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DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I had high hopes when I received my 35mm zf last week. Alas I didn't consider it up to snuff and sent it back to B&H. I used it on my 1dsmk2. The chromatic aberration was too much, hell it was the more than any lens I have. Light fall off was apparant below f/8. And the nail in the coffin was the distortion. I hope the new 28mm f/2 is much better. Dan Nov 30, 2007 at 01:57 AM

loudtiger Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Jun 07, 2004 Total Posts: 1355 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF according to the photozone test ( http://photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/zeiss_zf_35_2/index.htm ) it seems like it has very low CA and a low enough amount of distortion. could it have been an adapter issue? Nov 30, 2007 at 02:13 AM

EltonTeng Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Mar 21, 2005 Total Posts: 1868 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF The PZ review was done with a D200 (1.5x crop) so it wouldn't reveal the light fall off issue one may see on a FF camera. Nov 30, 2007 at 04:45 AM

Lotusm50 Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Sep 26, 2005 Total Posts: 3275 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Sounds like an adapter issue to me -- or something is really screwy. You should have only minimal CA, distortion should appear fairly well controlled, and you should not have ANY light falloff at f8. What adapter are you using? I did notice some adapter problems with my ZF 50/1.4,so I got a new, different adapter, and it got better. I just got a ZF 53/f2.0, but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I'll see if I can find some time to produce some samples from it in the morning to see if I can see what you are seeing. Nov 30, 2007 at 05:03 AM

telyt Online Image Upload: Off Registered: Mar 01, 2004 Total Posts: 348 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Leica 35mm Elmarit-R, Series VII or E55 version. How much is your time worth? Do you value your time so little that you'll volunteer your QC services to Cosina/Zeiss? Nov 30, 2007 at 05:26 AM

phuang3 Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Feb 09, 2005 Total Posts: 410 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I love my latest 35mm Elmarit-R and 1st 35 Summicon-R. They are both great lenses with similar optical formula. Nov 30, 2007 at 10:21 AM

Lotusm50 Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Sep 26, 2005 Total Posts: 3275 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF telyt wrote: Leica 35mm Elmarit-R, Series VII or E55 version. How much is your time worth? Do you value your time so little that you'll volunteer your QC services to Cosina/Zeiss? I think it is more like we spend a lot of time providing QC services to makers of adapters. A quick scan of the threads in this forum clearly indicates that these are much more variable in quality than anything else in the "alternative" world. Nov 30, 2007 at 11:14 AM

Conner999 Offline Image Upload: On Registered: Jan 22, 2006 Total Posts: 2138 Country: Canada Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Agree w/Lotus I had a 35/2 ZF on a 5D and never had an issue with CA or certainly no light fall-off at F8. I saw more CA in strong backlighting with my Leica 90/2 L APO than my 35/2ZF. The 35 'cron or 35 ZF are both great lenses (ZF is sharper in center) but a bum adapter will clothes-line either of them. Nov 30, 2007 at 11:52 AM

Lotusm50 Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Sep 26, 2005 Total Posts: 3275 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Dan- Do you have any images showing the problems you're seeing so we can compare them and understand the extent of the problems and hopefully identify their source. Nov 30, 2007 at 01:35 PM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF My original post should have read, unacceptable light fall off at apertures wider than f/8. Here are some test images, Full image resized shot f4, http://www.pbase.com/image/89680250 Full image resized shot f/11, http://www.pbase.com/freddy_mercurio/image/89680282 Upper right corner f/8 100% crop, http://www.pbase.com/freddy_mercurio/image/89680311 Upper right corner f/8 200% crop, http://www.pbase.com/freddy_mercurio/image/89680332 Upper right corner f/8 200% crop with CA removed. ACR Red/Cyan -13 Blue Yellow 13 http://www.pbase.com/freddy_mercurio/image/89680384 Nov 30, 2007 at 02:09 PM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I will say the lens is very sharp over much of the frame and the lens was very well built. I did want it to be a stellar performer but I felt the CA was too severe. Hell my CZ 15mm has less CA. Dan danbrownphotography.com Nov 30, 2007 at 02:22 PM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Also, the adaptor was a Fotodiox pro F to eos. I'm very skeptical that the adapter was at fault. The lens could focus to infinity and the CA was symetrical across the frame. Dan Nov 30, 2007 at 02:24 PM

