p.7 #1 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
Here is an example of what I found to be biggest negatives for the Zeiss 24-70 OSS.
Performance at 24mm @f/5.6 at the extreme corners and distortion.
Both images taken at 24mm (Canon 24-70 II and FE 24-70 OSS). As you can see the angle of view is wider on the FE 24-70mm. The amount of distortion is also very noticeable.
From this aperture, at the extreme corners, the Canon 24-70 II marginally gets better at f/8 but the Zeiss does not. So, that is the best corner I can get from it. (Astigmatism is killing the comers. Field curvature is nothing to worry about)
p.7 #2 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
For the good news now. the FE 24-70 f/4 has great micro contrast in the center of the frame (same image as above)
It pretty much matches the Canon 24-70 II @f/5.6. That and the benefits of the light weight, size and OSS should be compelling reasons to get this lens.
p.7 #3 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
Finally a comparison at 70mm.
This time with the FE 24-70 @ f/4 (wide open) and f/8 (2-stops)
This shows the upper right extreme corner of the frame. At f/4, the corners are soft, but at f/8, they do sharpen up nicely.
From my first test images, the lens performs very well from 35mm until about 60mm making is a great 35-60mm OSS zoom. (sharp center to extreme corner with great color and contrast). Let's hope Sony/Zeiss makes a great 16-35mm f/4 to complement the wide angle range.
p.7 #4 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
Thanks for sharing. Underscores what has been said. I skip the 24-70 but have hopes for the 16-35 which is more interesting to me. I have too many fine fixed lenses in the upper range where everyting seem fine. But down below 35mm it's another story. A lens at fixed F/4 would be just fine as a lot of my usage would go for F/5.6 or F/8 anyway.
p.7 #5 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
I have been testing the FE 24-70 f/4 for a few days now. Here are some findings:
I concentrated my tests at the 24-30mm range which seems to be the most problematic for the extreme corners. Center resolution and contrast are excellent at this range.
* At 24mm, the lens captures a wider angle of view when compared to 24mm primes and my Canon 24-70 f/2.8 II.
* The lens has strong barrel distortion at 24mm (~ 4%) and moderate pincushion at 70mm (~ 2%). Keep in mind that the barrel distortion is not excessive and it's actually normal for a standard zoom.
* Stopping down the aperture doesn't do much for the extreme corners. It does improve the center resolution and micro contrast by going to f/5.6 though.
* At 24mm f/11, micro-contrast is gone and the image looks noticeably worse due to early diffraction. That is for center and extreme corners . Perhaps, reviewers are testing this lens at 24mm @ f/8 or f/11 and concluding the extreme corners perform worse than they really are. The lens performs best at f/5.6. (center to extreme corners)
* OSS works reasonably well. Similar to my 24-105L (2 or 3 stops)
p.7 #7 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
I quick shot about 5 of each at a few feet distance. These are the sharpest of the lot and just a straight export from LR with no post. The zeiss is well compensated for distortion in camera but without a profile in LR it reverts back. Both were manually focused on a corner.
p.7 #9 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
FlyPenFly wrote:
Thoughts on this lens over a A6000 + ZA 16-70mm?
Guess I am thinking along the same lines, I prefer primes but have the FE 24-70 for a lightweight kit on the go when the convenience of a zoom is important. After skiing in the Alps for a week I have started wondering if the A6000 +16-70 could be a better (and lighter) solution when skiing or trekking: Image quality would be almost as good as long as the light is good (It is most of the time on these occasions.) The lens gives a little more reach which I sometimes missed with the 24-70.
p.7 #11 · Rolling review: Zeiss Vario-Tessar T* FE 4/24-70 ZA
wfrank wrote:
Thanks for the link, but I dont think anyone doubts that angle of light/exit pupil placement places a role. But I assume the 24-70 does not fall into that category.
So I was thinking beyond the 24-70 - perhaps a bit OT but the "A7's sensor cover thickness issue" get a lot of airtime here. The suggestion (/question) was that wouldnt it be easy to test with an SLR lens that can be put on either the 5D2/3 and/or D800 (and then mount it on corresponding A7 and compare). The discussion about sensor glass thickness and any potentially bad impact on the corners has never been an issue around 5D2/D800s etc (to my knowledge).
With rgds to the A7's, this forum has posts allover about sensor specifics and now suggested to be a possible source of bad corners for the 24-70. I am just trying to understand if these are viewpoints/speculations or established facts....Show more →
One seemingly established fact is the extreme cover thickness at 1.75mm, verified to me by maxmax.
