Jonas B wrote:
I have the same fear. And I understand you mean Voigtländer.
[pedantic mode] Not only do I mean Voigtländer, I write Voigtländer. In german, you can write an e after a vowel instead of an umlaut over it, ae = ä. Since I'm writing this on my dutch keyboard, writing ae is easier than constructing an ä.[/pedantic mode]
This is great news - Zeiss has pretty much kept their promise to release all the ZK mount lenses in ZE mount by end of year!
I don't know why anyone is upset with a possible $1375 +/- US price for the 100 f2 Macro - these are World Class optics - second to none - even Leica! (How much do you think you will pay for a Leica Macro?)
These lenses have the potential to elevate your photographic efforts from mere recording - to "works of art". Keep in mind - the law of diminishing returns is in effect - as with all top-of-the-line items in our lives - you must pay a lot more to get a little bit better quality. With that in mind - these ZE lenses are all a bargain. Even the so called "mediocre" 85 f1.4" - is a great lens - believe me - a little soft at 1.4 - so what - It Is A Portrait lens - by 2.5 it is sharp and keeps getting sharper thro' f8. All the while with vivid color and contrast you just don't get with Canon and Nikon. Take a look at some of Philbers portraits!
Why am I happy to buy a manual focus Zeiss 100 mm Macro lens for $1375 when there is a really good Canon L - f2.8 autofocus 100 mm macro (with state of the art stabilization) for a paltry $ 1050. Because (in my experience) ZEISS yields a better image - PERIOD!
Call it the Zeiss look - the 3D effect - whatever you want. I see it - I saw it in the first shot I took with my $660 - 50mm ZE 1.4 - (that was a lot of money considering I could have bought a highly rated Canon 50mm lens for half that price!) - but I took a chance and it paid off - I was thrilled - I had not seen color and contrast that good since I had my 2 1/4 Linhoff view camera with Schneider Kruz lenses. A 35mm digital camera (Canon 5D MkII with Zeiss lenses) had finally duplicated what I had come to consider was only available with top-line large format equipment.
philber wrote:
This only matters if the 35 f:1.4 is outstanding wide open. Because, if you need to stop it down one stop, then you get a 35 f:2.0, and that one is quite sharp wide open...
I have the zf 35/2 but the cz 35/1.4 is sharper wide open and I think performs better at closer distances from looking at shots from Richard and others.Plus the extra 1/2 stop of speed helps of course in low light street/people shooting.Plus it can generate 3-d shots which I have never seen with the 35/2.
But I love my 35/2 for landscape.
The Samyang 35/1.2 sounds interesting but will probably have the smooth bokeh look if like the 85 and thus will not generate pop/3-d like the zeiss.
wayne seltzer wrote:
It has been a long wait for the release of the MP's.
Been lusting the ZE 50/2 MP for awhile.
Sony boys, eat your heart out!
I guess we are now awaiting the ZE 35 1.4 release in January.
Hehehe, Wayne, He who laughs last laughs best
Rumours are there are 2 ZA coming early next year, a luminous wide (24/1.4?)
and a 200mm (maybe macro).
Nice shots Phil and although up close they are at f6.3.
I should have said up close and at f2.
Take a portrait at f2 with the ZE 35/2 and then compare it to a CZ 35/1.4 portrait shot. The 35/1.4 will pop much more than the 35/2.
Anyway, enjoy and congrats on the new ZE 35/2!
I expect one day you will own all the ZE primes!
Alas Wayne, portraits are not easy to do in France. The law specifies that people own rights to their images, so you cannot publish pictures of people without, in theory, having their written and informed consent. That, of course, is great to shield stars and politicians from paparazzi, but not so good for candid street shots.
Besides, at f:2.0, DOF is going to be very thin so posing will be required. But I will see what I can do...
As regards ZE primes, I only have 4 out of 6. I am not attracted to the 18, just too wide for me, I think. And I tried and rejected to 28, where I am pretty sure it was because of a defective lens.
Of the newly-announced Zeiss primes, I might try the 50 Makro to see if it is worth replacing my beloved 50 planar f:1.4, and will definitely try a 100mm Makro, which has an awesome reputation.
edwardkaraa wrote:
Hehehe, Wayne, He who laughs last laughs best
Rumours are there are 2 ZA coming early next year, a luminous wide (24/1.4?)
and a 200mm (maybe macro).
Ha!Ha!
Got you to divulge some inside upcoming ZA lens information.
Hope it is true for you guys! How about Sony/Zeiss getting the mothballed CV 125 macro design and using that to make their macro lens?
Any rumors on a new A950 with liveview?
Anyway, the one is laughing is Zeiss. All the way to the bank!
