Great stuff!

Really stunning.Beautiful pictures Ricardo!

Peire wrote:
Really stunning.Beautiful pictures Ricardo!

+1!

Yes wow Ricardo, beautiful!

Here's one from last weekend, slightly cropped around the bottom and to the right.


St. Paul's Cathedral by Johann D, on Flickr

This is my first time posting on FM, hello everyone, and thank you all for your contributions. This appears to be a wonderful site with so many talented and knowledgable people. I work for a non profit as nature photographer and a ranger, my work centering on conservation. My interest in this lens is two fold: 1) I do not yet own a Zeiss lens, and am dying to experience the special magic I have seen and read so much about 2) I obsess over every piece of gear I carry, being a bit of a fiend for lightweight/versatile gear. This lens seems to fit the bill, albeit with some sacrifices.

Let me just say this up front. I've gone through the posts, here and elsewhere, and I'm left with a lot of questions. I've not talked to anyone face to face with experience adapting this lens to a 5D II, so, please, don't think I'm trying to take the "easy way out" by asking some of these questions straight up without doing my own research. I've done nothing but that for a while, and honestly, I still feel the need for clarification. The price of these lenses has sky rocketed and I've never done the alternative lens/adapter thing before. I've some trepidation I'd really like to put to rest. As I said, I will be adapting this lens to a 5D II. Anyone with experience with the 35-70/5DII combination, I will be indebted to you if you chime in with your experiences. Thank you so much in advance.

So, here goes...

1) I get the impression that some people have issues with focusing at infinity and some people have had issues with mirror hangs and it seems to relate to the adapter they are using. I'd like to avoid both of these issues. I seem to see many people choosing the CameraQuest adapter. On their website, it says that lens mount variations may require some filing of the adapter to make it work. Has anyone had to do this for adapting onto the 5DII? What was your experience? Painless? Pain in the ass?

I plan to use this lens quite a bit on a tripod, but would like to have the versatility of not always relying on live view for focusing. Any consensus on what is ultimately the best solution for focusing through the view finder (ie, like a third party focusing screen like Bright Screen?) After reading about the chipped adapters, I come away feeling like it is these adapters that are the most problematic, too thick, not thick enough? Is this accurate?

And metering? Are you restricted to any specific kinds of metering? Is the meter accurate?

Does the depth of field preview button still function?

Honestly, after reading and reading and feeling still somewhat in the dark on these subjects, I've seriously considered just getting a ZE 35 F2 and a brights screen and saying the hell with stop down metering and all the rest. But I see so much positivity and love for the 35-70 and its versatility/quality/lightweight really has me really interested. But because of my lack of knowledge, I'm seriously on the fence.

Again, thank you all.

Ricardo: beautiful, clean and fresh shots. good to see the performance at f/16. I liked #3.
mco_970: very crisp shot. beautiful.
Anden seems to be pulling out stunners with all the lenses. cute boy.
jotdeh: lovely light and wonderful architecture

Jack, welcome to the forums. I'm new here as well.
I've recently acquired this lens as well and can answer few of your queries.
I dont have the mirror hang problem on my 5DMkII on the adapter I'm using. There is no problem with infinity focus either, although it does focus past. So I tested a few shots for far off objects and noted the best position for the infinity. There are guides online, where they show how you can add pieces of tape between the lens mount and the adapter to make it focus on infinity where it says on the lens. But that will make it a tight squeeze between the adapter and the lens. I'm ok the way it is right now.

I still use LV for focusing. I've tried the AF confirmation and it is slightly off. So I need to fine tune it. I still use evaluative metering. Haven't really explored the others.

And the DOF feature will not work. You'll need to manually stop it down before the exposure.

I love the fact that it has a macro feature as well. Makes it very versatile.

This one was taken on the Skyline Drive last weekend.

Manoj,

Thank you very much. What adapter are you using? Beautiful shot...

Ricardo LP

Those are pretty much best photos I saw here.. very impressive.

Jack, the adapter does not have a name on it. It came with the lens.

Few more taken on the same day as my previous post.
Skyline drive, Shenandoah National Park.
This was on the weekend of Irene. When entering the park at the entry station, the park ranger warned us about the conditions inside the park. She said it was foggy and visibility was low, there were fallen leaves and branches and the road could be slippery and asked if we still wanted to go in. Well, now that she mentioned all that, definitely yes.

I definitely love this lens.

Really nice and moody Minoj

Manoj please post more with the 35-70.. i like your style

Thanks guys.
fefo.1979, thanks, will do.

Superb shots Manoj!

FIrst outing in terrible lighting on the A850 CY35-70!

Always wanted one of these and I think I might be one of the few who have it in Alpha mount!

First lens I've ever had in MF where it seems the infinity focus is correct... I hope.


_DSC4203.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4191.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4182.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4177.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4167.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4163.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4141.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4138.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr


_DSC4129.jpg by jaetography, on Flickr

wish I had an a850 for mine. pics of the two?

lots of detail in that crosswalk shot.

I'll do a gear shot later on, it fits the body very nicely and feels very well balanced.

Man, the build quality on this lens is possibly the most impressive zoom lens I've used. The damping couldn't be more perfect.

:S Sony sensors produce such awesome colors. I can't wait for the A900 replacement so I can switch to them and get IBIS on all my lenses.

IBIS only works if your lens is chipped which is actually very easy to do.

If its not chipped, it assumes 50mm from what I recall. However, I don't think I've ever seen a chip for a zoom lens aftermarket.

Luckily, I'm pretty sure Minolta designed the A900 and A850 as the IBIS switch is a big ass switch on the back of the camera. There ergonomics of these are just marvelous.

does this lens come in any mount other than c/y that is adaptable to canon EF?
just trying to widen my search. not an easy lens to find.