R.Young wrote:
Just won a Contax Zeiss 100 f2 on ebay for £550 including postage from the US to the UK. Is this a good deal? Is there much difference in this and the new ZE version? Any tips for converting it to my 1Ds2?
Here is John Black's review of your lens. He obviously loves it, and also has some remarks about his impression of the lens vs. the ZE 100mm Makro-Planar.
I have the Contax 100/2 Planar and I like the less hard edged bokeh of the planar vs. the 100MP and it seems to provide more 3-d due to its faster focus transition/falloff. Similar to 50/1.4 planar vs. 50MP.
Toothwalker did a comparison between the two a year back or so and I remember they were fairly close sharpness wise except when wide open the 100MP was slightly sharper. Both are great lenses and have different drawing characteristics plus the usual slight difference in colors (warmth) between Contax and ZE lenses. Enjoy it, it is a great lens
Wayne, thanks very much for the insight, sounds like it should be a great lens. I'm not too fussed about macro but it would be nice to have. I am totally addicted to the 3D look since having a 35 f2. Just a shame it will not arrive until after my holiday to Bulgaria next week. I will post my 21 and 35 shots from there anyway.
Carsten, thats exactly what I plan to do with my 100 f2, panoramas. Bokeh panoramas or Brenzier panoramas seem like a perfect match for this lens.
Luka, you demonstrate what I mean when I say (on the NEX C3 thread) that, with a really fine shot, you feel like you can reach out and touch whatever is in the picture!
Thank you Carsten, Philippe for your kind words.
As I don't see as much ever green trees in parks around NYC area compare to Maine, it was like I was a kid in a candy store.
Sorry to return with a negative comment, but I have looked at the shots again, and while I think you nailed the sharpness/resizing in the last shot, the three tree portraits feel like they are not quite sharp or something. Do you see what I mean?
I see what you mean too. It looks like they might have been upsized in the process of linking image. It happened before. Link image and it gets enlarged. Also true is that I kept sharpening to a minimum.
Love the look from this lens when converted to B&W. The tonal feel of it is just very nice.
And this was around f/2? I believe (basing this off the specular orbs show only slight signs of the aperture blades). Check out the sharpness at the hand in focus. This lens is a champ from f/2 and smaller apertures.
akul wrote:
I see what you mean too. It looks like they might have been upsized in the process of linking image. It happened before. Link image and it gets enlarged. Also true is that I kept sharpening to a minimum.
Where are you hosting your photos? Could it be that it actually happened during the final resize/export? LR has a setting which enlarges a picture to fit inside a certain dimension, as opposed to just exporting it at full size.
Very nice! What is actually in those forests in Hong Kong? I always wondered why they cram so many people into the coastline and leave all the hills unused.