Maybe I should buy some Zeiss stock?
philber wrote:
Alas Wayne, portraits are not easy to do in France. The law specifies that people own rights to their images, so you cannot publish pictures of people without, in theory, having their written and informed consent. That, of course, is great to shield stars and politicians from paparazzi, but not so good for candid street shots.
Besides, at f:2.0, DOF is going to be very thin so posing will be required. But I will see what I can do...
As regards ZE primes, I only have 4 out of 6. I am not attracted to the 18, just too wide for me, I think. And I tried and rejected to 28, where I am pretty sure it was because of a defective lens.
Of the newly-announced Zeiss primes, I might try the 50 Makro to see if it is worth replacing my beloved 50 planar f:1.4, and will definitely try a 100mm Makro, which has an awesome reputation....Show more →
Good to know about the French law. Sounds like a good excuse to take another trip to India for some portrait shooting.
ONLY 4 of 6
I am pretty sure you will try and keep both MP's as they are top notch Zeiss lenses. Then all you need is a converted ZA 135 1.8!
edwardkaraa wrote:
Rumours are there are 2 ZA coming early next year, a luminous wide (24/1.4?)
and a 200mm (maybe macro).
I don't see Zeiss releasing a 24 f:1.4, but maybe I am wrong. Reason is that they delayed the release of the 25mm Distagon ZF.2 in order to rework it. I assume that they delayed the matching ZE 25 as well. So I can't see them doing a 24 and a 25 at the same time, especially considering how they have already sliced-and-diced the WA market (18mm, 21mm, 25mm, 28mm, 35mm) for everyone except Sony owners.
Also, if the 35mm f:1.4 rumour outed by Erwin Puts is true, it makes the need for a 24 f:1.4 much less obvious.
It would seem much more obvious for Zeiss to focus on releasing some long lenses, where they "only" have the ZA 135mm, which "only" works on Sony cams, and is quite heavy and expensive. That leaves a lot of space for other teles, whether for Sony or for other cams.
The third reason I see is that they already have from Contax days tele designs which only require rework to be introduced, such as the 135mm f2.8 and 180mm f:2.8 among others, whereas the 23 f:1.4 would have to be a totally new design.
All this is just supposition though. Here's to hoping you are right.
Edward is talking about a ZA 24 1.4 and ZA 200 for Sony cameras not a ZE/ZF version.
I agree, Wayne, but my guess is that Zeiss will see where it makes more sense for them to allocate R&D resources, and where they can use a single development for more than one use. I think it would be daft for Zeiss to develop a 200 ZA, very probably AF, and not release more or less the same as ZE/ZF/ZK in MF. Just my $0.02.
abam wrote:
a winking-smiley just means "i want to get my punch in without you being able to respond."
Haha. In this case or in general? And was it a punch really (or am I alone finding a comment on spelling including a spelling oddity funny)?
From my narrow minded Swedish point of view it is not polite to alter the spelling of a name, be it a German speciality or not.
Let's keep the off topic discussion rolling. I have a question about the pronunciation of the name Voigtländer. I believe it should be pronounced with an F-sound, like Volkswagen. Is that right?
abam wrote:
a winking-smiley just means "i want to get my punch in without you being able to respond."
Not wanting to appear pedantic here, a winking smiley is usually used to to make it clear that you are trying to be witty or facetious, and perhaps when you are delivering an inside joke to a knowing or informed audience -- like you lot ;-)
It has little to do with getting a punch in -- although it is clear that you can do that with wit -- just that the comment is all in good fun.
wayne seltzer wrote:
Hope it is true for you guys! How about Sony/Zeiss getting the mothballed CV 125 macro design and using that to make their macro lens?
That's probably not a decision that Sony would make (and Zeiss would have no say in the matter). However, I have also thought that Cosina should independently re-issue the CV 125 macro in their SL II series if only in the Sony/Minolta/ZA lens mount. Since we are not going to the get the Zeiss ZF makros in the ZA mount, and the existing Sony/Minolta macro is uninspiring, this could be the go to macro lens for the Sony alpha system. Cosina would even have to bother selling it in Nikon.Canon.Pentax mounts as they already make the Zeiss makro in those mounts and they don't necessarily want to compete with themselves (although I would look at that decision a little more carefully -- you might be actually displacing Sigma/Tamron and even Sony macro purchases rather than Zeiss). Unless there is a some sort of restricting agreement with Zeiss about this, it seems to me like a no-brainer for Cosina to re-issue the CV 125mm APO-Lanthar in Sony/Minolta lens mount.
wayne seltzer wrote:
Edward is talking about a ZA 24 1.4 and ZA 200 for Sony cameras not a ZE/ZF version.
If Sony allows a Zeiss ZA 24mm f1.4 (I suspect given Zeiss' traditional lens designation, that it would be a 25mm f1.4), that might just seal the deal with the Sony system for me. They really HAVE TO do this.
