Digital BW, The Print

This  is a bit OT.
 
In a previous thread "Michael King" <drmrking@...> wrote:
>
> Paul,
> 
> If you want to get the best out of the 5D2 wide angle, 
> get some of the new Zeiss lenses for Canon...

The sharpness information on some of the Zeiss optics are very good 
indeed.  While the new ZE series for Canon are not out, at least for 
what I was looking for, the old Contax 28mm f2.8 appeared to be an 
amazingly good lens in numerous tests.  The Photodo rating of 4.3 put 
it ahead of all but the very best Leica M wide angles.

Not infrequently, however, Zeiss lenses are criticized for actually 
being too contrasty.  Frankly, this seemed a little odd to me.  One 
tester actually appears  to have shown the higher contrast of the 
28mm Zeiss with a comparative histogram.  
See http://www.16-9.net/lens_tests/28mm_3.html

At any rate, I bought a used Zeiss Contax Distagon 28mm f2.8 and 
tested it both with resolution charts and outside shooting.  At f8 is 
was very sharp with very little color fringing.  However, due to an 
apparent decentered element, the lens would not focus at infinity and 
was not good wider than f8, so I returned it.  Overall, the Canon 35 
f2 is where I'll probably stay for the time being.

The amazing thing, however, was that the contrast of the Zeiss lens 
may have actually caused it to blow out highlights on the Canon 5D2.  
In comparison shots with the Canon 35, the Zeiss simply did not work 
as well as the Canon with respect to how the exposure was 
determined.  Is it possible we actually benefit from a little  
flare?  I used to pre-flash slide film to increase its ability to 
capture wide dynamic range scenes, and I suppose this same thing 
might be happening with our less than perfect optics on DSLRs.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

If you are interested in finding out more about these Zeiss lenses real
world performance, check out Lloyd blog (free) and Zeiss report ($). He is
one of the few people I actually respect, for his factual, no
bullshit/advertorial information.

http://diglloyd.com/diglloyd/blog.html

Mike

2009/1/8 pr_roark <pr_roark@...>

>   This is a bit OT.
>
> In a previous thread "Michael King" <drmrking@...> wrote:
> >
> > Paul,
> >
> > If you want to get the best out of the 5D2 wide angle,
> > get some of the new Zeiss lenses for Canon...
>
> The sharpness information on some of the Zeiss optics are very good
> indeed. While the new ZE series for Canon are not out, at least for
> what I was looking for, the old Contax 28mm f2.8 appeared to be an
> amazingly good lens in numerous tests. The Photodo rating of 4.3 put
> it ahead of all but the very best Leica M wide angles.
>
> Not infrequently, however, Zeiss lenses are criticized for actually
> being too contrasty. Frankly, this seemed a little odd to me. One
> tester actually appears to have shown the higher contrast of the
> 28mm Zeiss with a comparative histogram.
> See http://www.16-9.net/lens_tests/28mm_3.html
>
> At any rate, I bought a used Zeiss Contax Distagon 28mm f2.8 and
> tested it both with resolution charts and outside shooting. At f8 is
> was very sharp with very little color fringing. However, due to an
> apparent decentered element, the lens would not focus at infinity and
> was not good wider than f8, so I returned it. Overall, the Canon 35
> f2 is where I'll probably stay for the time being.
>
> The amazing thing, however, was that the contrast of the Zeiss lens
> may have actually caused it to blow out highlights on the Canon 5D2.
> In comparison shots with the Canon 35, the Zeiss simply did not work
> as well as the Canon with respect to how the exposure was
> determined. Is it possible we actually benefit from a little
> flare? I used to pre-flash slide film to increase its ability to
> capture wide dynamic range scenes, and I suppose this same thing
> might be happening with our less than perfect optics on DSLRs.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>
>
> 
>


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