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

1 2 3 … 30

32 … 74 75 end

Archive 2016 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Douglas L
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #1 · p.31 #1 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

I am intrigued by the talk of the ZM 85. I am a noob to Zeiss lens. Is the official name of the lens discussed here "Zeiss Leica M Tele-Tessar T* 4/85 ZM"? I don't want to buy the wrong one

Douglas

Sep 06, 2016 at 09:51 AM

GMPhotography
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #2 · p.31 #2 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

This one is used at B&H

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/used/583973/Zeiss_1486_395_85mm_f_4_Tele_Tessar_T.html

Sep 06, 2016 at 09:56 AM

GMPhotography
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #3 · p.31 #3 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

New they do not come with hoods. They want 85 dollars for a hood. Stupid price but it does take a 43mm filter. I buy cheap metal hoods off eBay

Sep 06, 2016 at 09:59 AM

Luvwine
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #4 · p.31 #4 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Fred Miranda wrote:
Is the Leica 90AA much better than the 90/2.5 Summarit aside from better LoCA performance? My 90/2.5 is screaming sharp at close distances but didn't perform well at infinity distances even at f/5.6. Wide open, the ZM 85 performs way better at mid and edges. The only lens coming close to this performance is the CY 100/3.5.

IMO, for portraits, the 85GM takes the cake (It's currently my only big lens) and the ZM85 is brilliant for landscapes. Sharp edge to edge with great micro-contrast and minimal aberrations. The 85GM is also incredible for landscapes but its size is...Show more →

Fred,

Jim Kasson's blog comparison above seems to indicate that the 90 AA is at least as good as the ZM 85 for landscape, and perhaps has a touch more contrast int he corners at F8, but I have never owned the ZM 85/4 and thus never compared them nor have I owned the summarit. The 90AA does not, if memory serves, have a floating element and is supposed to be at its best at infinity. The 75/2 apo does have a floating element. Despite this, the 90AA works very well for portraiture but I think it is slightly less sharp at portrait distances than longer distances/infinity.

I am not claiming that the Leica 90AA is better than the GM 85 for portrait, but just that for me, it is not worth the size and added expense when what I have is pretty good for that and my emphasis is on landscape. Really, the Leica that I understand to be a more apt competitor to the 85 ZM is the 90/4 macro elmar. It is supposed to be great (about as good as the 90AA) for lnadscape and is smaller than even the 85 ZM.

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:03 AM

GMPhotography
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #5 · p.31 #5 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

From using the Leica 90 macro in the past I remember it being really good. But it's not exactly below 1k either. I think the best I have seen is maybe 1500 hundred.

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:06 AM

GMPhotography
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #6 · p.31 #6 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Even used its out of my range

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/used/1054674/leica_11670_90mm_for_4_macro_elmar_m.html

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:08 AM

Luvwine
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #7 · p.31 #7 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

GMPhotography wrote:
Even used its out of my range

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/used/1054674/leica_11670_90mm_for_4_macro_elmar_m.html

Never said it was cheap! That is why I don't own it as all I would be gaining over the 90AA (for which I paid less than that price!) is likely smaller size and some macro utility. Course for a Guy like you, compared to medium format, it is a drop in the bucket!

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:13 AM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #8 · p.31 #8 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Luvwine wrote:
Fred,

Jim Kasson's blog comparison above seems to indicate that the 90 AA is at least as good as the ZM 85 for landscape, and perhaps has a touch more contrast int he corners at F8, but I have never owned the ZM 85/4 and thus never compared them nor have I owned the summarit. The 90AA does not, if memory serves, have a floating element and is supposed to be at its best at infinity. The 75/2 apo does have a floating element. Despite this, the 90AA works very well for portraiture but I think it is slightly less sharp...Show more →

I saw that blog but my experience does not match it. I don't see that softness with the 85ZM and perhaps this is sample variation as I have seen bad copies of the 85ZM in the past.
Also, he compared the 90AA and it could perform better than my summarit at infinity. (I do love my f/2.5 at close distance though)

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:18 AM

teh_rebel
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.31 #9 · p.31 #9 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

I know the specs states it compatible with A7R II / A7 II only ... but curious if anyone has tried the adapter on A7S or A7R and whether it would work or not?

