I have been reading through various 28mm focal length options and I cannot really get a consensus. Most of the posts and reviews state the Leica M choices 2.8 or 2.0 -- have issues. This seems to be the majority opinion.
The Zeiss 28mm 2.8 biogon-- I read mixed reviews.. From great to smearing in the corners and color cast.
The Voigtlander M 28mm--- not too much either way… Some say decent corners but less sharp??
So perhaps someone can point me to some more definitive threads?? Thanks in advance
Mark,
I have been shooting with the Canon FD 28mm f/2 and I'm surprised how well it performs on the A7r.
It's sharp wide open with good contrast in the center and the corners start to improve from f/5.6 and up.
IMO, a good adapter makes a difference. I'm using the Novoflex NEX/CAN.
Fred
Fred thanks. The last thing I need is another format.. . I have Nikon, Leica M, Leica Screwmount, and Sony E mount formats and I was trying to convert to a single non-E format if at all possible.
mark1958 wrote:
I have been reading through various 28mm focal length options and I cannot really get a consensus. Most of the posts and reviews state the Leica M choices 2.8 or 2.0 -- have issues. This seems to be the majority opinion.
The Zeiss 28mm 2.8 biogon-- I read mixed reviews.. From great to smearing in the corners and color cast.
The Voigtlander M 28mm--- not too much either way… Some say decent corners but less sharp??
So perhaps someone can point me to some more definitive threads?? Thanks in advance
The 2nd & 3rd version of the Elmarit M 28 seem to be quite good on the A7r, I can Speke personally about the 2nd version on my A7r, there is very minor color shift to the point you don't see it very often, and I didn't see any smearing, I can say the same about my Elmarit M 24 Asph.
2 shots with the 24 that show how the corners are very acceptable to me, the 28 is as good or better.
As far as I know, you will not find a great performing 28mm for the A7s in Leica M mount. Some say the Konica will be great, but I have not seen infinity shots with that one, only street shots. The Nikon AIS might be your best bet, the 28/2.8 with CRC is said to be good, but I have not seen it on A7(r), also the bigger 28/2 with CRC. The standard recommendation for stellar is Leica 28/2.8 II, but it is hard to find and expensive ( the Nikon might also be hard to find, but not that hard ). Or you can settle to the Distagon 28/2.8, or the ZF 28.
I have the Olympus 28mm and 21mm lens - both are the f/3.5 models and they are small SLR lens that are "range-finder" size at 180/185 grams). I'm very happy with the results from both lens - especially the 28mm (and its dirt cheap). The Oly 28mm f/2 at 240 grams is supposedly a sharper lens if you need the speed - and at 5-10x the cost!
i've been using the Voigtlander 28 ultron for a week (f2 one). I'm not always thrilled by how heavy it is, but its still more compact than any other 28mm. Nicely built and all that, when stopped down gives me great sharpness and character. I see some minor colorcast at times, but seems easily corrected and i convert everything to BW anyway. I've seen some minor smearing as well in one or two shots, but then it disappeared so no idea, maybe im just shooting stopped down all the time thats why .
Sadly im not sure if theres a better option right now if you want to go compact and 28mm (but heavy). Its very usable, and that ultron is a really cool lens, but for the sticker price i will definitely be switching to whatever Sony's native lens will be in that range when it comes out. Meanwhile, its still a very capable tool if you need 28mm range (which i love personally).
I gave up looking for a good small (effective) 28mm lens and settled on another solution: I bought the Ricoh GR and am very happy with it. The camera is lighter than many lenses alone and the 16mm lens is as good as it gets and much better than the Zeiss C/Y 28mm, any Olympus lens or even the Leica M variants (regarding the corners) on a full frame camera. You would loose of course the resolution (maybe a no go for you) and the DOF because of the crop factor (not necessarily a big factor for wide angle lenses).
I would second the recommendation on the contax zeiss 28 f/2.8. Small, lightweight, great image quality.
The Leica Elmarit-R 28 f/2.8 version II is fantastic. Very expensive and hard to come by but a great performer.
Hm, guys, I think the TO is experienced enough not to bothered by such considerations as "much better" or "great image quality", since I would guess he knows something about the little Distagon 28/2.8 or the Leica II for that matter since the former was the forum lens on this board for a long time, something like the entry to alt WA, and the latter the one that had a pretty conclusive comparison thread with the former. Not sure it gets much better than the D28 for that matter ( it gets better, sure, mine is not sharp up to the corner by f5.6, so a Distagon ZM18 will be better if you like to use a crop camera, but it is not "much better" fwiw ).
Mark, my guess, from what I have seen, is that none of the 28 M-mount solutions is a great performer on the A7 at infinity. Depending on your application some lenses might work, some might not. But your aim to go with only one mount will be a difficult task indeed.
I decided to try a Nikkor 28mm AIS. Someone had posted somewhere i read that it was an outstanding performer on the A7r. It keeps with with 2 formats but it is relatively small and cheap so until the Sony 24-70/4 is released and can be tested will hold off on any more expensive purchases in the wide angle range. I still think the one outstanding wide performer is the Leica 16-18-21 but i know that is pricey..
I have a VOigtlander for my Leica M and both Novoflex and metabones for my Nikon Lenses. For my Leica M screw mount, I have a 10 dollar china adapter that works great
briantho wrote:
Buy a C/Y to Leica M adapter and get the Contax 28 if the mount is the issue.
F2.8 if you want it cheap and small, F2 if you want teh real Zeiss magic.
Right, unfortunately that Hollywood version is not easy to get hold on :-)
But I'd add that the CY28/2.8 got a fair amount of magic as well. A portrait + a stopped down shot with A7 from the other week.
I've found no smaller alternative that match. I have no knowledge of the Leicas but having the CV35/1.2II I was for a while looking at the CV28/2. It seem nice but not at the level of Zeiss, and not that much smaller either. I expect the ZM28/2.8 to be at the level of the Contax G 28/2.8 which - unfortunatly - is very bad regarding smearing on the A7. Perhaps a tad better but not more than that.
Although I like the C/Y 28 very much as well, I want to add that the Canon FD 28/2 ain't no sluch either.
This is at a low F number, can't remember exactly.
. I have Nikon, Leica M, Leica Screwmount, and Sony E mount formats and I was trying to convert to a single non-E format if at all possible.
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