*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.
Showing posts with label zeiss 28mm f2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zeiss 28mm f2. Show all posts
6 Oct 2011
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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