ZA 135mm Sonnar
/forum/topic/717822/0

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wayne seltzer
Registered: Dec 22, 2007
Total Posts: 3201
Country: United States

Has anybody here confirmed the sharpness ratings posted in the photozone review?
Looks like this Zeiss-Sony lens significantly beats the 135L wide open and stopped down. The fast 1.8 aperture looks very appealing.
How is the feel of the manual focusing ring on this baby?
Can anyone post some bokeh examples?
Wondering if there is any physical problems modifying the mount to work with EOS mount? Ie. is this standard m42-eos adapter?
What aperture would the lens default to f1.8 or f22?

Anybody, know how easy it would be to have an adapter with electronics to control the aperture with an eos camera? Conurus can you comment?

Any slim chance of Zeiss making a ZE/ZF version of this lens? When is the exclusive part of the partnership deal over?



asnapper
Registered: Aug 06, 2006
Total Posts: 113
Country: United Kingdom

http://www.dyxum.com/reviews/lenses/reviews.asp?IDLens=300

http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11305

User reviews & image samples on Dyxum.

The ZA's are designed for Sony so its unlikely this lens will ever appear in anoter mount,



dcmiller
Registered: May 21, 2002
Total Posts: 3643
Country: United States

If your looking for alternatives the nikon 135/2D and the Voigtlander 125/2.5 would be easier.

There's a V125/2.5 in eos mount on ebay now. As an APO lens it might be superior to the ZA. I really like my 135L, so I'm not looking at any tests



wayne seltzer
Registered: Dec 22, 2007
Total Posts: 3201
Country: United States

Yes, I looked at the V125 2.5 APO when I was looking for my 100'ish macro lens and opted for the Leica 100 APO which I love.
Now, I am looking to improve my 100-200mm range as I have the 70-200 f2.8L IS.
So at 135mm it is either 135L or this one



douglasf13
Registered: Apr 09, 2008
Total Posts: 3030
Country: United States

For some, the ZA 135 is the primary reason to buy the A900. It's that good. I'm not sure you'll have much success mounting it to Canon.



veroman
Registered: Aug 19, 2005
Total Posts: 3257
Country: United States

Another possibility is the older Zeiss Sonnar 135 f/3.5. It's slower than the new ones, but it's the sharpest lens I have ever owned. Works fine with an auto-confirm adapter on the 5D. Hard to find the f/3.5 version these days but worth searching for. Nice, compact design.

- Steve



wayne seltzer
Registered: Dec 22, 2007
Total Posts: 3201
Country: United States

Does anyone know if its physically possible to adapt this to Canon?
Is it just only the electronic aperture control part that is keeping one from using it on a Canon?



edwardkaraa
Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Total Posts: 4140
Country: Thailand

wayne seltzer wrote:
Does anyone know if its physically possible to adapt this to Canon?
Is it just only the electronic aperture control part that is keeping one from using it on a Canon?


I doubt it because the flange difference between the two is very small.



edwardkaraa
Registered: Sep 27, 2004
Total Posts: 4140
Country: Thailand

wayne seltzer wrote:
Does anyone know if its physically possible to adapt this to Canon?
Is it just only the electronic aperture control part that is keeping one from using it on a Canon?


I doubt it because the flange difference between the two is very small.



mawz
Registered: Sep 11, 2005
Total Posts: 5066
Country: Canada

wayne seltzer wrote:
Does anyone know if its physically possible to adapt this to Canon?
Is it just only the electronic aperture control part that is keeping one from using it on a Canon?


No aperture ring. All Minolta/Sony mount lenses have mechanical aperture linkages (like a Nikon G lens)

And the 0.5mm register difference makes an adaptor impossible, it would have to be a mount conversion with some sort of hubsand-style aperture control.



wayne seltzer
Registered: Dec 22, 2007
Total Posts: 3201
Country: United States

Mawz,

So the new 135 Sonnar has a Nikon G lens like mechanical aperture control lever
inside the mount like the Nikon 14-24G? Cool, I was worried it was controllable only via
electronic communication. Wonder if anyone will do the mount conversion for me and come up
with a hubsand like aperture control?
Do you know if the lens defaults to f1.8 or f22 like the Nikon G lenses with no aperture control?

Can't believe I am the only one who dreams of using this lens on a Canon 1ds3 or 5d2.



Marcel VanEerd
Registered: Mar 02, 2007
Total Posts: 1834
Country: Canada

veroman wrote:
Another possibility is the older Zeiss Sonnar 135 f/3.5. It's slower than the new ones, but it's the sharpest lens I have ever owned. Works fine with an auto-confirm adapter on the 5D. Hard to find the f/3.5 version these days but worth searching for. Nice, compact design.

- Steve


I don't suppose that would be the CZJ Sonnar MC 135 you are referring to? Maybe not quite up to par with L glass, but very nice indeed.



Paul Yi
Registered: Dec 10, 2004
Total Posts: 4583
Country: United States

Tair-11A (135/2.8) should also be considered.
Its bokeh from 20 blades are amazing.





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