New Zeiss ZE's announced

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Archive 2009 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Paul Yi
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p.6 #1 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

John, again, it was your review of the C/Y Planar that hooked me on that lens...

And, I'm very grateful for that.

The price difference (though used vs new) is pretty hefty, so I'm kinda waiting out to see some thorough review of the ZE 100/2.0 lens.
I strongly doubt though ZE can be THAT MUCH better....

If you need the direct comparison of the two lenses for your write-up, let me know...I have the C/Y 100/2.0 MMJ version.

Jan 29, 2010 at 09:40 PM

Ray Simpson
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p.6 #2 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

John, I got a 50MP yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the stiffness of the focusing ring. It's not bad or a problem, but it surprised me.

Jan 29, 2010 at 10:08 PM

snowboarder
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p.6 #3 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Mine will be here on Monday, not sure when I'll be able to show some pics...
Would love to see what you guys think.

Jan 29, 2010 at 11:29 PM

John Black
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p.6 #4 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Thus for the 50 MP has been the stiffest focus ring in the ZE's I've owned. Prior to the ZE's, the ZF 100 MP was really stiff. Using the ZF as a benchmark, the 50 MP isn't so bad. But as you said Ray, it's a surprise. I briefly had the 50/1.4 ZE and its focus ring had a very light action.

Jan 29, 2010 at 11:55 PM

RickPerry
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p.6 #5 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Much too cold to go outside - 8 degrees F with 25 knot wind - so inside shots only with new 100f2 ZE. Here is first macro of Deborah's Orchid !

2012 © RickPerry

Canon EOS 5D Mark II 100 mm f/11.0 1/3 sec 200 ISO 0.0 EV

Jan 30, 2010 at 10:34 PM

philber
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p.6 #6 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Rick, the drawing style, and in particular the layering looks awesome

Jan 30, 2010 at 10:49 PM

Toothwalker
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p.6 #7 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Paul Yi wrote:
I'd love to see some comparison between C/Y and ZE version if anyone has both...
And, I think you're a perfect candidate for that John......

A few initial impressions with all captures at f/2. Don't take this too seriously; I don't when other people post such test results.

Two images in their entirety, but downsampled:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

100% crops, zero sharpening, 5-m subject distance:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

100% crops, out-of-focus background:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

Take your pick.

Feb 13, 2010 at 06:37 PM

Paul Yi
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p.6 #8 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Toothwalker.....wow, thank you for the comparison......
I really can't pick the difference....

Feb 13, 2010 at 06:44 PM

Cableaddict
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p.6 #9 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Excellent, thanks.

-And I CAN pick the difference. The ZE is clearly sharper, (from this limited test) and with no serious bokeh penalty in the top pic. - but they are much closer than expected.

Sadly, other threads have shown this lens to have slighlty questionable bokeh. I can be a bit "nervous."

More comparison pics, please!

Feb 13, 2010 at 07:34 PM

Toothwalker
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p.6 #10 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Paul Yi wrote:
Toothwalker.....wow, thank you for the comparison......
I really can't pick the difference....

The ZE is the second one, i.e., bottom or right. It looks a bit better to me in the example with the placard. It also yields a little less (absolute) blur in the background because i) its focal length is 97.5 mm (versus 99.9 for the Y/C); ii) it falls short of f/2.0 and is closer to f/2.1.

Feb 13, 2010 at 08:34 PM

Paul Yi
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p.6 #11 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Toothwalker wrote:
Paul Yi wrote:
Toothwalker.....wow, thank you for the comparison......
I really can't pick the difference....

I think I can live with such a minimal difference....
I'm starting to think that maybe Contax N100/2.8 is a better option for me since I already have it.
As I use it more, I'm seeing 3D quality from it as well.....and it has 1:1 macro capability.

Feb 13, 2010 at 08:47 PM

Toothwalker
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p.6 #12 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Cableaddict wrote:
Excellent, thanks.

-And I CAN pick the difference. The ZE is clearly sharper, (from this limited test) and with no serious bokeh penalty in the top pic. - but they are much closer than expected.

