tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3489026290874579162023-11-16T22:32:55.985+11:00My Lenses ReviewAlbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12319159901583891752noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348902629087457916.post-71357943628830692072010-01-01T22:22:00.075+11:002010-05-25T20:12:42.067+10:00Carl Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 ZF Review<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span style="font-size:130%;">CARL ZEISS 21mm f/2.8 REVIEW </span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">(aka. Carl Zeiss Distagon <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">T*</span> 2,8/21 ZF)</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvD767cO99sfWUHIgKguJETgHBLpP8AIyHsdGtnkYuZkYPX01KatkM994NWR8Lf4-Oc063v3u61tut1dG2wOsNba9qxsQYQfh13zbFoHvE1rDvKSv4pFllj_LwRxdilSNPf1hY-nCYrg/s1600-h/Zeiss21-REVIEW.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvvD767cO99sfWUHIgKguJETgHBLpP8AIyHsdGtnkYuZkYPX01KatkM994NWR8Lf4-Oc063v3u61tut1dG2wOsNba9qxsQYQfh13zbFoHvE1rDvKSv4pFllj_LwRxdilSNPf1hY-nCYrg/s400/Zeiss21-REVIEW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421717700744308434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">SPECIFICATIONS</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Mount used for review:</span> Nikon (ZF)<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Focal length: </span>21 mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Aperture range:</span> f/2.8 – f/22 (1/2 steps)<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Focusing range:</span> 0.22 m – infinity<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Number of elements/groups: </span>16/13<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Aperture blades:</span> 9<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Angular field, diag./horiz.: </span>90°/81°<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Coverage at close range: </span>18 x 12 cm<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Filter thread: </span>M 82 x 0.75<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Dimensions (with caps):</span> ø 87 mm, length 109 mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Weight: </span>600g<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">DISCLAIMER</span><br /><br />If you read my previous reviews, you know that I’ve been asking you to take the review as my personal opinion only, and the result may vary depending on your equipment/skills.<br />Also, this review does not show the optimum lens performance. Why? Because when I’m the one holding the camera, it is not going deliver optimum result, I can tell you that, haha...<br /><br />No seriously, it’s because of my method of shooting and the equipments I use. Check the Zeiss 100mm review for the full disclaimer before reading this review.<br />And if you’re wondering whether I am being subjective or not, damn straight I am!<br />Well at least even though I’m subjective and biased, I’ll still try to back it up with some examples or some sort of BS.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">FOREWORD</span><br /><br />Just like when you found a nice restaurant, if you loved the food, you’d feel obliged to return to the restaurant and try the other dishes right? That’s exactly how I felt after using the Zeiss 100mm f/2 – it is definitely one of Zeiss’ “signature dishes”. I couldn’t resist – I needed to try another one.<br /><br />So the plan was to get another Zeiss lens (wasn’t sure which one at that stage), but my initial plan was to get the lens maybe sometime in 2010 because I already bought quite a few lenses already within the past few months. But then Zeiss announced that they will be gradually “refreshing” their ZF lenses with .2 version that comes with a CPU contact so that it can communicate with the camera.