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asiafish
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Registered: Apr 18, 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 516
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Review Date: Dec 30, 2015
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,100.00
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Beautiful color, beautiful rendering, just a beautiful lens.
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Cons:
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Very heavy, manual focus can be tough on a modern DSLR
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This is definitely a niche product, manual focus only, and as such it cannot really compare directly with any of the more mainstream options from Canon or Sigma. It is slower and more difficult to focus, though it can be more accurate when using live view or a good focusing screen. It is also probably the heaviest 35mm prime lens available for the Canon (or Nikon) system.
In every quantifiable way I should not have bought, and should not keep this lens. The problem was once I attached it to my camera and took a few informal portraits (in a harshly lit store no less) and then viewed those images on my computer, I just had to have it. This lens has not disappointed me after purchase, and while I don't always use it (I also own the ultra-cheap canon 35mm f/2), when I do I am never disappointed with the results.
Using this lens on my 6D comes close to shooting with my Leica in visceral pleasure of shooting. There really is a difference when focusing manually, slowing down and taking my time. I find with manual focus I tend to also think more carefully about depth of field, exposure and composition. I'm less lazy, experiment more and while I take fewer pictures, I get more keepers.
Would I buy it again? Not sure, but since I got it for an excellent used price, I'm holding onto it at least as long as I have a Canon DSLR.
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 Dec 30, 2015
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x_tan
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Registered: Jun 17, 2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 6
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Review Date: Jan 23, 2014
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,685.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very shape wide open; beautiful colour
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Cons:
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Little bit heavy
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Jan 23, 2014
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Lars Johnsson
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Registered: Jun 29, 2003
Location: Thailand
Posts: 33669
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Review Date: Jan 9, 2013
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Build, bokeh, Zeiss colors, the focus throw
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Cons:
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Price, size
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It's a fantastic wide angle lens with really great IQ. The bokeh and background blur is the best I have seen on a wide angle lens. It can be a bit difficult to do MF on the largest apertures.
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Jan 9, 2013
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helimat
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Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Apr 6, 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 6355
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Review Date: Nov 5, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, contrast, bokeh, character
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Cons:
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Size, weight, price
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Quite possibly the best lens I have ever used, no joke. I have found that a precision focusing screen is indispensable however; with my 5D2 which has the EG-S focus screen installed my keeper rate was high, while with my 5D3 using the AF confirm the results were disappointing.
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Nov 5, 2012
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philber
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Registered: May 20, 2008
Location: France
Posts: 10289
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Review Date: Oct 12, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Colours, detail, spatial placement, bokeh, build quality
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Cons:
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Size, weight, cost. Some field curvature. Slight loss of contrast wide open
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The 35 f:1.4 is a lens for the determined. First because of its weight, size and cost. Then because the images it creates are not immediately as spectacular as those of its lesser sibling, the ZE 35 f:2.0.
But on direct comparison, the faster lens has much more detail, better and more subtle colours, impeccable spatial placement including in the OOF areas. And the bokeh is a cream dream.
A couple of issues prevent it from being perfect. It suffers from field curvature, so the corners and centre may not be sharp at the same time if you are shooting wide open. While this matters, it has not lost me a single shot, so it sould not be made into a major issue at all. Then, wide open, there is a slight loss of contrast, which can be mistaken for loss of sharpness, which it isn't.
What is fantastic about this lens is its almost total lack of visual signature. Its rendering can stretch from the austere to the lush, from neutral to spectacular. That is something very few lenses can do (the newer 25 f:2.0 does it as well, showing that this pair is a new generation for Zeiss).
Overall, probably the best lens to date in the ZE/ZF.2 line, with the exception of the more recent ZE 15. In a direct comparison, even the formidable ZE 21 shows its age.
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Oct 12, 2012
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VisualLifeLine
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Registered: May 31, 2012
Location: Germany
Posts: 23
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Review Date: May 31, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, bokeh, color rendition, Zeiss look
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Cons:
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size, price
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The Distagon 35/1.4 is a truly great lens. It is razor-sharp and provides the exceptional color rendition with the tangible zeiss look and feel.
One of the downsides for me is the size and weight. It is not that big or heavy, but I would have appreciated a more compact design (probably not possible from the engineers point of view).
The second downside is the high price, especially when you compare it to the Samyang 35/1.4 for 400 bucks which is caomparably/equally sharp (they say).
All things considered I'm very happy with this extraordinary lens.
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May 31, 2012
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dimitris77
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Registered: Aug 28, 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 655
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Review Date: May 2, 2012
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $1,650.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp across frame, bokeh, colors.
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Cons:
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Thin dof takes a lot of time to get used to
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I upgraded to this model from the f2 version. At the beginning I thought I made a mistake but after using it for a while I got used to its narrower dof. It is this feature that makes it stand out. I use it a lot as a portrait lens.
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May 2, 2012
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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7
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30470
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Dec 30, 2015
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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100% of reviewers
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$1,478.33
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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10.00
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8.29
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9.4
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