My new lens purchase. I have been looking to add to my lens line up for mt Canon 5d mk 2 for a while now. To be honest I had been feeling a little unimpressed with the range of Canon lenses on offer, not that they to don't perform well and create great images as they do. I have used mainly Canon lenses for a while and have beeen the staple for all the images I have shot but alongside them I have been shooting old manual focus lenses such as my Olympus zuiko 100mm f2.8, Olympus 24mm and Haminex 28mm f2.8 (shooting for fun, not on jobs) and to be honest I enjoyed the process much more with them, I can't explain why, although i think that it could be that I feel more involved with the image (manual focus etc).
Since I have went pro recently I have been looking at the Canon L series and the cheaper yet good prime EF lens range. I thought these were my only options. But I recently tried and bought a Sigma 85 f1.4 as after extensive testing I liked it more in a practical sense than any of the canon 85's and it got me starting to think about 3rd party lenses as an alternative to the canons (if they perform well that is, not just for the sake of it, I have nothing against Canon).
This is when I actually thought about selling all my Canon kit and getting a Leica m9 as after trying a Leica m8 with a Zeiss 28mm f2.8 lens I fell in love with how the lenses functioned(such smooth manual focus and operation) and the high build quality and sharpness straight out of camera. Then on second thoughts I actually really did like the 5D MK2 for its great high ISO performance (Leica is not there yet in ISO abilities) I shoot in lowlight a lot and don't use flash all that much so decided to stick with the Canon.
I loved that the Zeiss lens I used on the M8 was made of metal and felt so sturdy, I wouldn't ever worry about in a field situation, felt like it was built to last forever, I hate the plastic construction of the canon lenses and I have went through a few.
So I started to look into the Carl Zeiss lens range for the Canon mount (the ZE line) as I had heard great things in the past about their wide angle 21mm f2.8 but never really looked too much into it at the time. After a quick search online a lot of great praise was found for nearly all the Zeiss line with the exception of the Zeiss 50 f1.4 and 85 f1.4 when used wide open (or so I have been told, I'm sure their fine though if you know how to use them).
I saw that a lot of pros said that they loved them but wouldn't use the on assignment due to them being manual focus only, but I thought screw that, I have been manually focusing since getting into cameras as I find that when working quick and close autofocus can be quite unreliable (atleast in my experiences). The Zeiss lenses do have the autofocus confirmation when it hits the focus so really you have the best of both worlds but within a much better built body and in some cases superior image quality.
I have heard a lot about the Zeiss 3d rendering quality, people saying that is just amazing and can't be reached by any Canon L lens. The Zeiss in a lot of cases are cheaper than the Canons or around the same price. All this sounds great but I thought it must be too good to be true.
So I thought F**k it and just ordered the Zeiss Distagon 35 f2 which is a focal length I have wanted for a long time (and was about the same focal length equivalent as the 28mm i used on the Leica m8) and the Canon ef 35 f2 is plastic with a pretty crap manual focus ring (but is nice and light) and the Canon 35 f1.4 L costs over £400 more than the zeiss but does have that nice 1.4 though. I really wanted to try the zeiss though.
It arrived today and I really wasn't expecting too much to be honest but when I opened the box I was immediately impressed with the look and build and it was actually a lot lighter than I thought which was a nice surprise. After mounting it on the camera it felt really nice, well balanced on the 5D MK2 and with the EG-S precision matte focus screen manual focus is very easy and everything snaps into focus no problem and the focus conformation works really well too for when you don't want to rely solely on your eye to do the work.
After taking a few shots with it (nothing to interesting yet as it's raining outside and nothing worth posting) I now understand what people say about the Zeiss rendering. It just looks amazing. The colours straight out of camera are really nice, better than any canon lens I have used (in my opinion) and I have used a good amount of L's in the past. The images from at least this lens do have that 3d rendering quality and it is sharp from f2, there is some vignetting at f2 but is to be expected and is no problem when in actual use and actually gives the images a great look. It makes Jpegs out of camera look really good which is a feat.