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:26 AM

Luvwine
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #10 · p.31 #10 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Fred Miranda wrote:
I saw that blog but my experience does not match it. I don't see that softness with the 85ZM and perhaps this is sample variation as I have seen bad copies of the 85ZM in the past.
Also, he compared the 90AA and it could perform better than my summarit at infinity. (I do love my f/2.5 at close distance though)

Don't know, Fred, but remember his crops were 2:1 not 1:1 and obviously everything looks worse the more you blow them up. The Otus was also in the mix and the 90AA compared reasonably well to the Otus at least by F2.8. It may be that the Zm 85 is as good as the Otus and 90AA, but I would be surprised to learn it was better.

The weakness of the Kasson comparison is that he was using the A7ii not the A7r2 so it may not be indicative of the performance difference at 42 megapixels. Therefore, I will be interested should you or Guy ever get to compare with the Leica lenses (or the Otus!).

Sep 06, 2016 at 10:27 AM

Luvwine
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #11 · p.31 #11 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Just tried the 90/2 for all if one pic of my wife. She had little patience. It focused on the frame of her eye glasses and the eyes were soft. The Techart may be better on the 75 as I had better luck with proper focus (or more depth of acceptable focus) on the 75/2 and 35/1.4. Like many I hope for eye detect in the future from Techart.

Sep 06, 2016 at 12:57 PM

DavidBM
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.31 #12 · p.31 #12 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Every AF system I've tried except for eye AF will focus on spectacles ahead of eyes: specs are he perfect AF target with vertical and horizontal high contrast lines, and they are forward of the eyes.

Luvwine wrote:
Just tried the 90/2 for all if one pic of my wife. She had little patience. It focused on the frame of her eye glasses and the eyes were soft. The Techart may be better on the 75 as I had better luck with proper focus (or more depth of acceptable focus) on the 75/2 and 35/1.4. Like many I hope for eye detect in the future from Techart.

Sep 06, 2016 at 03:30 PM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #13 · p.31 #13 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Luvwine wrote:
Don't know, Fred, but remember his crops were 2:1 not 1:1 and obviously everything looks worse the more you blow them up. The Otus was also in the mix and the 90AA compared reasonably well to the Otus at least by F2.8. It may be that the Zm 85 is as good as the Otus and 90AA, but I would be surprised to learn it was better.

The weakness of the Kasson comparison is that he was using the A7ii not the A7r2 so it may not be indicative of the performance difference at 42 megapixels. Therefore, I will be interested...Show more →

Unless the 90/2 AA is way better than the 90/2.5, it's really no contest. I just tested both at infinity (Zeiss 85/4 ZM and Leica 90/2.5) and I confirm my findings. The ZM is very flat field wide open and the Leica has significant field curvature at f/4. (Infinity distance)
Towards the edges, the ZM is much sharper even when focusing the Leica towards the edge of the frame. (which would give a soft center)

At f/8, field curvature is somewhat masked for the Leica but the ZM has a substantial contrast/resolution advantage and it's better corrected for CA.

Perhaps I have a bad copy of the Leica but it's very well centered and razor sharp for portraits. (close distance)

I can post some crops if requested.

I current shoot with three 85-90mm lenses because they excel at different purposes. The 85GM is my go to portrait lens, the Leica 90/2.5 is my travel companion and the 85/4 ZM is my landscape telephoto.

Sep 06, 2016 at 03:33 PM

DavidBM
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.31 #14 · p.31 #14 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Those crops were at twice life size, Fred, so maybe that's why things look softer than we are used to?
Jim is a really meticulous guy, and I really trust his working methods. And the outcome of that test sounds about right. Otus ahead, APO Summicron behind Otus wide open, but catching up, ZM for all practical purposes in the same league. I don't know how the APO Summicron compares to the 2.5 Summitar but if the massive price delta is indicative (which of course often it isn't) it ought be better...

He has some later, numerical, tests of short teles - and a fantastic series measuring focus shift, resolution and axial CA on macro lenses...

Fred Miranda wrote:
I saw that blog but my experience does not match it. I don't see that softness with the 85ZM and perhaps this is sample variation as I have seen bad copies of the 85ZM in the past.
Also, he compared the 90AA and it could perform better than my summarit at infinity. (I do love my f/2.5 at close distance though)

Sep 06, 2016 at 03:39 PM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #15 · p.31 #15 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

DavidBM wrote:
Those crops were at twice life size, Fred, so maybe that's why things look softer than we are used to?
Jim is a really meticulous guy, and I really trust his working methods. And the outcome of that test sounds about right. Otus ahead, APO Summicron behind Otus wide open, but catching up, ZM for all practical purposes in the same league. I don't know how the APO Summicron compares to the 2.5 Summitar but if the massive price delta is indicative (which of course often it isn't) it ought be better...

