Yakim Peled wrote:
AGeoJO wrote:
Not knowing and only assuming the actual price, it seems that it would be hard for that lens to compete with the 135mmL at approximately double the price and no AF.

+1

The 135/2 is unanimously raved for superb IQ and AF.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

This new lens is an an apochromat. And because of that many people expect it to be as good as the old Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar lens. And that lens cost twice as much as the Canon 135 even when it's sold as an old used lens

I wonder why these super fast 135 lenses do have a close focus capability, while non of the 85mm lenses do go closer than about 1:10?

The lens looks very nice, and it probably feels even nicer in hand and to operate.
Yes, I see why that sort of a lens would sell for $2,000.

If it was f/1.8 I would be tempted and prepared to pay more than $2,000 for it.

The APO aspect is one area of interest for me. The Canon 135 f/2, which I love, is terrific for portraits, but struggles a bit with specular highlights in landscapes. It's contrast, which is extremely pleasing for portraits, is very good, but less optimal for landscape. Not as proficient as the Zeiss 100 MP at bringing out the subtlest shades. Assuming Zeiss 135 image style similar to the Zeiss 100 MP, I can easily see people who can afford it choosing to go with both 135s, using the Canon for portraits and action, and the Zeiss for everything else.

About the manual focus issue for portraits. I use the 100 Zeiss and manual focus with little difficulty, as long as subjects are not in constant motion. And I love the results so much that the Zeiss has been crowding out use of my Canon 135 L, with which I know I get more keepers when subjects are moving. But the longer a fast lens becomes, the harder it gets to nail focus without moving back or stopping down, so the new lens will be harder to focus wide open than the 100 MP. Not sure shooting the new Zeiss as a portrait lens will be everybody's cup of tea.

One other point. The background blur delivered by the Canon 135 really is superb when shot wide open. It will be interesting to see the comparison.

And one more point. This new Zeiss is better news for Nikon than for Canon. Assuming typical Zeiss image quality, Nikon users will for the first time have access to something to rival the Canon 135L, a lens so good that it has held many users in the Canon fold despite Nikonian blandishments of other sorts.

And a concluding point. I have my fingers crossed—hoping for the improbable—that one of the new Zeiss contributions will be ~70mm focal length, with the rendering style of the Zeiss 50 MP. I have been looking for a high-image-quality precision focusing lens at that focal length, without success (suggestions appreciated). The choices are almost all packaged as zooms, and they don't quite do what I need, even the best of them. The Sigma 70mm macro got a look, but ultimately didn't seem to offer good enough manual focus, despite generally excellent image quality otherwise. I think it's remarkable that such an eminently practical focal length has gotten so little attention as a prime lens, and Zeiss would seem to be just the company to fill the gap.

For what it's worth, my comments come from the perspective of someone who worked as a photojournalist before auto-focus, so manual focus is not a start-from-scratch struggle for me. People without that experience might encounter a learning curve if they switch to MF.

my question now is... do I keep my 100ze? or sell it to purchase this... or just purchase this and find 2k lying around somewhere....

I actually dont mind MF for portraits. Once you get the hang of it its not so bad, especially with lenses like Zeiss where the focus ring is so buttery and pleasant.

The "look" of the 135/2 is unanimously raved about. The AF could definitely use some improvement though. I found it much slower to initial lock then either my 85/1.8 or my 70-200 2.8 non-IS.

splathrop wrote:
"And one more point. This new Zeiss is better news for Nikon than for Canon. Assuming typical Zeiss image quality, Nikon users will for the first time have access to something to rival the Canon 135L, a lens so good that it has held many users in the Canon fold despite Nikonian blandishments of other sorts.".




Nikon has the top notched 135mm f/2 DC though.




http://www.photographyblog.com/news/carl_zeiss_apo_sonnar_t_2_135_ze_zf.2/

This is a work of art. Just love the look of Zeiss glass. Damn would it be heretical to sell a 135L for this, even though it will be 2x the price? Also awesome is it focuses closer than the 85 f/1.4 to yield an even better than 135L magnification of 0.25:1. Still miss my old Zeiss C/Y 50/85 f/1.4.

