Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | Leica & Alternative Gear | Join Upload & Sell

2 3 … 7 8 end

Archive 2013 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Phillip Reeve
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

I got the lens today and took it for a walk so i would like to share my initial impressions

first some examples optimized for displaying on the net:

EDIT
My copy is decentered so the tests below don't always show what a good copy would look like. I think especially the results at longer focal lenght would be better with a not decentered lens.

the following imaes are linked to full resolution images on flickr. More images can be found in this set: Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS - a set on Flickr

it is quite flare resistant:

16mm f/8 Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS by reevedata, on Flickr

bokeh is nice:

16mm f/4 Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS by reevedata, on Flickr

corner sharpness @16mm is okay but not that great either

16mm f/5.6 Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS by reevedata, on Flickr

corners are quite good @24mm

24mm f/5.6 Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS by reevedata, on Flickr

a lillte bit worse corners @35mm

34mm f/5.6 Sony Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS by reevedata, on Flickr

there is more to come, but if you want to know anything special, just ask.

cheers,
Phillip

Edited on Oct 02, 2013 at 01:49 PM · View previous versions

Sep 17, 2013 at 01:53 PM

Sagar
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Thanks. eager to hear your first impressions

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:10 PM

Jman13
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Looks really good.

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:18 PM

joekraft
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

If you have any experience with the 10-18, I'd be interested to hear how they compare. Shots here look nice so far!

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:22 PM

sebboh
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Jman13 wrote:
Looks really good.

hmm, really? maybe it's just that I'm not used to zooms covering a large range, but those edges look quite weak to me, especially at wider angles. it looks very nice in the central 2/3 though.

phillip, do corners look better at 16-24mm stopped down further?

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:28 PM

Jman13
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

sebboh wrote:
hmm, really? maybe it's just that I'm not used to zooms covering a large range, but those edges look quite weak to me, especially at wider angles. it looks very nice in the central 2/3 though.

phillip, do corners look better at 16-24mm stopped down further?

I hadn't clicked on the full size samples - I was going by rendering. Yeah, looking up close, it's got a lot of CA and quite a bit of softness at the edges. The Fuji XC 16-50 is actually a little sharper than this with better CA control (though a full stop slower and a bit shorter).

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:37 PM

Phillip Reeve
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

sebboh wrote:
hmm, really? maybe it's just that I'm not used to zooms covering a large range, but those edges look quite weak to me, especially at wider angles. it looks very nice in the central 2/3 though.

phillip, do corners look better at 16-24mm stopped down further?

i don't think so.
I have to confess that i expected quite a bit more for 800 bucks, have a look at these 100% crops:
(i used a tripod and 2 sec selftimer, but only focused once and wasn#t to careful setting the chart up but i think a trend can be clearly seen

center:

ZAMinolta3570_F8_70mm by reevedata, on Flickr

midframe:

ZAMinolta3570_F8_70mm_Midframe by reevedata, on Flickr

corner:

ZAMinolta3570_F8_70mm by reevedata, on Flickr

and now the mighty Sigma 60/2.8

ZASigma60mm by reevedata, on Flickr

ZASigma60mmMidframe by reevedata, on Flickr

ZASigma60mmCorner by reevedata, on Flickr

Edited on Sep 17, 2013 at 02:44 PM · View previous versions

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:42 PM

serhan_
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Thanks for the shots and the review. Wide angle shots posted in your flickr acct looked better then the ones above. 70mm bokeh looks very good but softness is not good...

Yesterday, I checked one raw image at 16mm w/ nex 7 and the corners looked a little soft or also some vignetting correction might be happening. Rawtherapee shows 4015x6020 pixels compared to 4000x6000 nex 7 image size so there is a little cutting going on but much less then the Pana 12-35mm I have. 12-35mm has ~6% distortion correction. That is why I am looking for Zeiss option. I don't know how the new Oly will be also, maybe more optically corrected with its bigger size. Both Sony and Pana show purple fringing.

For interested, 16mm & 70mm raw/jpg samples w/ nex 7 at:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3547108

Edited on Sep 17, 2013 at 02:58 PM · View previous versions

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:44 PM

mco_970
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Thank you, Phillip.

These findings remind me very much of the A mount version of the lens I tried. Great center sharpness, nice & Zeissy look for strong central subjects, but the corners and edges were lacking.

Looking forward to more samples.

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:55 PM

Jeff Kott
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Phillip,
Thanks for starting this thread. Like a lot of people here, I'm considering this lens and am much more interested in your thoughts than those of the "professional" testers.

Sep 17, 2013 at 02:55 PM

ISO1600
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

hmmmm

Sep 17, 2013 at 03:00 PM

Mescalamba
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Yep I thought that its a bit "soft" on long end. It really is. Tho given reach its no wonder.. Its close to impossible to make high reach zoom without compromising anything. For today, its decent.

Best "long" zoom I know of is 35-135 C/Y and then most likely K-M 28-135.. And thats about everything (well ok, 14-150 Leica for 4/3 .. probably one of best, just not FF soo..).

Sep 17, 2013 at 03:03 PM

sculptormic
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Thank you for this Phillip.

It doesn't look to good compared to the good old Minolta.
Could it be that the lens doesn't focus right?
Did you try manual focus as well on the testcard?

Sep 17, 2013 at 03:17 PM

sebboh
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Phillip Reeve wrote:
i don't think so.
I have to confess that i expected quite a bit more for 800 bucks, have a look at these 100% crops:
(i used a tripod and 2 sec selftimer, but only focused once and wasn#t to careful setting the chart up but i think a trend can be clearly seen

hmm, did you use AF?

Sep 17, 2013 at 03:18 PM

Phillip Reeve
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar E 4/16-70 ZA OSS

Please keep in mind that this is quick and dirty and nowhere near professional testing standards.
Nonetheless a pattern can be seen, i think.
The Zeiss was focused manually.