philber wrote:
I use Eg-s with my 5D MkII and recommend it. I didn't go to third party screens with split screens, because they are rumored (true? false?) to interfere with metering.
Spot Metering is effected and I believe the speed of the lens will effect if Center Weighted is effected too (slower the lens, the larger the metering will be off). Some people have said that the effects are barely noticeable though.
I'd personally rather get a precision matte screen without the split prism and precision ring (like in the Katz Eye). It looks as though it would get in the way of composing certain types of photographs.
I believe stop-down metering (STM) was discontinued on SLRs in the late 1960s. Using a 5DII on live view with an old Zeiss lens/adaptor is like figuring out your taxes in your head instead of on a calculator. For those who haven't experienced STM, imagine your DOF preview stuck on f16 and Scotch taping it to open up each time to see what you are doing, then retaping it at your chosen f-stop. It's the same process as using a view camera lens.... slow, and a PIA. Fortunately the new Zeiss ZE lenses, made in Japan, eliminates all that hassle, but still you have to focus manually. I guess for some there is nothing really wrong with that if you are used to it, but strickly MF is hard to adapt full time in a AF world.
I did not know it is an AF world. Here, on the Alternative forum, you may ifnd many who do not use or need AF. And STM (as you call it) is not that bad really. I actually prefer it. I get to see my DOF before shooting.
gasrocks wrote: I did not know it is an AF world. Here, on the Alternative forum, you may ifnd many who do not use or need AF. And STM (as you call it) is not that bad really. I actually prefer it. I get to see my DOF before shooting.
I have no beef with photographers who prefer manual focusing. There is a time and a place for everything. That's why there is a MF option on modern AF cameras. STM, however, is basically for static subjects, or those very old rangefinder cameras, or with optical viewfinders. STM is also a mandatory technique with T&S lenses... and they're tripod bound.
Nobody shed a tear when STM was replaced with the auto diaphragm shutter on the Nikon F in 1959. I think that if you are going to go to that much trouble with a STM you might as well use a view camera.
BTW: I call it a "AF world" because with the exception of a few European lens manufacturers, AF lenses are the only lenses manufactured today. I saw your collection of exotic lenses. Wow! It's like having a fleet of Model Ts to drive on the weekend. Never heard of half of them, but I do remember the Adorama's Spiratone brand and the Vivitars as being the least desirable lenses of all time. I guess if you can deal with the multitude of adaptors and all the baggage that goes with it, more power to you.
Pondria wrote:
Brainiac,
When the aperture is f/16, isn't it kind of too dark to focus ? For Wide-angle, this shouldn't matter much, though.
What's your shutter speed? Seriously, if it's too dark to focus at f16, then it's also too dark to hand-hold the camera, which means you're on a tripod which you've just spent at least 34 seconds unfolding. You either have time to focus and stop down, or you have light to see to focus. Or you're using a wide aperture in which case focussing is no harder than it would be on a dedicated EOS lens. I just never understand this stop down thing. It seems like something people have read they must do in some sort of technique guide book.
thrice wrote:
But what if you want to shoot at f/8 with a long lens during the "golden hour" when there isn't that much light around, it gets too dark for critical focusing but the DOF is still rather shallow.
What's your shutter speed? I don't recall any alt lenses which offer IS. Tele, f8, dusk = wide aperture or tripod. Either way stop down presents no problems.
It's not just about viewfinder darkness, determining DOF with even f/4 at reasonable distances isn't that easy. Sure you can focus wide open then stop down, but since you can't tell what aperture you're shooting at, you either look at the lens (taking your eye off the viewfinder and subject in the process) or count click stops. Surely you can understand that. I don't think stop-down metering is such a huge deal either, but I'd rather not deal with it, and am willing to pay a not-so-small price to avoid it.
Barry Pehlman wrote:
I believe stop-down metering (STM) was discontinued on SLRs in the late 1960s. Using a 5DII on live view with an old Zeiss lens/adaptor is like figuring out your taxes in your head instead of on a calculator. For those who haven't experienced STM, imagine your DOF preview stuck on f16 and Scotch taping it to open up each time to see what you are doing, then retaping it at your chosen f-stop. It's the same process as using a view camera lens.... slow, and a PIA. Fortunately the new Zeiss ZE lenses, made in Japan, eliminates all that hassle, but still you have to focus manually. I guess for some there is nothing really wrong with that if you are used to it, but strickly MF is hard to adapt full time in a AF world. ...Show more →
It is NO where near that bad.
I have no beef with photographers who prefer manual focusing. There is a time and a place for everything. That's why there is a MF option on modern AF cameras. STM, however, is basically for static subjects, or those very old rangefinder cameras, or with optical viewfinders. STM is also a mandatory technique with T&S lenses... and they're tripod bound.
Nobody shed a tear when STM was replaced with the auto diaphragm shutter on the Nikon F in 1959. I think that if you are going to go to that much trouble with a STM you might as well use a view camera.
BTW: I call it a "AF world" because with the exception of a few European lens and a few more Japanese manufacturers, AF lenses are the only lenses manufactured today. I saw your collection of exotic lenses. Wow! It's like having a fleet of Model Ts to drive on the weekend. Never heard of half of them, but I do remember the Adorama's Spiratone brand and the Vivitars as being the least desirable lenses of all time. I guess if you can deal with the multitude of adaptors and all the baggage that goes with it, more power to you. ...Show more →
Fixed.
Ahem, the coke bottle glass that represented the cheap Spiratone lenses of the 1970s are not in the same league with all the fine lenses we use and enjoy here...
Well, guys, I tried my ZE 28, and promptly returned it. My guess is that this one is defective, as I couldn't get proper focus more than 50% of the time. Now with a focal lenght of 28mm, DOF should be ample pretty much whatever you do. Second issue, major CA. Not acceptable for a lens of that pedigree and cost. For reference, I received my Distagon ZE 21 at the same time, and that one offers flawless performance by comparison. So methinks I need a new sample.
Sorry philber about the defective copy. This is imho one of the major issues with the ZF/ZE line, and I was expecting Zeiss to have sorted it out by now.
My guess, Edward, is that this lens got shaken, rather than being defective out of production. It exhibits severe CA (much more than a Canon kit lens for example), as well as being really hard to focus in an unpredictable way. Can't see that it would have passed QC in that condition. I thought, maybe that it just front-or-back focused, and that all such 28 had massive CA, except that no reviews highlight that. Which is what leads me to say that mine is "off". And BTW, my 21 is amazing.
Sorry to hear that, Phil. Frankly, I can't imagine a shake that would actually hurt a lens that much, but I agree about the QC we expect from that manufacturer. Aren't they ISO 9001? I mean, there isn't any space inside a lens where the glass can shift to. It's all being tightly contained in internal metal parts. Either shipping damage, or manufacturing error, I'm surprised.
Never heard of half of them, but I do remember the Adorama's Spiratone brand and the Vivitars as being the least desirable lenses of all time. 
I guess if you can deal with the multitude of adaptors and all the baggage that goes with it, more power to you. 
