Does anyone own both of these lenses or seen any comparisons?
I found a good comparison of the Canon 100L and the Zeiss (with the Z taking the honors in most categories), but IMO the 180 macro is a step up from the 100L in terms of bokeh, contrast.
I'm aware of their differences...80mm/AF...the Canon is 1:1 and the Zeiss 1:2.
I'd love to add the 100 to my kit...but at the same time I couldn't part with my Canon 180, and am worried one would be sitting all the time.
thanks,
craig
Feb 06, 2012 at 07:30 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
I own the Zeiss. And I have been shooting a lot with both the Canon and Sigma 180 macro lenses. (which I owned a few years ago)
They are so different lenses that you can't really compare them against each other (IMO).
Except that both are called macro lenses, everything else is different. The only thing I would say is that you don't have to "worry one would be sitting all the time" They are so different that one can't replace the other.
I have both lenses as well and as far as image quality goes, I'd say they're pretty close with the Zeiss just edging out the Canon marginally. Sometimes I can't even tell the difference, other times I prefer the rendering of the Zeiss. One difference that is obvious though is that the Zeiss has CA wide-open while the Canon doesn't.
And as Lars mentioned above, everything else is different. I either alternate taking them out or just bring both along since the 100MP is rather compact and fits into 1 small compartment in my bag while the Canon takes up the usual long slot.
100L - very versatile lens. Light, weather sealed and stabilized - great for those nature trips where you don't want any heavy equipment. Very sharp, but I never figured out how to tune the images in editor to look to my liking.
180L - amazing image quality, nice looking background blur, but f/3.5 @ 180mm was often too slow for my style of shooting and became the sitting lens you are worried about.
100 ZE - the overall image quality is probably the best of the three. The lens suffers from longitudinal chromatic aberration that can occasionally cause ugly coloration to out of focus areas. No IS and no AF, but it is faster than the other two. An obvious choice if you own other Zeiss lenses or like their rendering style.
