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
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.
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?
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.
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
