Hi folks! Just a quick update to let you all know that I am in the process of setting up a new website so the blog will be the only thing I'm updating for the next few weeks. I also have not been updating here too often the last year which is about to change as I have tons of new work and posts to upload here. I just wanted a new look and logo to match my style better as it has evolved over the last year or so.
I will also be doing more reviews of lenses, especially updates of my long suffering gear to see how they have held up with fairly heavy use a few years on. Particularly the Carl Zeiss lenses I own which has been a love/hate relationship to say the least, so keep an eye out for that in the very near future.
I am also starting to focus heavily on video work (short films,documentaries and music videos) which has been a fun transition and I am still learning much of the technical side of things but I have good feelings about the upcoming projects.
So this blog will now be my main output for the next while so keep checking back for more regular updates.
Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or enquiries you can send me an email here: andrew@drewportfolio.com
Cheers!
Andrew Kelly!
Showing posts with label carl zeiss 28mm f2 ze. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carl zeiss 28mm f2 ze. Show all posts
8 Mar 2012
Carl Zeiss Distagon 28mm f2 ZE & 35mm f2 ZE Video Review
I purchased these two Carl Zeiss lenses last year for my Canon 5D MK 2. The Distagon T* 35mm f2 and the 28mm f2 ZE. I wrote up a blog post review on them and recently I have been getting a lot of emails since inquiring about my experience with them so I decided to make a video version which hopefully will clear up some people's questions. It was made on the fly with no preparation but I hope I hit the main points about my experiences with them over the last 6 months.
You can view the blog post I wrote up just after shooting a wedding with these lenses here
You can also view all my favourite images from the wedding day here
I hope this video helps some people looking at these lenses with some of the same questions and curiosities that I had before purchasing them.
Check out my youtube page here which has this video (in three parts) and some other stuff.
Places to follow me online:
13 Oct 2011
New Carl Zeiss 25mm f2 Coming Soon.
I just heard that there will be a new Carl Zeiss 25mm f2 released soon. This is a lens that does interest me even though I own the Zeiss 35mm f2 and 28mm f2. 25mm sounds like a great compromise between 28mm and 24mm for a standard wide lens. Originally when I bought the 28mm I was deciding between it and the Canon 24mm f1.4 and found that the 24mm was maybe a little too wide for my liking. I know that 24 and 25mm are almost the same but I have been so impressed with my Zeiss glass that It is tempting. The only problem is that I would have to get rid of my 28mm to justify it and I love my little 28. I will wait and see what the 25 is like when released and compare the two to see which one I prefer. Thanks Zeiss you have given me another lens headache dilemma to ponder, just when I thought I was finished for a while.
You can read my Carl Zeiss distagon 35mm f2 and 28mm f2 review here if your interested.
www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com
You can read my Carl Zeiss distagon 35mm f2 and 28mm f2 review here if your interested.
www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com
6 Oct 2011
Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2 & 28mm f2 ZE Review (with pro wedding testing)
*UPDATE MARCH 2012* You can now view my video review of these lenses here
Just over a month ago I was looking to purchase some wider lenses for my Canon 5D MK 2, I looked into all the options, Canon, Carl Zeiss, Sigma and Tokina. I previously owned the Canon EF 16-35 f2.8 II lens which although proving very good I never used it wider than 24mm so there was a lot of wasted focal length and I wanted a faster aperture than 2.8 (f2 would be even much better for that extra stop of light), So I decided to sell it and invest in a faster prime wide angle as I knew the prime would give me better overall image quality and a wider aperture.
After doing plenty of research into all the different options I quickly ruled out brands like Tokina who don't have any full frame fast prime lenses in the 24-35mm range. Sigma have a 24mm f1.8 and a 28mm f1.8 which are quite dated now and from what I found weren't all that great when used wide open. I did look into older manual focus lenses being used via an adapter but the stop down metering (darkening of the focus screen when closing down the aperture) was a deal breaker as it made it nearly impossible to focus in lower light. So that left Canon and Carl Zeiss in the running.
Canon have the L primes that everyone rates very highly, the 24mm f1.4 ( a nice fast aperture but at £1429) and the 35mm f1.4 (again very fast aperture at £1220). These lenses would obviously be a great choice, they have really fast apertures which is brilliant in low light and for isolating subjects from backgrounds, they are Canons luxury line so they are very pricey which I would pay if they produce the stunning image quality I was after.
Canon also have a cheaper range of lenses in this focal lengths, the Canon EF 28mm f1.8 (small, lightweight and is fast but not brilliant when used wide open) and the Canon EF 35 f2 (fast but an older design that is very noisy when auto focussing and has a horribly small manual focus ring). To be honest these two were never really an option as I know that they are not built great and I wanted lenses that would withstand a good few years of professional (ab)use.
Just over a month ago I was looking to purchase some wider lenses for my Canon 5D MK 2, I looked into all the options, Canon, Carl Zeiss, Sigma and Tokina. I previously owned the Canon EF 16-35 f2.8 II lens which although proving very good I never used it wider than 24mm so there was a lot of wasted focal length and I wanted a faster aperture than 2.8 (f2 would be even much better for that extra stop of light), So I decided to sell it and invest in a faster prime wide angle as I knew the prime would give me better overall image quality and a wider aperture.