I have only shot a couple of images so far but I wanted to write this as I was so impressed and it actually has already surpassed my expectations which is something I have yet to experience with any other lens. I am now already considering another purchase maybe the 28 f2 for that slightly wider field of view in tight situations. My only regret in buying this lens is that I didn't get the new 35 f1.4 version but that is bigger, heavier and more expensive at around £1500.
I think if you can do without autofocus (you do get autofocus confirmation though) then the Zeiss line is a great investment, well I can at least confirm that the 35 f2 is a stunning lens and I will be purchasing more (probably the wider lenses though, the 28 , 25 or 21). I still have my Canon 50 f1.4, Sigma 85 f1.4 and I am still very happy with their results (well maybe not the 50 too much wide open) but for moments when I want autofocus and for traditional portraits these will still be my go to lenses I haven't given up the Canon's yet but the Zeiss image quality makes me want to. Certain situations call for certain lenses and as long as you use the right one for you to get the best image, thats all that matters. I love though that for that photojournalistic, street and environmental portraits I will have my Zeiss 35 to go to from now on.
I am not a fan of reviews that photograph test charts to judge lenses and much prefer to read what people think after taking some real world shots and experiences. While looking at this lens I didn't find too much info on it in this manner so thought I would do a quick write up (which has turned into a long write up) and I will do a follow up once I have shot with it a bit more. I just hope this might help someone who was in the same position as me looking at the Zeiss line (or at least this 35 f2).
Cheers!
www.drewportfolio.com
UPDATE!! SOME QUICK TEST IMAGES!
These files really have barely been touched in post. I put on my usual sharpening that I do on all my images (just a small amount) and boosted the contrast a little on a few but for most part this is all the lens.
Some are straight out of camera JPEG which is something I have never been impressed with before.
The images aren't good but I just wanted to do a quick test.
Shot at f2 and focused on the silver barrier in the middle of the image.
Pretty damn good for f2, I love the contrast and clarity.
This is just a black and white version of the above image for reference.
I love the straight out of camera B&W's, This lens makes me
want to shoot JPeg it is so good in clarity, colour and contrast.
Hello! Me in my bathroom mirror (the top of the mirror is steamed up as I wasn't
long out the shower. Very nice feeling to this image. Shot at f2 and focused on my hair.
Me taken by Cat in Bar Bloc. I wanted to test my new Zeiss lens in a lowlight environment but the light on Cat at this part of the bar was pretty crap and all the cool bar lights were behind me so she took a couple shots to get that lovely out of focus goodness. Look how nice that lens renders the colours, beautiful! Zeiss lenses from now on I thinks. Hardly anything to do in post and sharp wide open, love it. Getting the 28 now too, I've got the bug.
On the set of new film World War Z, starring Brad Pitt.
The guy with the umbrella was the main focus, I like the girl talking to the worker with the ladder too. A lot going on here, I like it.
Straight out of camera JPEG with the smallest amount of contrast added (pretty much nothing +1 i think). It was about to rain bad and I saw this homeless guy that hangs around this area leaning against the rail (just to the right of the centre of the frame) so put the lens to f2 and focused on him. Again great image quality and this is a jpeg straight out of camera, crazy good. Cuts my post processing
time down to pretty much nothing, amazing and thats with Raw files too.
Another straight out of camera JPEG with a very small amount of contrast added (+1 I think, very small amount). Again it was a very dull and rainy day and thats why the image is so dark. I love how
the Zeiss rendered the shot. F2 focused on the water droplets.
Thats it for now. I am very impressed with this lens. Very sharp, great colour and great contrast and it makes JPEG's straight out of camera look great which is unreal and after processing Raw files the images are even more stunning and thats without doing to much to the file atall, less than I normally do with my other leneses. Love this 35 and will be checking out either the 28 or 21 Zeiss in the very near future.
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