I am another who really enjoys stop down focussing. The fact that you have to hold down the d.o.f. preview button on Canon bodies is a nuisance. On my Contax RTS2's you had the convenience of a lock, so the preview button was temporary or permanent, depending on your mood. It's amazing how many things Porsche got right on those cameras that are still wrong on the latest and greatest cameras today. That should be our next petition to Canon: a lock on the dof preview button.
There were a lot of older, classic cameras which had a DOF preview lock. This is one of those features which seemed to vanish with the advent of AF. It would not be a big deal for Canon to implement this at all. They will probably get around to it when they also offer an easy to use mirror lock up feature!
I am another who really enjoys stop down focussing. The fact that you have to hold down the d.o.f. preview button on Canon bodies is a nuisance. On my Contax RTS2's you had the convenience of a lock, so the preview button was temporary or permanent, depending on your mood. It's amazing how many things Porsche got right on those cameras that are still wrong on the latest and greatest cameras today. That should be our next petition to Canon: a lock on the dof preview button.
So with these new lenses containing full exif information then presumably it will be entirely possible to create 100% accurate profiles for lens correction software such as dxo optics etc meaning these lenses having automatic correction for CA, distortion, etc at the touch of a button.
marcwilson wrote:
So with these new lenses containing full exif information then presumably it will be entirely possible to create 100% accurate profiles for lens correction software such as dxo optics etc meaning these lenses having automatic correction for CA, distortion, etc at the touch of a button.
dcmiller wrote:
Coming out first with the 50mm and 85mm seems strange.
But thinking about it I expect Zeiss wants to make sure their wides work with the new Canon sensors.
I agree that the 50 and 85 are strange choices, however, I don't think that Zeiss has to make sure their wides work with the new Canon sensors. They already work with Canon's current sensors, and there is nothing to suggest that the new sensors will be different in a way that might noticeably affect lens performance. Rather they are converting the lenses one at a time, given that the focus rings move the an opposite direction than the ZF lenses and all the aperture mechanisms need to be re-designed and changed. I don't suspect that Cosina has a lot of capacity to adapt these changes so they are doing them one by one -- and releasing them when they are available (rather delay all the lenses until they were all complete).
dcmiller wrote:
Coming out first with the 50mm and 85mm seems strange.
But thinking about it I expect Zeiss wants to make sure their wides work with the new Canon sensors.
That is not strange. I think when they came out with the ZF line, those were the first two to be released, and everybody asked why on earth would Zeiss go out with manual focus lenses against the AF Nikkors that are very good in these focal lengths. But the seem to have these two to start a series : a normal and a portrait lens, that would be some of the first one would buy by any book.
slungu wrote:
That is not strange. I think when they came out with the ZF line, those were the first two to be released, and everybody asked why on earth would Zeiss go out with manual focus lenses against the AF Nikkors that are very good in these focal lengths. But the seem to have these two to start a series : a normal and a portrait lens, that would be some of the first one would buy by any book.
I think we consider the choices strange, not for the reasons you give which are reasonable, but rather that the lenses that Canon users were most looking forward to were the wide angle lenses, which is understood to be where Canon's lenses are the weakest. Canon has very competent 50mm and 85mm L lenses, so demand for these 2 lenses might be expected to be weak relative to the other Zeiss Z-series lenses.
I would also point out that these 2 designs (the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4) are perhaps the most enduring of Zeiss' designs. They have not significantly changed for (at least) the last 30 years. This may be why they were the first lenses made available for Nikon.
Have a look at the 50mm mtf's, this lens has been reworked to improve wide open performance vs a probable reduction in the corners at higher f-stops vs the c/y planar.
Interestingly, from what I have read and seen on the internet ( I stress no practical use of the ZF line) it appears that their are minor differences in each of the reworked lenses. for example the newer 28mm F/2.0 was different from the original etc...
Perhaps we can summarize the differences between each of the focal lengths ZF vs C/Y in a concise and informed (read: used and tested) manner. This information would be valuable to those of use that have not tried these lenses directly in comparison.
Andrew-
The 18mm, 25mm and 28mm Z lenses are significant re-designs of previous Zeiss designs (i.e., those for Contax), the 35/2.0 is a new design, as are the 50 and 100 mm Makros. If you look at the optical design of the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 lenses, however, they are virtually identical in appearance to the earlier Contax designs. Clearly they have been tweaked a little (coatings, glass types, slight changes to the geometry of existing elements, etc.) for better wide open and perhaps corner performance -- but the designs of the Contax and ZF 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 lenses are very, very close.
I wonder what the odds are of Zeiss creating a series of zooms for EF mount? Is the Sony deal an exclusive? Or perhaps there is some kind of agreement between Zeiss and Canon (and Nikon, Pentax) that says they will only produce primes?
A ZE 24-70/2.8 with manual focus but full auto-aperture/electronics would, I believe, be quite a bit more compact than the large ZA lens. Cutting out the autofocus mechanism and electronics should trim it down by a fair margin.
Interesting question and it brings up a few questions of my own. Why has not Zeiss made available to/or Sony chosen to use more of the primes in the Zeiss line for the Alpha system? Because of AF? I'm also curious as to who make the Zeiss Sony AF lenses. Cosina? or are they licensed only and made by Sony/Minolta themselves?
rpinciuc wrote:
I wonder what the odds are of Zeiss creating a series of zooms for EF mount? Is the Sony deal an exclusive? Or perhaps there is some kind of agreement between Zeiss and Canon (and Nikon, Pentax) that says they will only produce primes?
A ZE 24-70/2.8 with manual focus but full auto-aperture/electronics would, I believe, be quite a bit more compact than the large ZA lens. Cutting out the autofocus mechanism and electronics should trim it down by a fair margin.