<br /><br />‘Not really a big deal for me, but that’s great’, I thought… Then I found out that the street price of the .2 version is actually more expensive than the old version – roughly around US$200 to US$300 more than the old version depending on the model of the lens.<br />Oh snap! $50 bucks more is okay, but $300 more is quite a big increase for someone like me. So I figured out I might as well fast forward my plan so I can save myself 300 bucks. So which Zeiss should I get?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">The Candidates</span><br /><br />The ones that attract me the most are the 18mm and 21mm because they just look awesome with those enlarged fronts. My Tokina 11-16mm is a DX, so I thought I'd just get another wide because I wouldn't be able to use the Tokina when I go FX. That means it’s either 18mm or 21mm.<br />Unfortunately it is not that easy to find that much info on these two lenses, so I had to rely on owners’ feedback and also many hours on the net checking impressions and judging picture quality, trying to find the ‘real’ capability of the lenses.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204); font-weight: bold;">So, 18mm or 21mm?</span><br /><br />18mm is cheaper. Roughly around US$250 cheaper. If you don’t mind losing the 3mm width, I suggest you go all the way and get the 21mm instead of trying to save $250. I know $250 is quite a lot (at least for me) but if you are already swimming in a $1K+ MF lens zone, why let 250 bucks stops you from getting the better lens, especially when you know that this lens will stick with you for possibly the rest of your life? (Unless Nikon changed the F mount format - that’d be horror)<br />I know the 18mm is more compact and lighter, but the 21mm is not that terribly large and heavy anyway, it just weighs more or less like what a solid MF lens supposed to weigh.<br /><br />By the way I also thought about Nikon 14-24mm, but I didn't really want it. It's not about the price, but the two main reasons why I didn’t get Nikon 14-24mm are: first, that lens is huge, I am not prepared to lug that thing around just for a zoom that can only travel 10mm – not to mention the attention I will be getting from carrying that beast around (well if you like attention, then maybe it’s a good point). And 1kg lens does not actually make it a walkaround casual lens anymore.<br />Secondly, I love working with manual focus lenses. And the 21mm is one sexy looking lens. Call me shallow, but it does look great, I can’t think of any other lens that looks as good as the Zeiss 18/21mm. I mean, cmon, have you seen this lens with a hood on? That’s like one of the sexiest looking lenses I’ve ever seen around.<br /><br />So I decided that it would be the 21mm, and I placed my order with my usual, trusty dealer from New Jersey. Had to wait for a few days because they were getting it from the distributor, but it took only two days for it to arrive to Sydney (gotta love FedEx International Priority)<br />By the way, I also need to eat cardboard boxes for dinner from now on for at least a few more months because my wallet just got another hit. Although I was quite surprised that I didn't get into that much trouble from my partner... I was 100% sure that I saw it coming, but it wasn't that bad... I wonder why.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">THE PACKAGING – WHAT’S IN THE BOX?