I leitaxed mine to Canon EF as it nearly fell out of one of the C/Y-EF Mount adapters when I engaged the macro setting. (The little catch spring disengaged when I applied too much torque). With the Leitax-Mount this is bullet proof and infinity is spot on.
The conversion to EF is very easy if you know how to use a screwdriver.
The venerable CY 35-70 produces so much microcontrast that the results can be visually interpreted in the way Philippe alludes to. Nothing in any way wrong with differences of opinion, in fact it is a badge of honour as so many top lenses are 'controversial'.
Zeiss's MTF do not lie however and as all MTF data is microcontrast, at infinity this zoom produces astounding performance, it's not shabby up close either. As the images indicate it is a superb field lens with an uncanny creaminess in the palette and top drawer 3D. In key aspects it resembles the FE primes: flatness of field (necessary to deliver great frame edges/corners); terrific small aperture performance, f11 is just one stop from optimum of f8; and excellent object shaping giving a high photorealism to images.
These are all design goals of Sony Zeiss to cope with the a7r right now, but Zeiss made this one 20 years back without the assistance of ED elements or Asph surfaces, just painstaking design and development. It is therefore a thoroughly modern style of lens even down to the 475 grams weight, just 45 grams more than the FE 24-70/4.
I took back to back comparison a7r shots along with a Summicron R50/2 E55, of near infinity FDs, the zoom trounced the Leica in all respects, drawing foliage and tree bark with great subtlety, and the high res camera makes the most of the extended DOF the zoom delivers. Now this zoom is best around 50mm where it has no distortion to mention and very high performance even past the deep corners - the same is true of the FE zoom incidentally, but the CY is also excellent at 70mm, Somewhat unfair to the Leica prime perhaps, it is essentially a portrait lens best at close distance and optimized for the image center, but one view is that 50s should be all rounders, as is the FE55.
It's not perfect. Some copies suffer knocks poorly, the push-pull action puts off some users and may suck in dust, focus rings can develop play. The short end is less good on the a7r where a little CA arises for the first time, all is well at 40-45mm onwards however. I would very much like to see it up against the new FE 24-70 which from reports other than at FM is gaining accolades fast. Tim Ashley found it the equal of the FE55 with a little more sharpening..sacrilege I know -;
Another thought - the 35-70 has somewhat lower 10 lpmm lines. These lines reflect the rendering of large structures in the image. Examples might include the edges of buildings, statues and even heads. Leica work hard to get very strong performance in this area of lens performance, while Zeiss traditionally emphasize fine detail. That is a generalization with plenty of exceptions but has a fair sized kernel of truth to it. Now these large structures are the first to reflect losses to diffraction in fast primes, even as fine detail is improving with stopping down.
The CY zoom retains its less wonderful large object shaping at smaller apertures but gains greatly in fine details and I speculate that this might disrupt some peoples' visual perception of images from the 35-70, while delighting others. It's very subject dependent of course.
Before 35-70 (being my first zeiss), I don't know what "micro contrast" mean
Along with the cinematic color palette, it gave you the sense of "reality".
lumis beans wrote:
Anyone using an aftermarket lens hood that does not vignette @ 35mm. If so, which one.
Thanks.
I prefer Contax Metal hood, but it would not exists; Hama rubber hood works well. In tele end it can be extended fully and protects very well, really good when shooting in rain (in tele end...).
Bringing this thread back as it was from here that I learned of this lens back towards the start of the year. I've just picked one up for myself. It looks to be in immaculate condition externally and the glass is in very good nick.
I haven't had a chance to get it out shooting yet to see how it performs, but I just wondered if anyone has had a bit of a rattle sort of noise coming from inside theirs? It is made when I move it back and forth sideways (rather than forward and back along its length).
The focus ring turns like butter, and the aperture ring snaps like the day it was made. However, the zoom movement is a bit uneven throughout the range if this gives any clue to someone as to what the rattle might be?
cams884 wrote:
Bringing this thread back as it was from here that I learned of this lens back towards the start of the year. I've just picked one up for myself. It looks to be in immaculate condition externally and the glass is in very good nick.
I haven't had a chance to get it out shooting yet to see how it performs, but I just wondered if anyone has had a bit of a rattle sort of noise coming from inside theirs? It is made when I move it back and forth sideways (rather than forward and back along its length).
The focus ring turns like butter, and the aperture ring snaps like the day it was made. However, the zoom movement is a bit uneven throughout the range if this gives any clue to someone as to what the rattle might be?
The Contax 35-70 was made for the A7! Been using my together for months! Great combination!
Here is a shot I took last night while on vacation in Hawaii...the image looks not sharp, and that's cause I transferred the original image from my A7 to my iPhone 5s(pretty small file size) then pp'd in Snapseed
Gregg
Seeing all of the terrific images in this thread inspired me to get out with my C/Y 35-70mm this morning. Below is a shot, hand held, and wind was blowing. The focus was not nailed perfectly, but well enough for just a walk-around shot. I love the color rendering with this lens.
Gave mine a good workout over the last couple of weeks. Here is one of the first that I'm happy with.
This is taken near Marysville, Victoria (Australia). In 2009 devastating bushfires ripped through this area. They nearly completely destroyed the town of Marysville as well as other nearby towns. Many lives were lost.
It was positive seeing how much has been rebuilt in this time and the regrowth in the bush was beautiful. All the while there was a sombre feeling though.
I wasnt aware of this thread - or - had deliberately forgotten about it since getting the CY28-85 a couple of years ago. This shot ought to be taken with the very same copy that the original TS (Anden/Andreas) was awaiting when starting this thread in 2010.
Panorama from Carr's Lookout (Queensland, Aust). This view looks out over the Condamine valley towards Wilsons Peak and in the distance Mt. Barney. Wasn't a very clear day, but I think the foreground makes up for it.
