philber
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
 p.62 #13 · The official Zeiss 35/1.4 thread | |
Howard, be careful. You are here on the thread about "former" Zeiss 35mm f1.4, like the Contax and the Rollei, not the "current" ZE/ZF.
If your query pertains to the "current" one, here is my POV, having owned a 35 f:2.0 for a year, and now a f:1.4
The ZE 35 f:1.4 is definitely as sharp as the f:2.0 at all apertures. However, as it has more detail, it can look slightly less sharp, because its shots are more subtle.
The 35 f:1.4 is the easiest ZE lens to focus of all I have owned, and I have owned/shot all of them except the 18mm. Of course, the 21 is a special case because it has so much DOF that you can pretty much go without focusing it at all. In this regard, I respectfully disagree with the learned Lloyd Chambers. That is true for me even at f:1.4, where the 35 is very much easier to focus than either the 50mm or the 85mm. I have posted on the Z* thread a 100% crop of a wide open shot handheld at 1/11 sec which was sharp enough for my taste, so I am not complaning...:-)
Yes, there are reasons one might prefer the f:2.0. Don't forget the weight. The new 35 is seriously heavy and bulky. Maybe a problem for some of us, whereas the f:2.0 balances very nicely on a 5DII.
Another yes is the field curvature. This lens is not good for shooting brick walls, plain and simple, because of it; I know at least one brilliant shooter here who tested one and refused to buy it because "he could never get sharp corners", meaning he had butted his head against this problem.
Also, some people can prefer the slightly less detailed rendering of the f:2.0, which makes everything "stand out" not unlike a MP lens, and gives wonderful 3D. The f:1.4's 3D is more subtle, as it extends to OOF and background areas.
No, the 35mm f:1.4 is not two lenses in one. For me, it is very detailed from wide open onwards, and just gets slightly contrastier, thus looking sharper, and free of vignetting after f2.0. It is actually my "best" Zeiss lens now, ahead of even the mighty 21, and I consider its versatility one of ite greatest pluses.
BTW, stunning shots on your site. Jaw-dropping stuff!
|
