It might make their potential market smaller, but I'm very glad that Leica, Zeiss, Samyang, and Voigtländer are all still making manual focus lenses. I'd prefer MF, happy someone is still supporting people with my tastes. :-)
of the Zeiss Classic Line, I would get 15/2.8 and 135/2 apo sonnar since they are not available in Milvus line at this time and they are both excellent (if they are focal length that you would use).
15 mm is listed as 2.174? It is 2,950 on B&H. That looks like a great deal, if that focal length is of any use.
Regarding AF on Z series. ( Zeiss had AF on sony forever starting with video cams, but Sony makes those AF system ) Once autofocus parameter is thrown in, they put themselves in a disadvantage against each mount's idiosyncrasy. As far as I am aware, there is no 'SDK' for third party lens. 'Great rendering but AF is horrible' complaints would be inevitable and not something some companies are probably interested in dealing with. Also, AF means weight concern on focusing elements. Many of Z lenses are not IF style.( I think - 100mp, 135 as ... probably more ) It may be that when all things considered, it is not worth the investment at this point?
Also wanted to add that MF has its strength in any situation that you would not want camera to change focusing - landscape, still life, video, etc. Regardless, there are people, like Michael, who can do portraits with MF with beautiful results. MF may not be great for BIF or Sports, or Press, but MF has its own place.
Lee Saxon wrote:
For me, the reason is that any lens without an aperture ring is bricked when the electronic protocols change.
So I could buy a Nikon 20 1.8G for $800 and have it last maybe 3 years if I'm lucky. Or I could buy a Zeiss 21/2.8 for $1800 and still be using it in 30 years.
If you think I'm exaggerating do some Googling on the functionality of the latest Nikon E-type lenses with the D4. Not an "old" Nikon camera, their flagship just 20 months ago.
Yep, and my AF motor (my left hand) is still working after 30 years of MF focusing.
I'm supposed to purchase a Zeiss 21mm F/2.8 ZE Distagon for my Canon on Friday afternoon from a guy who has everything that came in the box. He said that he bought it two years ago from Andora and he then switched to Sony cameras, so he said he used it only a couple of times and then it's sat in the box since then. He also said it's as close to new as possible. The price he wants is $1.050.
I have the Zeiss 25mm F/2.0 Distagon ZE and I've enjoyed it so much, I've been wanting another Zeiss for some time, so what better Zeiss then the legendary 21mm? I usually take landscape.
IS this a good deal for this lens given what's out there? Is it so close to my 25mm that it's not going to make much of a difference - am I going to be disappointed?
billsamuels wrote:
IS this a good deal for this lens given what's out there? Is it so close to my 25mm that it's not going to make much of a difference - am I going to be disappointed?
Thanks.
For $1050, I will take it. It's a good deal.
I have ZE25/2 also. A fantastic lens! The best 24mm-ish in DSLR world. The ZE21/2.8 is supposed to be the best 21mm in DSLR, too.
The 25mm/2 is an excellent lens, well corrected for both lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberrations, and quite flare resistant. I love mine for urban night photography, but for wide-field astrophotography it's not as good. Coma deformations of stars are bad in the corners at f/2 and f/2.8, so you have to stop down to f/4 for round stars, but that will necessitate very high ISOs, stacking, or a tracker mount. There is also a fair amount of forward field curvature, but this isn't bad, and for landscape work with close foregrounds, it actually helps sharpen the foreground.
dolina wrote:
I am being offered new with 12 month warranty Zeiss 'Classic' EF lenses for a discounted price varying between 11-34% discount (post-tax price) vs US SRP (pre-tax price).
Are they worth getting in light of the Zeiss Milvus lenses being announced 6 months ago?
For the Otus lenses, I only get 3-12% discount (post-tax price).
Post-tax price has 12% VAT.
are you buying a zeiss lens for your personal use? meaning it will be your personal tool for your personal projects?
or are you just buying these to make business like sell it again for MSRP price?
if it's personal use I'd suggest disregard whatever offers you have... put more weight on what look\rendering you like each zeiss lens model have their own look., The only two new Milvus designs are 85 and 50.... if you like the milvus rendering then go with it.
By the way, the Zeiss classic 21/2.8 that I got for $1050, it was still in the bag it came in and the guy hadn't even taken a photo with it, or at least that's what he said. The lens didn't have a finger print on it and it looked and felt like brand new. He said he bought the lens and before he tried it, he switched to the Sony cameras and lenses. So he's been switching to Sony/Zeiss lenses, but this particular lens for an $1,850 lens, was a steal! Even compared to my Zeiss classic 25/2.0, it feels different because it's tighter, smoother, and I can tell it hasn't been used (I bought the 25/2 from Andora used).
I can't wait to get to the mountains and try it out!