Andi Dietrich Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Nov 13, 2005 Total Posts: 3004 Country: N/A Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF That looks ugly. Did you actually compare it to any other lens? To me this looks rather situational. I had a Nikkor 17-35 which looked really bad in such situations Dec 01, 2007 at 01:55 PM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I have some indoor shots that show a lot of CA. I didn't compare it with any other 35mm lenses at the same time and place, I was more worried about testing this lens fast so that in case it failed I could send it back. Dan Dec 02, 2007 at 12:36 AM

Tariq Gibran Online Image Upload: Off Registered: Oct 01, 2006 Total Posts: 1777 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I saw the exact same amount of CA with my Contax Zeiss 28mm MM 2.8 when shot in identical situations on my 5D. Did you do any shadow recovery during processing? That tends to exaggerate CA in this lighting situation. Dec 02, 2007 at 12:50 AM

jjlphoto Offline Image Upload: On Registered: Jan 03, 2005 Total Posts: 6580 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Are you sure that isn't the Purple Fringe effect? http://www.vanwalree.com/optics/chromatic.html#fig1 Technically known as longitudinal chromatic aberration. (First two photos of the cross's) The more common CA where it seems that one of the colors starts to become out of register as you move out towards the edges is transverse chromatic aberration. (Second series of three photos of the cross's) Better lenses have transverse chromatic aberration in good control, where-as just about all are prone to longitudinal chromatic aberration. Gets progressively intense with wide aperture lenses. Also most noticeable in high contrast situations, thin objects backlit against skies, really bright/high contrast subjects, etc http://www.vanwalree.com/optics/chromatic.html#fig1 Dec 02, 2007 at 01:10 AM

Cinstance Offline Image Upload: Off Registered: Oct 09, 2003 Total Posts: 3589 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF More like quality control problem to me. I only tried one ZF lens (a 50/1.4 when it first came out) and returned it because of bad build quality control (tight focus ring). An adapter could cause uneven sharpenss for a lens with linear focus system like the ZF 35, but it is far-fetched to blame the adapter for CA or distortion. A mis-aligned element might be the one to blame. Dec 02, 2007 at 02:06 AM

BobbyP Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Jan 03, 2005 Total Posts: 176 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF Could be you got a bad copy of the 35 ZF. I bought one and tested it against my Zeiss Contax 35 (one of the best wide angle lens I have ever used) on my 5D, and the ZF was sharper in the center and corners and CA was minimal. Distortion was the same as the Contax, but is not a big deal for me as I shoot landscapes. The ZF is in my bag and the Contax is on the shelf. I also really like the build and feel of the lens. Dec 02, 2007 at 02:32 AM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF The CA from my CY 28mm 2.8 is removed in ACR by adjusting the sliders just -5 and 5. The ZF needs over twenty on the red cyan slider. Purple fringe or blooming isn't fixed with CA controls in ACR so I don't think it's that. This is the classic red green shift, look at crops from earlier post. Dan Dec 02, 2007 at 12:39 PM

Conner999 Offline Image Upload: On Registered: Jan 22, 2006 Total Posts: 2138 Country: Canada Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF In hindsight I'd go with Cinstance - bum lens copy. What you're seeing isn't normal for the 35/2. If you have the patience to return it for a better copy, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Dec 02, 2007 at 01:38 PM

DanPBrown Offline Buy and Sell: On Registered: Nov 21, 2005 Total Posts: 371 Country: United States Re: Returned Zeiss 35mm ZF I probably won't be trying another one soon since I bought Hubsand's CY 35mm PC lens that he used in his review at 16-9. I would however like to see crops from others who have full frame cameras and the 35zf lens. Dan Dec 03, 2007 at 12:14 AM

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