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">(<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Note - from this point onwards, please click on the picture to view it on larger size because this website auto minimizes all pictures to thumbnail sizes. Also, depending on the size of your monitor, after you click the image and it appears in new window, you might still need to click the image one more time to fully expand the image - if not, the picture would be in much lower quality because it's compressed)</span></span><br /><br /><br />The box is a bit smaller compared to Zeiss 100mm ZF box. I must be because of the hood for 21mm is shorter than the 100mm hood. The colour of the sticker is green. I am not sure if the colour means anything or Zeiss is just putting random coloured stickers on the boxes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxekv2stq8GH6Dfw8AIdhRIoru_I9OhawfjFyrQhD-80WN4UnJ8UqDxygMa2VXwtgs0L7IpHB-gqTI5i9gmfyJO4368AJur6o9_KhH4B4CBDeTanj9Y15aiP2bnFpfjGM7gLXXwA_q7UE/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Stickers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxekv2stq8GH6Dfw8AIdhRIoru_I9OhawfjFyrQhD-80WN4UnJ8UqDxygMa2VXwtgs0L7IpHB-gqTI5i9gmfyJO4368AJur6o9_KhH4B4CBDeTanj9Y15aiP2bnFpfjGM7gLXXwA_q7UE/s400/Zeiss21-Stickers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421725166338936706" border="0" /></a><br />The following is the picture of the outer box that came with the delivery:<br />(PS. the brown outer cardboard box had since been eaten.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdC6OVSFlpScUNB3g7X9weRjvPUF1fg6SLxUPgVMZEBc7ujzbRNbiIDeXBadNJh9zqyytNVHr0ZG4Wm-NbtJvSG3bwrcXWzM8IttigxjhGmvgbZxsbOXVF1KsjC4zaapbkm45PgkR-GfE/s1600-h/Zeiss21-fivesteps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdC6OVSFlpScUNB3g7X9weRjvPUF1fg6SLxUPgVMZEBc7ujzbRNbiIDeXBadNJh9zqyytNVHr0ZG4Wm-NbtJvSG3bwrcXWzM8IttigxjhGmvgbZxsbOXVF1KsjC4zaapbkm45PgkR-GfE/s400/Zeiss21-fivesteps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421725731502204754" border="0" /></a><br />Inside the box, you will find the usual things like lens manual, warranty card, and the QC card. Speaking of QC card, interestingly, my card was signed by the same person who checked my Zeiss 100mm ZF. It might be just a coincidence or maybe Zeiss only employs a handful of people to do the QC for all the lenses (human QC on every lens is an expensive practice after all).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYS0VvYUvEd40IYFHrYAtIrtGs4aTAI9YzKhKmjM8wwNyPzYH7PL52jnlLraDwHktjJWOJ67sv3izYwZo1f_7teYbjG9vrkjm7FlQ_xDd7gvHXUGwcj72zffCvA3osG_tUqKUoSFhNEE/s1600-h/Zeiss21-QC_Card.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYS0VvYUvEd40IYFHrYAtIrtGs4aTAI9YzKhKmjM8wwNyPzYH7PL52jnlLraDwHktjJWOJ67sv3izYwZo1f_7teYbjG9vrkjm7FlQ_xDd7gvHXUGwcj72zffCvA3osG_tUqKUoSFhNEE/s400/Zeiss21-QC_Card.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421726045093575634" border="0" /></a><br />Apart from those papers, they also include a Carl Zeiss lens and the lens hood as a bonus. Following is a closer look of the lens and hood sitting in the box. It's a very interesting experience to look at the open box and see the lens sitting in the Styrofoam box there. It’s like when you just adopted a baby and looking at him/her/him-her sleeping in the cradle and you just can’t wait to pick the baby up and hold the baby in your hands (and the difference is, with lens I don't have to pay for the damn education)<br /><br />I am not sure whether my dealer (gotta love the word dealer, so gangsta) opened the box to inspect the lens before shipping it to me, but notice that the word “Carl Zeiss” is nicely lined up on top and the lens’ rabbit ears is also nicely aligned right on top? That’s a nice attention to detail and whoever put it like that, thanks!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5goJTA6CP6ELvL2m5wOCVLcfdhWWkTi6nkg-BMMNuY0jKwdUQRirc4vE387-VAXgw0-F_soXDffj4dcDg8xXBcfVAO2gOuyl887FGMAT93ctsEQdoIhOUA8Zly3OoYAgoU_3qIMkUhU/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Lensinbox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_5goJTA6CP6ELvL2m5wOCVLcfdhWWkTi6nkg-BMMNuY0jKwdUQRirc4vE387-VAXgw0-F_soXDffj4dcDg8xXBcfVAO2gOuyl887FGMAT93ctsEQdoIhOUA8Zly3OoYAgoU_3qIMkUhU/s400/Zeiss21-Lensinbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421727227873797362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">EXTERIOR</span><br /><br />When I picked the lens up, I got the same feeling as when I picked up and played with the 100mm for the first time. It reassures you why you’re paying quite a lot of money for a manual focus lens when you can easily get an AF lens for the same (or less) price.