Can anybody tell me what functionality I will get with the Zeiss ZF lenses on a new D700.
I am looking at primarily the 18mm f/3.5 and the 28mm f/2 and 85mm f/1.4.
Will the camera be able to use full metering off the lens? As in, I set the aperture on the lens, and the camera can see that it is set to say f/4 and meter from this automatically. OR do I have to set all setting manually?
Do I have to adjust the aperture by the ring on the lens, I assume yes....but I have to ask.
Manual focusing only.....can anybody comment on how good this will be on a D700.
If I set the focus point on the camera and then hold down the shutter button, will the camera lock focus confirmation once I have manually focussed the lens?
This is an important feature to me.
A and M modes are usable. You will get full function in those modes (full-aperture metering and exposure). Aperture values are set on the lens. CLS and i-TTL flash work.
Setting the non-CPU lens data enables Matrix metering and aperture value display (otherwise the number of stops down from wide open is displayed rather than aperture) as well as EXIF data.
Focus confirmation is available (but on the centre point only IIRC). The D700 is a superb choice for manual focus and the viewfinder is excellent for this use.
mawz wrote:
Focus confirmation is available (but on the centre point only IIRC). The D700 is a superb choice for manual focus and the viewfinder is excellent for this use.
Actually you can use any of the focus points for the focus confirm (p82 of manual).
I agree with the comments from others that this camera is a pleasure to use with MF lenses.
I had the pleasure of testing a D700 yesterday and using a lens on MF and the focus confirmation in the viewfinder is easy to use, and you get the feel of the threshold between being on the verge of focussed and not.
I am looking at the Zeiss 21 f/2.8 or 18 f/3.5. The purpose of going down this track it to keep weight and size to a minimum. The 21 is a lot bigger than the 18, and Ideally I wanted to go wider than 20mm, and I have seen samples from canon at 17mm and that is wide enough.
I think that the 18 will be a good choice, coupled with the Zeizz 35 f/2
I had the pleasure of testing a D700 yesterday and using a lens on MF and the focus confirmation in the viewfinder is easy to use, and you get the feel of the threshold between being on the verge of focussed and not.
I am looking at the Zeiss 21 f/2.8 or 18 f/3.5. The purpose of going down this track it to keep weight and size to a minimum. The 21 is a lot bigger than the 18, and Ideally I wanted to go wider than 20mm, and I have seen samples from canon at 17mm and that is wide enough.
I think that the 18 will be a good choice, coupled with the Zeizz 35 f/2
If size/weight are a consideration, look at the Voigtlander 40/2 Ultron instead of the ZF 35/2. The ZF is a monster (larger than the 35/1.4 AI-S) and while it does perform better than the Ultron, it's not a big difference on a 12MP body while the Ulton is tiny (25mm long).
