Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell	Search Used
1 2 3 end

Archive 2009 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Lotusm50
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #1 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

jcolwell wrote:
Lotusm50 wrote:
Well, do what John Cleese did.

For a moment there, I had a vision of jumping up and down while vigorously shaking my fists at the sky.

My corporate travel wizard is working on it. The airport here in Gothenburg is currently open for flights to many places, but not to Heathrow, where my connection was booked. I'm confident that I'll be out of here before the end of the weekend, but which weekend is not yet known.

Can't you take a train to a boat, or even just a train, to get to the UK and Heathrow. I don't believe those are affected by the Volcano, or are they all booked up with grounded airline passengers now?

Apr 17, 2010 at 12:24 PM

jcolwell
Online
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #2 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Lotusm50 wrote:
Can't you take a train to a boat, or even just a train, to get to the UK and Heathrow. I don't believe those are affected by the Volcano, or are they all booked up with grounded airline passengers now?

Heathrow has been closed since Thursday. Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Copenhagen are closed. Pairs and Brussels are open now, but may close (again) soon. 17,000 flights were cancelled in Europe yesterday. The projected ash distribution forecast suggests much of southern Europe will close in the next day or two. I can take a ferry to Kiel, but all of the trains are fully booked until Wednesday. I'm much more comfortable here (right now) than in a train station or ferry terminal with 5000 other people. Maybe I'll start looking at real estate in Sweden.

Apr 17, 2010 at 12:36 PM

I Am Luna
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.3 #3 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

AlanGeli wrote:
How about the "Tokina AT-X 17mm pro" lens ? It is a much more modern design (aspherical, special glass from Hoya ... ) than Oly, Tamron SP, Contax Zeiss.

Any experience ?

I got the AT-X non-pro. It is great for the price, just like the Tamron, which I also have, but for a different mount.

Apr 17, 2010 at 12:47 PM

Lotusm50
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #4 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

jcolwell wrote:
Maybe I'll start looking at real estate in Sweden.

I lived in Stockholm for a year. Lovely place to live. You won't regret it -- except from time to time in the winter, or every time you go to buy a beer...

Apr 17, 2010 at 02:30 PM

abqnmusa
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #5 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

I ordered a Zeiss 18mm ZE to use with my 5D II

Yes, I drank the Zeiss kool aid. I think it is a better lens then it gets credit for.
need something wider then my Canon 24mm F1.4 II at times

test shots of my house with the Zeiss 18mm have been quite good for sharpness, color, and contrast. I am getting sharp corners to the edge and F8-F11 which is where I tend to use any ultra-wide lens. The IQ has been excellent. I like the way the Zeiss 18 ZE records the scenes. It is working better for me than the Canon 17-40 @ 18mm did.

Happy with my choice of an ultra-wide for the 5D II

ll images below are un-corrected for distortion or vignetting.

Tent Rocks NM pics:

Tent Rocks example #1

Tent Rocks example #2

These are from the race track. Mid-day, bright sun, no clouds, worst case lighting:

cleaning race track - mid-day light test #1

cleaning the race track - mid-day light test #2

cleaning the track - mid-day light test #3

car after crash - mid-day light test #4 - shooting towards sun with filter

Edited on Nov 15, 2010 at 05:20 PM · View previous versions

Oct 28, 2010 at 04:11 PM

j.liam
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.3 #6 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

dadagallery wrote:
Seems to be an odd time economically to be raising prices but I guess they know what folks can bear.

This reflects the precipitous fall of the US dollar against the Yen.

Oct 28, 2010 at 09:12 PM

edwardkaraa
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #7 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

I see this thread has been revived. Imho, we are being too tough on the ZE 18. One has to keep in perspective the purpose behind its existence. I believe Zeiss is trying to give the users different choices. The difference in AOV between the 18 and 21 ia not huge. If you want top quality, you get the 21, if you want small and portable, you get the 18. It is obvious some compromises were made on the 18 to make it more compact. However, the lens performs very well imho. It has all the Zeiss characteristics, and like the rest of the line, it is optimized for infinity.

Oct 29, 2010 at 05:02 AM

philber
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #8 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

edwardkaraa wrote:
I see this thread has been revived. Imho, we are being too tough on the ZE 18. One has to keep in perspective the purpose behind its existence. I believe Zeiss is trying to give the users different choices. The difference in AOV between the 18 and 21 ia not huge. If you want top quality, you get the 21, if you want small and portable, you get the 18. It is obvious some compromises were made on the 18 to make it more compact. However, the lens performs very well imho. It has all the Zeiss characteristics, and like the rest of the line, it is optimized for infinity.