<br /><br />Everything just oozes solidness and first class build. The manual focus is so smooth, and every time the focus ring reaches the end of focus, it clinks like a solid metal clink. Even my Ai/Ais lenses don’t sound like that, let alone the AF ones. This is something you just won’t get from AF lenses. As I mentioned before in my previous review, you have to look at the manual focus as a privilege, not as a drawback. People seem to get it the wrong way, they hear MF and all they think about is, "ooo.... not worth the price, it can't even AF...". Well the thing is, for this lens, I don't want it to AF, I want it to have solid MF.<br /><br />This lens is almost the same size as the Zeiss 100mm ZF, weighs almost the same too (the 100mm is slightly heavier). I am actually quite surprised, considering the 100mm is significantly fatter with extending metal barrel and all that. Maybe it’s because of the amount of elements the 21mm has inside?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgXZBKQ-9XDQGKgMM3e9Va3AVGDfWIEWqnYS5O6oI0EAJkaYt22VGckzht9n8zntga5OZsc_Txsoqz0yw1I0hcYPmg_FcicHGR6JGS3ZGKVgpMZz1iuzRKy6l0XB_1_nSScoGzKqYgJs/s1600-h/Zeiss21-100and21.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjgXZBKQ-9XDQGKgMM3e9Va3AVGDfWIEWqnYS5O6oI0EAJkaYt22VGckzht9n8zntga5OZsc_Txsoqz0yw1I0hcYPmg_FcicHGR6JGS3ZGKVgpMZz1iuzRKy6l0XB_1_nSScoGzKqYgJs/s400/Zeiss21-100and21.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421728934646260482" border="0" /></a><br />From the picture above, you can see that the front diameter is much larger compared to 100mm (100mm uses 67mm cap, whereas the 21mm uses 82mm cap). But unlike Nikon 14-24mm, it doesn’t have that humungous Cyclops-like super massive jumbo bulbous front element that looks like some sort of laser-emitting weapon used by Megatron from Transformers movie.<br /><br />So in other words, you can still use a filter if you want to. The Zeiss’ front element looks more subdued yet cool at the same time. It sort of does not want to attract attention, but it does attract attention because it looks hot. Sort of like Robert Pattinson when he's playing Edward Cullen from that Twilight movie.<br /><br />Anywho, back to the lens' front element, although it is not very bulbous, it is still awfully close to the edge of the filter thread though, so you still want to be careful because it is still easy for you to accidentally touch the front element with your fingers if you are careless.<br />Attaching the hood will significantly protect the element from your fingers or accidental bump, but just be careful when taking on/off the lens cap with the hood on (lens cap is still crap).<br />You can see closer look of the front element here:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7aEPNisfd2J2QKzSIK8RdaBpkbOVB5ZVgtyN2KKRna740YM4JNrrY9gUU0e5q6qbliMVeiEGIybu-ijfLKfb4siQSKHvAK-4QNN2XQSURYDMUfLwBk4En0rloy94qJ01rebUz2Jyc9Os/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Frontface.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 310px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7aEPNisfd2J2QKzSIK8RdaBpkbOVB5ZVgtyN2KKRna740YM4JNrrY9gUU0e5q6qbliMVeiEGIybu-ijfLKfb4siQSKHvAK-4QNN2XQSURYDMUfLwBk4En0rloy94qJ01rebUz2Jyc9Os/s400/Zeiss21-Frontface.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421731981973764834" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbJlWl-K2z3gBvSOfxaolheNZnaZkTvVG3hxIyiZINXrE9J-Aoh_2J7iqvkWhdZ1JU7vzzFvGwc1SRO4j1YXzlXng0CIznAP1UzLDk43jONNn1cL2Jyym0MBHvcYLJS2pUwwLtrlw6YA/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Frontelement.