Gary, the photo of your daughter(?) is really good.. The way the colors balance out the composition etc... I had the CV 50 1.5 a long while back on the M8, and I really disliked the bokeh, and I never got it to give subject pop like you did in that photo.
telluridestock - Cool bridge shot, I just picked up the 28 elmarit asph, haven't tried it yet, because of bad weather, but you're photo is making me antsy.
Can anyone give me some feedback on the performance of the ZM35/2? I would like to know how it compares to my ZM35C - aside from being faster. Some wide open shots would be great to see. I am not too keen on that soft, dreamy, glowy look which some lenses have when shot wide open. I would also imagine they are quite similar performing stopped down. Any feedback would be most appreciated.
Gary Clennan wrote:
Can anyone give me some feedback on the performance of the ZM35/2? I would like to know how it compares to my ZM35C - aside from being faster. Some wide open shots would be great to see. I am not too keen on that soft, dreamy, glowy look which some lenses have when shot wide open. I would also imagine they are quite similar performing stopped down. Any feedback would be most appreciated.
I haven't used either, but from what I've heard, people prefer the one you already have, the 35/2.8C. Apparently it has less distortion, and is better overall in terms of IQ, not to mention more compact at almost half the length. If you're looking for a 35/2, the Summicron IV pre-asph king of bokeh was a phenomenal lens, and about as compact as the 35/2.8C. They can still be had around $1600, from what I've seen.
Note that the king of boke was only named this for its performance at f/4. Personally I prefer the boke of both 35 Cron ASPH and 35 Lux ASPH I more than 90% of the time. I did a very long three-way test on the l-camera-forum some time ago.
Gary Clennan wrote:
Can anyone give me some feedback on the performance of the ZM35/2? I would like to know how it compares to my ZM35C - aside from being faster. Some wide open shots would be great to see. I am not too keen on that soft, dreamy, glowy look which some lenses have when shot wide open. I would also imagine they are quite similar performing stopped down. Any feedback would be most appreciated.
I think it boils down to the need of speed (or the need of a compact lens). The lack of one stop will probably be more important than any difference in quality, whichever is best. No glow but a noticeable drop in contrast wide open.
And here is very interesting discussion comparing ZM35/2 and 35/2.8 https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1067136/ (Lukas comparisons are probably one of the better resources in this matter you can find online)
Doug, very nice shots! Pretty cool the way you caught the violinist with backdrop giving the wild hairdo
Gary, excellent holiday captures
The ZM 35/2 was one of my first lenses, after having received the M9. I really did not like this lens! I know Luka, worked magic with the lens, and maybe my copy was not good, but I moved it on very quickly. Soon after I received the 35 Cron Asph, brilliant lens. There is a cost factor here, but I would far prefer to go to a 35 Cron IV Pre Asph, than the ZM 35/2. The ZM 35/2.8c is a great lens. In my reading, it seems the design for the ZM 35/2.8 should have stopped there, and they pushed the boundary in the design for the f/2.0.
najibs wrote:
I haven't used either, but from what I've heard, people prefer the one you already have, the 35/2.8C. Apparently it has less distortion, and is better overall in terms of IQ, not to mention more compact at almost half the length. If you're looking for a 35/2, the Summicron IV pre-asph king of bokeh was a phenomenal lens, and about as compact as the 35/2.8C. They can still be had around $1600, from what I've seen.
Based on Zeiss's specs, the f/2 version has less distortion, actually almost none. But the f/2.8 isn't terrible in this respect either. Definitely look through Luka's info. From what I recall from his posts, he primarily preferred the Zeiss 35 f/2 for landscape work because it seems to really excel at distance. I have only used it briefly, indoors, at closer distances, and thought it wasn't all that special wide open. But it was very early in my M9 experience and it's very likely I didn't give the lens a fair try. Why not just use the CV35 f/1.2 stopped down a bit? It seems to really clean up well at f/2, for the most part. Granted, it's large and about two times heavier than the Zeiss.
Gary, I used the 35/2zm for the shots of my fiance a few pages back (and the shot of my dog with durians). The bokeh isn't super smooth wide open at minimum FD, but the lens is sharp. I find if you're taking half body portraits it does distort a slight bit (minimum distance), but I find that the 35lux-asph v1 distorts heads more at minimum distances. Although the 35lux-asph v1 bokeh is REALLY something (and the extra bit of low light performance helps).
I'd agree that the 35cron-asph has really nice bokeh, and I prefer it to the bokeh king, simply because of the contrast.. The bokeh king seems really washed out, and as mentioned the bokeh king's bokeh isn't nice till you stop it down a bit.
I actually like what I've seen from the summarit, but between my friend and I, it's the only lens in the 35FL from Ziess/Leica we haven't used! I'm tempted to get one, but I have the 35lux-asph v1 and the 35/2zm, so until I sell off the ZM no 35summarit for me.
Wanted to go to the zoo today to play with my new lenses, but the weather is bad again.
najibs, Nice capture, I like her eyes. It is the best time I want capture my kids
Gary, I have the lens about 2 weeks, but haven't use it hard enough to give you a better description. (Because of D800E )
However, I would say at f2, it is not soft. I am satisfied with its sharpness. But i usually don't peep on sharpness as long as it meet my threshold. In terms of Bokeh, I don't feel it any special, it is pretty neutral. None of the 35mm f2 lens have good bokeh as far as I see include King of ... The 1.4/1.2 version will kill them and seems always better include ZF35mm 1.4, VC35mm 1.2, 35mmlux ASPH. Stop down a little, all of them/bokeh became quite good and hard to distinguish.
However, one thing I want add is it performs admirably good stop down corner to corner. and I won't consider its size big and f2 is a must for me to make it all around lens. IMHO.
ZM35 at f2
Another 'similar' one that day with 50mm Sonnar WO
I ended up selling my full frame canon gear this week for m6, 35 & 50 summicron I am so excited to get back to film!! I only had m6 for a few hours but I find that it's such an work of art.
below shots are taken with m8.2 at brooklyn bridge. been there for the first time although I live in nj/ny area.
took me about an hour or two to cross the bridge..
#1 is with cv 12 heliar. I photoshopped it alot to get the cyan corners out
( I ended up making it almost bw. lol)
anyone know better tool to remove the nasty cyan other than corner fix? or does it do the job?
maybe i'm doing something wrong with it..
#2,3 were with cv 35 1.2 , I think..
4 with 28 ultron
)