After doing plenty of research into all the different options I quickly ruled out brands like Tokina who don't have any full frame fast prime lenses in the 24-35mm range. Sigma have a 24mm f1.8 and a 28mm f1.8 which are quite dated now and from what I found weren't all that great when used wide open. I did look into older manual focus lenses being used via an adapter but the stop down metering (darkening of the focus screen when closing down the aperture) was a deal breaker as it made it nearly impossible to focus in lower light. So that left Canon and Carl Zeiss in the running.
Canon have the L primes that everyone rates very highly, the 24mm f1.4 ( a nice fast aperture but at £1429) and the 35mm f1.4 (again very fast aperture at £1220). These lenses would obviously be a great choice, they have really fast apertures which is brilliant in low light and for isolating subjects from backgrounds, they are Canons luxury line so they are very pricey which I would pay if they produce the stunning image quality I was after.
Canon also have a cheaper range of lenses in this focal lengths, the Canon EF 28mm f1.8 (small, lightweight and is fast but not brilliant when used wide open) and the Canon EF 35 f2 (fast but an older design that is very noisy when auto focussing and has a horribly small manual focus ring). To be honest these two were never really an option as I know that they are not built great and I wanted lenses that would withstand a good few years of professional (ab)use.
19 Aug 2011
New Lenses and The Full Line Up.
I just took delivery of the some new lenses that have rounded off my lens line up for everything I will be shooting from now on. I may add a longer focal length at some point , maybe a 135mm or something but I never shoot far away and prefer to be closer to my subject so these lenses are exactly what I need. After years of using different focal length lenses and in different situations I found that I am not a long telephoto shooter and I also don't like going too wide either. All of my subjects are people and I prefer the focal lengths from 28mm, perfect for when you need a wider view without distorting anybody in the frame too much , I find a 24mm to distort a bit too much and my longest focal length is a 100mm macro. The macro is great for small fine detail shots and for tight portraits (head and shoulders).
My line up now consists of a Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 (brilliant lens), a Carl Zess 35 f2 (absolute gem of a lens), a Canon 50mm f1.4 (a good workhorse that covers most situations, good bokeh too), a Sigma 85mm f1.4 (brilliant portrait lens and i personally prefer it to the expensive Canon 85 f1.2, brilliant bokeh and sharpness), a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (for them detailed shots and head and shoulder portraits). I also have some other lenses that I use just for fun, a canon 50mm f1.8 that I took apart and messed around with, put it back together and it now acts as a very weird, painterly, bizarre lens, an Olympus Zuiko 100mm f2.8 (very small and light with great image quality), a haminex 28mm (just fun to use) and a 24mm miranda macro that is also fun to use and creates some very interesting images. All of these sit on my Canon 5D Mark 2 and give me all I need, for now:)
After years of shooting I now have my ideal line up for the type of imagery I like to produce. What lenses you have isn't the most important part of photography as you can get great images from almost any lens and camera (some of my favourite images I have taken are with a lens I got on ebay for £8 and a £3 compact film camera) but knowing what images you want to make and knowing what equipment will get you the results needed is important, there is no point in buying the most expensive if you don't really need them, just try out as much as you can and see how they compliment your vision. I have tried a hell of a lot of lenses now and have arrived at this selection. Would I like the whole set of Zeiss primes and a Leica M9 thrown in with a few fast Leica primes? sure I would but I don't need them, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't buy them if I was rich and money was burning a hole in my pocket though.
Here are the images I took today of my new lenses arrival and the whole assembled line up.
My line up now consists of a Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 (brilliant lens), a Carl Zess 35 f2 (absolute gem of a lens), a Canon 50mm f1.4 (a good workhorse that covers most situations, good bokeh too), a Sigma 85mm f1.4 (brilliant portrait lens and i personally prefer it to the expensive Canon 85 f1.2, brilliant bokeh and sharpness), a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (for them detailed shots and head and shoulder portraits). I also have some other lenses that I use just for fun, a canon 50mm f1.8 that I took apart and messed around with, put it back together and it now acts as a very weird, painterly, bizarre lens, an Olympus Zuiko 100mm f2.8 (very small and light with great image quality), a haminex 28mm (just fun to use) and a 24mm miranda macro that is also fun to use and creates some very interesting images. All of these sit on my Canon 5D Mark 2 and give me all I need, for now:)
After years of shooting I now have my ideal line up for the type of imagery I like to produce. What lenses you have isn't the most important part of photography as you can get great images from almost any lens and camera (some of my favourite images I have taken are with a lens I got on ebay for £8 and a £3 compact film camera) but knowing what images you want to make and knowing what equipment will get you the results needed is important, there is no point in buying the most expensive if you don't really need them, just try out as much as you can and see how they compliment your vision. I have tried a hell of a lot of lenses now and have arrived at this selection. Would I like the whole set of Zeiss primes and a Leica M9 thrown in with a few fast Leica primes? sure I would but I don't need them, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't buy them if I was rich and money was burning a hole in my pocket though.
Here are the images I took today of my new lenses arrival and the whole assembled line up.
Todays Arrivals. 28mm f2 Carl Zeiss and Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro
Posers.
Final Lens line up from now on for Portraits, Music photography, Weddings and anything else that comes my way.
28mm Zeiss f2 ZE, 35mm f2 Zeiss ZE, Canon 50mm f1.4, Sigma 85mm f1.4, Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro.
andrew@drewportfolio.com
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