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 342px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwbJlWl-K2z3gBvSOfxaolheNZnaZkTvVG3hxIyiZINXrE9J-Aoh_2J7iqvkWhdZ1JU7vzzFvGwc1SRO4j1YXzlXng0CIznAP1UzLDk43jONNn1cL2Jyym0MBHvcYLJS2pUwwLtrlw6YA/s400/Zeiss21-Frontelement.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421731809198491442" border="0" /></a><br />By the way I notice that the lens has different colour of reflection compared to Zeiss 100mm. I mentioned that the 100mm has this pink coloured hue, but the 21mm has a rather greenish/bluish reflection. I am not sure if they actually use different coating or maybe it’s just the way the lenses are designed or maybe I am just going blind, I am not sure, but it’s definitely not pinkish.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVQO2ah4rzFC8Xxt95VqIBRjSdeMbT8YljRk-YKpvSiFOBMB-d7RUElcvJBFuoGf9VU7JHlv1nGX9wf2_d6l40HJcdQvMXLvo34RPBbJmDQ7TgCg7xvmVOEDx-esB-3T2XGRvmU0mG6I/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Coating.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 322px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVQO2ah4rzFC8Xxt95VqIBRjSdeMbT8YljRk-YKpvSiFOBMB-d7RUElcvJBFuoGf9VU7JHlv1nGX9wf2_d6l40HJcdQvMXLvo34RPBbJmDQ7TgCg7xvmVOEDx-esB-3T2XGRvmU0mG6I/s400/Zeiss21-Coating.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421732301789776802" border="0" /></a><br />Now let’s talk about the barrel. But I am afraid I am just repeating myself here, because the barrel has exactly the same build quality as the 100mm. Here are some pictures, regardless.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Superbly-built barrel? Check.</span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgYG1V-wfXSDZDY9ModU3YQV-HEtUn-ZnWISGjonegv7O40zPIJJUq2AzJpsTIshtpQVuQWjA3QBucfB6YZoeLw9Bwpklw6-ODR7EBs1xnMgoWSAeEYpU7iW1ZPM8GYCD9plzjUss7lQ/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Barrel.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgYG1V-wfXSDZDY9ModU3YQV-HEtUn-ZnWISGjonegv7O40zPIJJUq2AzJpsTIshtpQVuQWjA3QBucfB6YZoeLw9Bwpklw6-ODR7EBs1xnMgoWSAeEYpU7iW1ZPM8GYCD9plzjUss7lQ/s400/Zeiss21-Barrel.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421732644598413954" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Engraved font? Check.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPjv-I9o9yOldg-RP2Dpau-yCWdUIrMS7W3CXwKhglSVyYoYuZ0vhVJfkInD-YAm2XSkWm-Ou04MT3VA_XtbxZmmRrKb5N4wQXQYf3PHdDcUbu-EqmFRwvnRV0qUrDyD1-jE28eN0Ucw/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Engraving.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPjv-I9o9yOldg-RP2Dpau-yCWdUIrMS7W3CXwKhglSVyYoYuZ0vhVJfkInD-YAm2XSkWm-Ou04MT3VA_XtbxZmmRrKb5N4wQXQYf3PHdDcUbu-EqmFRwvnRV0qUrDyD1-jE28eN0Ucw/s400/Zeiss21-Engraving.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421732872921655314" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">Crappy lens cap (but just a bit bigger this time)? Check.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXzLHgsG3mp_D6YaQRsmEX1nuZEPX6pZbzMZCcM1w_dSrQbSHmlcCvrzjqhdH2LZdINKpfbHIoL6KoapIaueTt-HA1C4eB1otFZSEmWMFtsMdCWOGcFVOWhk4yr6BVwcv5Rluhrk6Te8/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Craplenscap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYXzLHgsG3mp_D6YaQRsmEX1nuZEPX6pZbzMZCcM1w_dSrQbSHmlcCvrzjqhdH2LZdINKpfbHIoL6KoapIaueTt-HA1C4eB1otFZSEmWMFtsMdCWOGcFVOWhk4yr6BVwcv5Rluhrk6Te8/s400/Zeiss21-Craplenscap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421733119964716450" border="0" /></a><br />Now this is something different - the rear side actually looks different from the 100mm. The 100mm has this sort of square-ish looking rear (refer to my 100mm review if you forgot how it looks like), but the 21mm has a round rear.