Lars Johnsson wrote:

This new lens is an an apochromat. And because of that many people expect it to be as good as the old Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar lens. And that lens cost twice as much as the Canon 135 even when it's sold as an old used lens

I stupidly passed up an as new very rare native EF mount version of the Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar for the measly price of $1300. You will never see them at that price again and this was only a few years ago. I panicked.

Pixel Perfect wrote:
Lars Johnsson wrote:

This new lens is an an apochromat. And because of that many people expect it to be as good as the old Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar lens. And that lens cost twice as much as the Canon 135 even when it's sold as an old used lens

I stupidly passed up an as new very rare native EF mount version of the Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar for the measly price of $1300. You will never see them at that price again and this was only a few years ago. I panicked.


I tested 3 different copies of that lens six months ago in a Bangkok shop. One used and two new copies. Great lens but it was a bit too expensive. About $ 1900 for the used one. And $ 2200-2300 for the others.

jopeme wrote:
Would they sell more lenses if the put an AF system to their glasses?
Would people update MF lenses to the very same lens with AF?
Have they not?
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Carl-Zeiss-Sonnar-T*-135-F1.8_lens300.html
I can understand it's not available in Canon mount but if a lens like this had been my bread and butter one, I'd get a dedicated body for it. I wonder how the two lenses compare (though it'd be fairly difficult to do a direct comparison since new one isn't available in Sony mount either).

Snopchenko wrote:
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Carl-Zeiss-Sonnar-T*-135-F1.8_lens300.html


Would be so nice if Zeiss had a Canon version of this. Don't Zeiss and Sony have a contractual arrangement that
they can only make AF for Sony cameras? Seems like I read that somewhere.

While I admire the skill of you being able to use MF, and I think a lot of you get rid of af problem concerns while doing it, I simple cannot fathom manual focus on anything.
I know it was done before, but it's not my thing.

The Earth was flat, Pluto was a planet, and we burned witches. Times change, at least that's how I see it.

Does look cool though and I really wish I could manual focus anything.

Great news! If you don't like manually focusing, you don't have to buy it.

Wouldn't have been on the B&S forum here was it?

Pixel Perfect wrote:
Lars Johnsson wrote:

This new lens is an an apochromat. And because of that many people expect it to be as good as the old Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar lens. And that lens cost twice as much as the Canon 135 even when it's sold as an old used lens

I stupidly passed up an as new very rare native EF mount version of the Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar for the measly price of $1300. You will never see them at that price again and this was only a few years ago. I panicked.

tsdevine wrote:
Wouldn't have been on the B&S forum here was it?

Pixel Perfect wrote:
Lars Johnsson wrote:

This new lens is an an apochromat. And because of that many people expect it to be as good as the old Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar lens. And that lens cost twice as much as the Canon 135 even when it's sold as an old used lens

I stupidly passed up an as new very rare native EF mount version of the Voigtländer 125 APO Lanthar for the measly price of $1300. You will never see them at that price again and this was only a few years ago. I panicked.



Yes about 2 years ago, when I was looking for a macro lens.

Picked one up about 3 years ago on the B&S board for around that price....it just seemed to shoot up from there. It will be interesting to see how much the new Zeiss goes for. Not sure we'll ever see an SL II of the CV 125.

-Tim

a.RodriguezPix wrote:

Nikon has the top notched 135mm f/2 DC though.



I am uncertain about that lens. it doesn't look top notch here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=646&Camera=614&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=108&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0

alundeb wrote:
a.RodriguezPix wrote:

Nikon has the top notched 135mm f/2 DC though.



I am uncertain about that lens. it doesn't look top notch here:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=646&Camera=614&Sample=0&FLI=0&API=0&LensComp=108&CameraComp=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0


Not as good as the 135L IMO.

ggreene wrote:
Snopchenko wrote:
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Carl-Zeiss-Sonnar-T*-135-F1.8_lens300.html


Would be so nice if Zeiss had a Canon version of this. Don't Zeiss and Sony have a contractual arrangement that
they can only make AF for Sony cameras? Seems like I read that somewhere.

It looks like the agreement is only for DSLR as they stated that they will make AF lenses for MILC systems.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.