good addition to the zoom and the 24 TSE, because it can take filters and has a fantastic perfomance at f/2.8. I assume, that I will use the 21mm ZE for low light street photography and situations were a protection filter (or any other filter) would help, like at the sea, at waterfalls or at the desert. But since I have the 21mm ZE only for two weeks, I have not much experience with this lens. Maybe you should ask me this question again in 6 months.
Regarding the quality of these lenses I would say the 24mm TSE II is the best, followed by the 21mm. The 17mm is the worst of these 4 lenses, although still very very good.
If I could only have one of these lenses it would probably be the 24mm TSE II.

Best regards,

Boris

photomadnz wrote:
I have the 14-24 also along with the 24 T/SII. I have been playing with the ZE21mm. Although I see the 24mm T/S as the sharpest of the 3 (just) I still like the 21mm perspective on certain shots. I would appreciate your thoughts on if YOU find all 3 valuable and if you regretting having so much overlap? How do you find the quality difference on your samples? Thanks

Nov 07, 2009 at 10:50 AM

jcolwell
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p.2 #10 · Zeiss 21mm ZE vs. Nikon 14-24mm

SKumar25 wrote:
This would be difficult to fix in post. Most wides don't have such a complicated distortion and are easier to fix.

The Voigtlander 20/3.5 Color Skopar Asp SL II also has "moustache" distortion (see below). None of the many other ultra wides that I've used have it. OTOH, many of them have wicked, simple barrel distortion.

Andrew - thanks for the PTlens example - it's very impressive.

Boris - thanks for posting the lens comparison - excellent effort!

2012 © jcolwell

Nov 07, 2009 at 10:57 AM

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