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG61Y5GwOtQ10wQfB58xBU2I-aP1qEaQ_jNlE-WR5NOiMyyuZF1yiAdTas-b26I10rU9dEZhxQ0rmLoRtc3wLKvD3HFilPWND0pbDtGsZTanYcuXodaXb_hKXFWkkYyzXl0HyqvPP16I/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Rear_element.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 330px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNG61Y5GwOtQ10wQfB58xBU2I-aP1qEaQ_jNlE-WR5NOiMyyuZF1yiAdTas-b26I10rU9dEZhxQ0rmLoRtc3wLKvD3HFilPWND0pbDtGsZTanYcuXodaXb_hKXFWkkYyzXl0HyqvPP16I/s400/Zeiss21-Rear_element.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421733523131785474" border="0" /></a><br />The lens hood is also different. It uses a petal-shaped hood to prevent vignetting. I also believe that they chose petal-shaped hood so that it won’t scare the flowers when you get close to them (this thing can focus very close). Looks like Zeiss is sharing this hood with the 18mm lens too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSln0nqFwNdVpVu5gxi8nIG9AadyFHGD2jbsaWYKhWniZHsR3EkqtE_DIwZj2SS3yvUbQTYwK_tJnsDlWdydYG-pfj1zasxcEJlSZsZwLeFfYUSoex9kI_sI_ZP4mTcyGBF3Qlu6GhFE/s1600-h/Zeiss21-LensHood.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSln0nqFwNdVpVu5gxi8nIG9AadyFHGD2jbsaWYKhWniZHsR3EkqtE_DIwZj2SS3yvUbQTYwK_tJnsDlWdydYG-pfj1zasxcEJlSZsZwLeFfYUSoex9kI_sI_ZP4mTcyGBF3Qlu6GhFE/s400/Zeiss21-LensHood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421733953493956258" border="0" /></a><br />You can also reverse-mount the hood but I strongly advise you not to do it because if you do that, it will be such a pain to remove the hood. Mainly because there is not much room to hold steady the lens while you are twisting the hood. The reverse hood will block much of the barrel space and in the mid-body you have the focus ring and aperture ring beneath it, which you can't use to hold steady because they rotate (duh...). So the best way is just to leave it attached in normal position if possible.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskRCkJbvSUWNcSNlnLMu6rEqyVQ09ExX2mE3sCfXJZp5PlneGQ-uaF5c_Bo6Q3eROGfNS1YOH9XY30UohYKM9WSBNc2SIxJgfdCqjhby8PfAXY3hTqOK62UM_ltXb_1fNK3vLOZR-vqg/s1600-h/Zeiss21-HoodComparison.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiskRCkJbvSUWNcSNlnLMu6rEqyVQ09ExX2mE3sCfXJZp5PlneGQ-uaF5c_Bo6Q3eROGfNS1YOH9XY30UohYKM9WSBNc2SIxJgfdCqjhby8PfAXY3hTqOK62UM_ltXb_1fNK3vLOZR-vqg/s400/Zeiss21-HoodComparison.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421734730107654434" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">READY FOR TEST RUN</span><br /><br />So…. the lens arrived and I used it a bit indoor.... Couldn’t wait til I could go out and start shooting with it outdoor. So I got everything prepared- charged both of my Fuji S5Pro batteries, prepared my bag, decided which clothes to wear, ironed my underwear, I’m ready to go, baby!<br />Unfortunately I don’t have access to many locations around here, so the test images would be taken mainly from Sydney metro area. I like Botanic Garden because I won’t feel out of place carrying a big camera around.<br />When I arrived at Botanic Garden, this is the first thing I encountered:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8L1CgT1mqiyyRDkXc8RoKbQcX4Dqn7ry5AR4adSZMSICZFPJvqXm2VxN5xAca3kpj7vEaQtsPqkSDiqfaNHU8PRiTs4ve6LDK6pPAdOjdPewjYVSAwTAk0w9AdWgzhSl7V6o9eSImKQ/s1600-h/Zeiss21-spider.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8L1CgT1mqiyyRDkXc8RoKbQcX4Dqn7ry5AR4adSZMSICZFPJvqXm2VxN5xAca3kpj7vEaQtsPqkSDiqfaNHU8PRiTs4ve6LDK6pPAdOjdPewjYVSAwTAk0w9AdWgzhSl7V6o9eSImKQ/s400/Zeiss21-spider.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421736670452545762" border="0" /></a><br />Anyway, let’s continue the review and cover the optical performance now.