p.1 #9 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
Oldwino wrote:
I think these are now labeled "Voigtlander".
Cosina manufactures the Zeiss ZM lenses, but they don't design them, at least not the original ZM line. The optical design and engineering come from Germany, while production is handled in Japan. (I believe one exception is the 15/2.8 ZM which is produced in Germany and therefore the most expensive of the series)
My point was really about the likelihood of new optical designs for the ZM lineup, and Zeiss's long silence on that front pretty much answers the question.
As far as I know, the last addition to the ZM series was the still very popular 35mm f/1.4 Distagon ZM, announced in 2014...wow 12 years ago.
p.1 #12 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
Desmolicious wrote:
Is it very popular? It is $2400 new which was ‘ok’ when essentially the only other players were the Leica Lux 35 or Cv 35 1.4 Nokton.
But now?
Popular, if you can get one in mint condition for around $1000–1500 It's still sold new, but production has to be limited and it's definitely a hard sell. People truly love the lens and keep using it, even after all these years...The first time I tested it on the Leica M, I was shocked by how sharp it was at f/1.4 all the way to the corners, with no dips anywhere.
If they made a Version II that's 30% smaller while maintaining (or even improving on) the current performance, it could be a real hit.
p.1 #13 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
Fred Miranda wrote:
Popular, if you can get one in mint condition for around $1000–1500 It's still sold new, but production has to be limited and it's definitely a hard sell. People truly love the lens and keep using it, even after all these years...The first time I tested it on the Leica M, I was shocked by how sharp it was at f/1.4 all the way to the corners, with no dips anywhere.
If they made a Version II that's 30% smaller while maintaining (or even improving on) the current performance, it could be a real hit.
Yeah I bought mine for $1k used. No way would I fork over $2400!
p.1 #14 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
Fred Miranda wrote:
Cosina manufactures the Zeiss ZM lenses, but they don't design them, at least not the original ZM line. The optical design and engineering come from Germany, while production is handled in Japan. (I believe one exception is the 15/2.8 ZM which is produced in Germany and therefore the most expensive of the series)
I believe the 85/2 was also made in Germany and a reason why it was ~$2000. Still kicking myself for not grabbing a discounted demo unit back around 2011...
p.1 #16 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
rscheffler wrote:
I believe the 85/2 was also made in Germany and a reason why it was ~$2000. Still kicking myself for not grabbing a discounted demo unit back around 2011...
You are right. The 85/2 ZM Sonnar was produced in Germany as well. It never sold particularly well, which is a shame because the output was lovely. At the time, I was more of a 4/85 Tessar guy.
p.1 #17 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
Fred Miranda wrote:
You are right. The 85/2 ZM Sonnar was produced in Germany as well. It never sold particularly well, which is a shame because the output was lovely. At the time, I was more of a 4/85 Tessar guy.
I didn't appreciate the potential of the 85/2 when I passed up the demo lens offer, which was right around the time they were discontinued. Then a little while later I met up with an FM member who had one and was able to shoot with it for part of a day, and I loved it. I'm a Sonnar fan, and it definitely had the Sonnar look. And it was really easy to focus with the rangefinder. From what I recall of Zeiss's marketing for the lens, they made a point about how the focus throw was optimized for focusing precision at farther distances.
The major flaw of the 85/2 is very strong wide open blue/purple highlight fringing in high contrast transitions.
A few years later I got a used 90AA, and it definitely has better LoCA correction than the ZM, but not the same character.
My current Sonnar portrait focal length 'fix' is the Nikkor 10,5cm f/2.5 in LTM. It's a lot cheaper than the ZM!
p.1 #18 · Zeiss announces new Aatma cine lens series--9 lenses
rscheffler wrote:
I didn't appreciate the potential of the 85/2 when I passed up the demo lens offer, which was right around the time they were discontinued. Then a little while later I met up with an FM member who had one and was able to shoot with it for part of a day, and I loved it. I'm a Sonnar fan, and it definitely had the Sonnar look. And it was really easy to focus with the rangefinder. From what I recall of Zeiss's marketing for the lens, they made a point about how the focus throw was optimized for focusing precision at farther distances.
The major flaw of the 85/2 is very strong wide open blue/purple highlight fringing in high contrast transitions.
A few years later I got a used 90AA, and it definitely has better LoCA correction than the ZM, but not the same character.
My current Sonnar portrait focal length 'fix' is the Nikkor 10,5cm f/2.5 in LTM. It's a lot cheaper than the ZM! ...Show more →
Yep, it produces lovely images but a bit overhyped at current used prices. On the subject of axial CA, the Leica 90/2 AA is well corrected, but it's still not on the level of modern APO lenses, especially when compared to the latest Voigtlander 90/2 APO. What surprised me is that when I compared the Leica 90/2 AA with the pre-asph version side by side in high contrast light, their axial CA was very similar. The AA is only slightly better, which I didn't expect. The Voigtlander is the clear winner here. Maybe your 80/2 fix could be the CV 90/2 APO-Lanthar. It fits the framelines better anyway.