Sadly, other threads have shown this lens to have slighlty questionable bokeh. I can be a bit "nervous."

More comparison pics, please!

I am waiting until it's less cold so that I can go out with a tripod without my hands freezing to the equipment. But if you can live with slightly different conditions, you can inspect this file for the ZE and this file for the Y/C. Both at f/2. And here is a passer-by with the ZE at f/4.

[Edit: zero sharpening of course.]

Feb 13, 2010 at 08:48 PM

Paul Yi
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p.6 #13 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Toothwalker wrote:
Cableaddict wrote:
Excellent, thanks.

-And I CAN pick the difference. The ZE is clearly sharper, (from this limited test) and with no serious bokeh penalty in the top pic. - but they are much closer than expected.

Sadly, other threads have shown this lens to have slighlty questionable bokeh. I can be a bit "nervous."

More comparison pics, please!

I am waiting until it's less cold so that I can go out with a tripod without my hands freezing to the equipment. But if you can live with slightly different conditions, you can inspect this file for the ZE and this file for the Y/C. Both at f/2. And here is a passer-by with the ZE at f/4.

[Edit: zero sharpening of course.]

Wow...!
From those two files, the ZE100 looks a lot better.....
I second looked.....it seems there is a slight difference of metering or exposure...

Feb 13, 2010 at 09:08 PM

Toothwalker
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p.6 #14 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Paul Yi wrote:
Wow...!
From those two files, the ZE100 looks a lot better.....
I second looked.....it seems there is a slight difference of metering or exposure...

The ZE consistently yields darker images than the Y/C on my 5D, so I needed to adjust the brightness. Otherwise the lighting conditions are different here, with the ZE enjoying a little more of the late-afternoon sunlight. Here is another one of the Y/C that compares better to the ZE in terms of light.

Feb 13, 2010 at 09:29 PM

Paul Yi
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p.6 #15 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Thank you for showing me the "another one"....
Now, they look pretty similar....

Feb 13, 2010 at 09:59 PM

Andi Dietrich
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p.6 #16 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

I always found the Canon colours a bit on the red side, that is why I prefer the cooler images from lenses of the Contax time.

Feb 13, 2010 at 10:08 PM

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p.6 #17 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Toothwalker wrote:

until it's less cold so that I can go out with a tripod without my hands freezing to the equipment. But if you can live with slightly different conditions, you can inspect this file for the ZE and this file for the Y/C. Both at f/2.

Excellent! Thanks.

I guess the bokeh isn't so different after all. Those other pics must have been "worst case" situations.

Sadly, these pics do reinforce what we have seen elsewhere: The ZE doesn't quite have the plasticity (3D) of the Planar. This is very clear, and makes the decision almost impossible, as the ZE is superior in sharpnessr, contrast, and color. - plus it does macro, of course.

Well, the ZE still has nice plasticity, it's just that the Planar is one of the best lenses on the planet, in that regard. -so maybe it's not a horrible trade-off after all.

Feb 13, 2010 at 10:10 PM

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p.6 #18 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Toothwalker wrote:
The ZE consistently yields darker images than the Y/C on my 5D .

Interesting. I suspect this has something to do with the newer coatings, and maybe that's why the contrast & color is superior on the newer lens. (I thinking of an analogy to focus screens)

Feb 13, 2010 at 10:12 PM

Toothwalker
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p.6 #19 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Cableaddict wrote:
I guess the bokeh isn't so different after all. Those other pics must have been "worst case" situations.

I couldn't find much difference in the bokeh in the other pics either.

Sadly, these pics do reinforce what we have seen elsewhere: The ZE doesn't quite have the plasticity (3D) of the Planar. This is very clear, and makes the decision almost impossible, as the ZE is superior in sharpnessr, contrast, and color. - plus it does macro, of course.

Here you lost me. I see that the ZE is sharper (at least in today's test shots), but more plasticity (3D) with the Planar? I don't see it.

Feb 14, 2010 at 12:20 AM

Cableaddict
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p.6 #20 · New Zeiss ZE's announced

Then you don't see it.

Feb 14, 2010 at 01:22 AM

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