rscheffler wrote: uscmatt99 wrote:
Man you guys are killing me. I\'ve had my radar trained on this lens since its release, but I have enough lenses covering 35mm focal length that I\'ve resisted so far. That may soon change. A couple of questions.
I currently use a CV 35/1.2 vII as my fast manual focus walkaround 35mm. I looks like the ZM 35/1.4 is about 90 grams lighter. I\'ve always felt the lens was dens and somewhat front-heavy. How does the ZM feel in terms of handling on the Sony A7II series bodies? ......
To me, the ZM seems to have crisper in-plane qualities with less SA, but the bokeh leaves something to be desired, at mid-distances anyway. Would those of you familiar with both lenses agree with that assessment?
Compared to the 35/1.2, my impression was that the ZM was surprisingly lighter and felt a bit \'hollow\' in comparison, but not in a bad way. I generally agree with your assessment and it\'s the mid-distance bokeh/rendering that made me hesitate getting it. That and the price at release. Well... at PPE+ 2014 Zeiss was quoting ~$2000 and it landed at $2300. Meanwhile its retail price in Japan was $1750 (back when the JPY was weaker)... Factor in the CAD and I shelved the idea and got the CV35/1.7 instead. I dislike the CV\'s ergonomics, but image quality is very good. I shot it briefly in comparison to the ZM and it was difficult to tell the difference. At infinity, with the copy of each I had, I preferred the CV (on a Leica).
For anyone shopping around for one, do consider overseas options. I.e. Leicashop has demo copies selling for about $1450 with free shipping. IIRC, Rich might have bought from them, though don\'t recall if it was a good experience. I got my CV from them and it went OK.
One thing with the 35/1.2 is that it works pretty well on stock Sony sensors. From what I recall, it\'s more moderate contrast, but as a result, bokeh might be a bit more gentle in some situations.
Hi Ron,
Yes I purchased my Zeiss 35mm f1.4 ZM Distagon from the Leica Shop in Vienna in November and overall it was a very good experience. At the time of my purchase with the exchange rate, I paid a little less than $1800 US for a new copy of the lens (and free shipping) and the B&H Photo price was around $2300. I felt that I got an extremely good price and service. Registering the lens on-line increased my warranty from as I recall 2 years to a 3 year International Warranty and unless mistaken, copies sold in the US may only have a 2 year wa.rranty