I agree completely. While all Zeiss lenses share a "Zeiss look", there are differences between them that make them more suitable for one thing than another. At this stage I am choosing between my lenses for their rendering as well as for their FL

Oct 29, 2010 at 05:07 AM

magiclight
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.3 #9 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Yes, the 18mm has a lovely drawing style. So if you are a person who likes making lovely images you will be very happy. However if you are a person who likes examining the corner most pixels on his monitor @ 1:1 for technical excellence you maybe disappointed.

I remember that Lloyd Chambers initially marked the lens down for technical issues when comparing with the Nikon 14-24 and even the Canon 16-35mm. But then the more he used the Zeiss the more he liked it for it's drawing/rendering style.

Dave

Oct 29, 2010 at 07:01 AM

j.liam
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.3 #10 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Lloyd Chambers also wrote that the 18 was the one Zeiss he would NOT be buying for himself.

Oct 29, 2010 at 12:54 PM

Lotusm50
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #11 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

philber wrote:
edwardkaraa wrote:
I see this thread has been revived. Imho, we are being too tough on the ZE 18. One has to keep in perspective the purpose behind its existence. I believe Zeiss is trying to give the users different choices. The difference in AOV between the 18 and 21 ia not huge. If you want top quality, you get the 21, if you want small and portable, you get the 18. It is obvious some compromises were made on the 18 to make it more compact. However, the lens performs very well imho. It has all the Zeiss characteristics, and like the rest of the line, it is optimized for infinity.

I agree completely. While all Zeiss lenses share a "Zeiss look", there are differences between them that make them more suitable for one thing than another. At this stage I am choosing between my lenses for their rendering as well as for their FL

I agree for the most part. I just sold my ZF 18mm, in favor of just using the N 17-35. I should have taken the time to compare them. I intended to, but really never had the time. I agree that the lens has the good deal of "Zeiss look" (Andi, IIFC, disagrees) and it does have an appealing rendering style. I think the biggest issue with the lens is the light fall-off in the corners that almost never seems to go away (mind you, it is also evident with the N 17-35 at 17mm). I do feel that the 18mm AOV is noticeable wider than the 21mm, however -- more of the difference than between the 21mm and 25mm -- but I don't think that is a big issue. Certainly some are being too tough on the lens. Yes, it is result of compromises for size and price and that is responsible for the criticism -- primarily from those who would have preferred to see less compromises made and a higher price (more like the 21mm). If Zeiss expands the ZF/ZE line at the wide end, I think you might see a low-compromise, high-price 15 or 16mm (probably 15mm (rectilinear) following the Contax 15mm) so that the no-compromise folks get a 15 and 21mm to put in their bag at the wide end, and the more price sensitive folks get a 18 and 25mm.

Oct 29, 2010 at 01:38 PM

abqnmusa
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #12 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

I bought the Zeiss 18mm F3.5 ZE that Lloyd Chanbers refused to buy for himself.

J.liam said:

Lloyd Chambers also wrote that the 18 was the one Zeiss he would NOT be buying for himself.

Nov 15, 2010 at 05:18 PM

bobring
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #13 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Hello abqnmusa. Hope you'll share comments and photos! Thanks.

Nov 16, 2010 at 03:04 PM

abqnmusa
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.3 #14 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

Hi bobring,

I posted some Zeiss 18mm ZE images in a link on the previous page of this thread.

I will post more images and comment on the lens when I get out again to take pics.

Nov 16, 2010 at 05:52 PM

adamM
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.3 #15 · Zeiss Distagon T* 18mm f/3.5 ZE

I don't think the Oly is over-hyped. It's very sharp and incredibly free of distortion, plus it's incredibly small. I wish Rockwell included one in his test...

That said, does anyone know how the Tamron or Zeiss do in the 'breathing' department? The Oly breathes like a banshee, which makes it tough for the rare times you need to focus in video. I know that won't matter much to the stills-shooters here, but it's a big deal to the video shooters...

I love my Oly and have taken some incredible photos with it. The size and optical performance are fantastic.

This is an old post, but for anyone curious of what the Oly can do, check it out. I am in LOVE with this lens

Oly does Cuba

Nov 17, 2010 at 06:09 AM

1 2 3 end
FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 end