dthrog00 wrote:
It is kind of a split personality lens. It is really sharp at distance from f/2.8 down. The behavior close up and near wide open are different though. Bokeh can be funky near wide open and close up, I think you either like it or hate it. It can have a painterly look near wide open at distance.
I'm not as gifted a photographer as many here. The ZE/ZF thread will have more information, but I can share what I have and you can take a look. Most of these are from the 6D.
Actually that's what makes the 50 Planar so great. It has beautiful character when wide open...very nice for portraits, yet stopped down just a bit, it is biting sharp with great contrast and colours...perfect for landscape or general travel.
I have been wanting to rent the 100 macro milvus as I am reading online that Zeiss has an amazing microcontrast for B&W shots. I am meeting a client this week about a shoot and I want to do a B&W series with her.
Now I have the Sigma 105 with my R6, being that the 105 is so good, am I really going to gain anything?
themb3life wrote:
I have been wanting to rent the 100 macro milvus as I am reading online that Zeiss has an amazing microcontrast for B&W shots. I am meeting a client this week about a shoot and I want to do a B&W series with her.
Now I have the Sigma 105 with my R6, being that the 105 is so good, am I really going to gain anything?
Rent it and see for yourself.
The Zeiss lenses are superb tools, very enjoyable to use. If I had listened to the midwits here 14 years ago, I would never have discovered the pleasures of Zeiss.
I await with eager anticipation the arrival tomorrow of my Canon R5. I will be using it with one of the four Milvus lenses I have: 25/1.4; 50/1.4; 85/1.4 and 135/2. These lenses are already superb with my R6 w/ 20mp sensor. What will 45 bring? Next acquisition: Zeiss Otus 100/2 YES
The latest prices of the ZE lenses on the used boards makes them a tremendous value. From very fine manual focus control to amazing images…really hard to beat.
My favourite Zeiss ZE lens is the Milvus 35/1.4. Great for wide open shots, good sharpness but not optimized for sharpness only, lovely bokeh and great axial color control. Stopped down it is superb, although not quite as perfect lateral CA control as the Otus lenses. Still very low CA inn comparison to other Zeiss 35 mm lenses. If it wasn't for the size and weight, it would have been much more popular.
The Milvus 35/1.4 might be my favorite Zeiss lens, too. A bit heavy to carry around though. A lens that has always been in my bag for the past 20 years is the Y/C Distagon 21/2.8. It was not in my bag during the past couple of weeks though, since I am trying out a Canon zoom lens instead. Shame on me.
BokehBeauty wrote:
Maybe images help the conversation. I love all the f2 lenses, 35mm, 50mm, 100mm. The presence of the images and the mechanical smoothness make me happy at shooting and at PP. I always wanted to have the 28mm focal length, but I couldn't justify the cost owning the 35mm and 21mm. Recently there were offerings of brand new 28mm f2 for half price on the bay. I couldn't resist. Here some images from Cinque Terre, all handheld. I only used this focal length for the vacation, Canon R5 + ZE 28mm, Fuji X100T+wide-angle adapter and iPhone.
Beautiful work. Truly, there's as much joy handling a Zeiss in the field as in looking at the images back in the home office.
An older Zeiss that I enjoyed trying was the Zeiss 50mm Flektogon. I still peek at them on Ebay from time to time. The reason I haven't bought the Flektogon or other Zeiss 50mm is due to the Canon RF 50mm 1.2 . After I used used that RF 50 in the redwoods, it seemed better than most any Zeiss 50mm. So I'd probably get another Zeiss like 25mm, 35mm, 100mm, etc..
The image below is adjusted some. Zeiss 50mm Flektogon.
chez wrote:
The colors, contrast and sharpness of my Zeiss lenses leave very little to do in post. People who never use Zeiss lenses tend to say they are like other lenses…people who use Zeiss glass know better and just quietly smile.
Exactly! The notorious zeiss owners here usually go/watch the threads silently, once in a while they ask serious questions or posts lens’ observations and its behaviours arguments about zeiss vs other lenses they tend avoid and disappear in the background… i guess they don’t have time for such nonsense.