He has some later, numerical, tests of short teles -...Show more →

He can have the best methodology in the world but the fact is, as far as I know, we are only testing one copy of each lens.
I have had a bad copy of the ZM 85/4 in the past and that could very well be the case with his test.

There could also be a possibility that the Summicron is worlds better than the 90/2.5. It has to be from the disappointing infinity test results I'm getting with the latter.

I agree that price does not always mean better performance.

Sep 06, 2016 at 03:58 PM

Chris_88
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.31 #16 · p.31 #16 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Fred Miranda wrote:
Unless the 90/2 AA is way better than the 90/2.5, it's really no contest. I just tested both at infinity (Zeiss 85/4 ZM and Leica 90/2.5) and I confirm my findings. The ZM is very flat field wide open and the Leica has significant field curvature at f/4. (Infinity distance)
Towards the edges, the ZM is much sharper even when focusing on the edge. (which would give a soft center)

At f/8, field curvature is somewhat masked for the Leica but the ZM has a substantial contrast/resolution advantage and it's better corrected for CA.

Perhaps I have a bad copy of the...Show more →

I don't have any experience with the 90 Cron, but I don't believe you have a bad copy of the Summarit, Fred, as my experience with it on an a7r is similar to yours. If my memory serves me correctly, stopping down to f5.6 wasn't enough for sharp corners and I usually stopped down to f7.1. I too wondered whether I had a less than perfect copy, since I felt that the 75 Lux I tested at one point was somewhat sharper across the frame at f5.6 than the Summarit. My Elmarit 90 2.8 too is better than the Summarit.

I'd be curious what others with more experience with Leica glass like Charles, think about this, since I found it interesting that the old Lux outperformed the newer Summarit.

Sep 06, 2016 at 04:00 PM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #17 · p.31 #17 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Chris_88 wrote:
I don't have any experience with the 90 Cron, but I don't believe you have a bad copy of the Summarit, Fred, as my experience with it on an a7r is similar to yours. If my memory serves me correctly, stopping down to f5.6 wasn't enough for sharp corners and I usually stopped down to f7.1. I too wondered whether I had a less than perfect copy, since I felt that the 75 Lux I tested at one point was somewhat sharper across the frame at f5.6 than the Summarit. My Elmarit 90 2.8 too is better than the Summarit....Show more →

Perhaps the Summarit is optimized for close distances which I have to confess, it's brilliant at that. I mainly use it for portraits when packing light.
However, as far as my copy goes, the unusual field curvature for a telephoto, lack of contrast and astigmatism towards the edges makes it a poor choice for landscapes.

I may rent the Elmarit and try it out.

Sep 06, 2016 at 04:08 PM

Fred Miranda
Offline
Admin
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #18 · p.31 #18 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Here is an example of the Leica 90/2.5 Summarit at close distance. (shot wide-open)

To keep this relevant to the thread, I used TAP for focusing.

1:1 crop of the image above

Sep 06, 2016 at 04:26 PM

Luvwine
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.31 #19 · p.31 #19 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Sounds like someone will have to do a comparison of the 90/2 aa and the ZM 85/4 at infinity.....

That Summarit is obviously razor sharp at portrait distances--looks great!

Sep 06, 2016 at 04:58 PM

DavidBM
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.31 #20 · p.31 #20 · Techart PRO AF adapter now In Stock!

Luvwine wrote:
Sounds like someone will have to do a comparison of the 90/2 aa and the ZM 85/4 at infinity.....

That Summarit is obviously razor sharp at portrait distances--looks great!

Obviously it would be fun to compare them at infinity, but in fact I don't think they really competitors
.
The ZM is the size and weight for landscape and backpacking. We know from Jim's test that at least on 24MP viewed at double life-size there is little difference - certainly none that could be seen in a sensible print.

That's enough to make the ZM the one to have for landscape that involves hiking.

Of course Fred may be right that there are (even!) better copies of the ZM. But would just make it more certain that the ZM is the one to have for those purposes,

If course the AA might be a wonderful portrait lens. But I recall other tests of Jim's suggesting that the Batis 85 is at least in the same league, for a lot less money (but I'm not certain I recall this, and I'm not making that claim in my own voice!)

Sep 06, 2016 at 05:35 PM

1 2 3 … 30 31 32 … 74 75 end
FM Forums \| Leica & Alternative Gear \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 … 30 31 32 … 74 75 end

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.