Thanks - my Zeiss lineup now includes the 2/28, 2/35, 1.4/85, 2/100MP, and the 2/135APO. I am hoping the new modified 1.4/50 will be of interest. (I like the 85mm just fine the way it is now!)
zhangyue wrote:
Steve, thank you for your kind comment.
Hi Philip, you are very kind, the process is very minimal. that is my main focus for my family picture. minimal PP, moment is more important than anything. General speaking, I feel from perspective point of view, 28/35mm always gives more 3D than longer focal length. tele lens flatten the scene, which is contradict 3D. At least to my eyes. Having said that, if there is any 3D, I think first is the distance of subject in this case give some presence and then light on my son's face giving some depth/volume to the image.
Here are a few images with DF I took from my China Trip, I bring 16-35G and 55OTUS and 135APO with me. Looking back all those images, I have to say the hassle of carrying these ROCK are well worth the efforts. The lens are special. I almost don't miss shots under good light with a relax mind. It never fail to bring me enjoyment with manual focusing and OVF.
All WO with 135mm
Lots of images but I promise there will be no more. An effort to adding human to this landscape dominate thread. Also want show that you don't have to have MILC for manual focusing and shooting big heavy gear can be really fun
I have moved from Canon but haven't manage to sell all my lenses yet so I still have a ZE 85/1.4 Planar and a ZE 35/1.4 Distagon and it is the latter I used for the below photos. The camera is an old 1Ds Mrk II so beware of low pixel count
Calling all 1.4/85 users - I need some help! After giving up this lens last year, I just got another one, and am relearning what it needs to excel. I know about the focus shift. I wonder, is there a strategy to minimize its impact, or do you just keep clicking and hope one works? Move up a bit, focus, and move the camera back down?
designdog wrote:
Calling all 1.4/85 users - I need some help! After giving up this lens last year, I just got another one, and am relearning what it needs to excel. I know about the focus shift. I wonder, is there a strategy to minimize its impact, or do you just keep clicking and hope one works? Move up a bit, focus, and move the camera back down?
Hmmmmm...?
I ended up selling it after a few months, but for good shots, I generally ended up around f2.0 or smaller aperture. I found shots much easier to nail at this DOF as opposed to wide open. Plus it's much sharper around there. Eventually though, I decided I wanted the 135/2, and sold the 85. It was a good lens, and I have some very happy shots out of it, but of the Zeisses I have had it was my least favorite (but I would still choose it over the Canon 85, any day).
philber wrote:
What I have seen so far of the Milvus 50 f:1,4 is very promising indeed. The best of the bunch.
Sort of in a mood to add a lens these days.
Quite curious about Milvus, I must admit. Although, ever since my CY 50 1.4 got broken, I have been pondering to get a planar 50.( Z version) It will be a tough decision between the planar or distagon. I am not too familiar with the 'new' zeiss look, and even macro planar 50 felt too clinical. ( that is why I am curious. Will it feel too clinical ? ) But Lloyd Chambers' shot is quite lovely, and so far, I am not bothered by the SLOCA thing a lot of folks seem to be turned off by. ( May be the SLOCA thing keeps it not too clinical ? doubt it ) Then again, the weight of 35 1.4 was a proof that I tend to use heavier lens less, so , I may not use it as much if it is Milvus...
In the end, I may change my mind altogether and get a 25 2.8 ( for its light weight) or even a non-alt lens ( like 50 1.2 ). ha ha fun time
For some reason my favorite Zeiss lenses are the least appreciated: the 1.4/35 and the 1.4/85. I loved walking around with them in my bag, but, in a moment of weakness, traded them for a Nikon 70-200 VRII, which I have subsequently traded back for a 2/135. Whew!
I now have another copy of the 1.4/85 and no doubt will secure a 1.4/35 again, although I am really enjoying the 2/28.
I would say of the 85, you have to find ways to accommodate the lens' idiosyncrasies. I would also say of the 135, the lens has to find ways to accommodate your idiosyncrasies - your feeble attempts to hand hold this fine lens!!!
l loved the real "unloved ones", the twin f:1,4 Planars, 50mm and 85mm. By comparison, the 35 is a later design; I also loved it, and it was much easier to use. Now the 2 Planars are gone, replaced by newer Milvus designs
Jochenb wrote:
Question: do any of you have experience with the 18mm ZE/ZF? The size and weight are more comfortable than the 21mm Distagon on A7 cameras. It doesn't have a really good reputation, but maybe that's more because it lives in the shadow of the fantastic 21? I love the Zeiss lenses without a good reputation (both planars) so maybe the 18mm might work out as well?
Well, I'm quoting myself because I bought a second-hand 18mm ZF.2 from a store here. It didn't work out. An awful lens on the A7RII. The field curvature is so extreme that you can't even get all of the frame in focus when shooting at F8. Not even a scene without a foreground subject. When you focus at the center, the edges are completely out of focus. When you focus on the edges, the whole center goes out of focus. It went back to the store immediately.
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designdog wrote:
Calling all 1.4/85 users - I need some help! After giving up this lens last year, I just got another one, and am relearning what it needs to excel. I know about the focus shift. I wonder, is there a strategy to minimize its impact, or do you just keep clicking and hope one works? Move up a bit, focus, and move the camera back down?
Hmmmmm...?
I love this lens. Whenever I'm using it at for example F2-F2.8 I'm always focusing it at the shooting aperture. That way you never have problems with focus shift. If you use the ZE version on a Canon camera this can only be done by holding the DOF preview button (when using the OVF), a bit of a hassle.
Designdog & Philippe: Exactly the same for me. I love the 35/1.4 and both the ZE/ZF planars! I still use the planars with an adapter, together with the 25/2 ZF.2. This is also an outstanding lens IMHO. Another underrated one (because of soft extreme corners).
BTW, Philippe: The 50 and 85 Planar aren't gone. Zeiss says that these won't be discontinued or replaced, because of the completely different design and rendering of the Milvus versions.
Jochenb wrote:
I love this lens. Whenever I'm using it at for example F2-F2.8 I'm always focusing it at the shooting aperture. That way you never have problems with focus shift. If you use the ZE version on a Canon camera this can only be done by holding the DOF preview button (when using the OVF), a bit of a hassle.
Could you explain this a little more? BTW, I am shooting with a zf.2 on a D800...
Jochen, you are right, my mistake! And I also loved the 25 f:2.0, for which I sold the 21 f:2.8, which wasnt exactly politically correct.
Designdog, shooting the 85 f:1.4 and other Z* lenses on a Sony A7RII will give you at least three advantages. One is stabilisation, the other is that what you see in the EVF is the readout from the sensor. No focus shift any more. And in-viewfinder magnification too. This gives me a much better keeper rate today with my 135 APO, including wide open, than I ever had with any Zeiss from 35mm on up with my Canon bodies.