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">OPTICS</span><br /><br />I had a look at Zeiss website, and there I found the latest brochure for their 21mm Distagon lens. On the brochure it says:<br />1. Ideal colour resulting in colour-fringe free pictures even along high-contrast contour-edges.<br />2. Optical design with floating elements for high performance at all focus distances, right up to the image edges<br />3. Optimal control of glare and stray light ensures brilliant and brightly coloured images. (Glare? But I did still receive ‘optimal glare’ from my partner as soon as she found out I got another lens.)<br /><br />Now usually I am very skeptical with claims from brochures because they are usually just marketing talk, but in this case, I must say that I bloody damn agree on all those three points mentioned in the brochures. When you read that, it sounds like one heck of a lens, and guess what? It is one heck of a lens indeed.<br />Now, let’s see some of the lens’ performance.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Chromatic Aberration</span><br /><br />Oh great, this topic again. To be honest I don’t like to talk about CA. It reminds me of the days when I was at primary school with my math teacher. Talking about CA is as annoying covering mathematic subject. I wanna take pictures, damnit! But anyway let’s talk about CA….<br />Hang on, did I say CA? What CA? I couldn’t get this lens to show obvious fringe! I know the 21mm ZF is supposedly good at handling CA, but I didn’t know it would be that good.<br /><br />I shot the same object again as I did with my previous reviews. If you’ve been reading my other reviews you know that shooting this tight-clustered wire fence with strong light at the back will show CA very easily.<br />So I took some shots, came home, transferred the files and tried to look at the damage done… and I was so surprised by the amount of CA it shows. It’s almost negligible, and we’re talking about 100% view here. I am impressed.<br /><br />Look at the picture below, very minimal amount of fringing and you can pretty much say that it’s not visible. That’s wide open picture we’re talking about there. Very, very impressive. Now I know why this lens is famous.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLIUtfZ6Ww5yB6brDG4Y2bXsuu2rrJazhAtGq_7ZlTZFPcdIXtRk4D5J6MkVhVT1ojgkhT2bRRHhDJuwWf-qp7zw6KhgEa9RTNw3oJPVV92pN_R1Pz7oKEg63LUi9gMtFr0sVSeyb06s/s1600-h/Zeiss21-CA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLIUtfZ6Ww5yB6brDG4Y2bXsuu2rrJazhAtGq_7ZlTZFPcdIXtRk4D5J6MkVhVT1ojgkhT2bRRHhDJuwWf-qp7zw6KhgEa9RTNw3oJPVV92pN_R1Pz7oKEg63LUi9gMtFr0sVSeyb06s/s400/Zeiss21-CA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421738203797969394" border="0" /></a><br />I also shot back-lit twigs with bright light behind them; this also will bring CA like no tomorrow. Again, I was very surprised with the result. It is there, but very controlled.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kaJAR0OzUUXTBFzj0J-IGh-tN2oT15RDk8Gx9SNgEtLRtd-umJTUyoqYHwlyHd_HxvFCgEOeLuugjjzacVmZK1OV3O2REmpW0Tad2QgJGCG1NthBEitlqSeHNF6cfHWpwc-RVsa5x3M/s1600-h/Zeiss21-CA2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kaJAR0OzUUXTBFzj0J-IGh-tN2oT15RDk8Gx9SNgEtLRtd-umJTUyoqYHwlyHd_HxvFCgEOeLuugjjzacVmZK1OV3O2REmpW0Tad2QgJGCG1NthBEitlqSeHNF6cfHWpwc-RVsa5x3M/s400/Zeiss21-CA2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421738825170120290" border="0" /></a><br />If you relate this finding to real life shooting (not stress-test), that translates to the fact that you can use this lens wide open without having to worry about CA.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Sharpness</span><br /><br />Using my Fuji S5Pro, I don’t think I am entitled to talk about sharpness here. That’s because I read a post from a guy who uses D3X and even with his D3X shooting 21mm ZF wide open he still feel that the camera is still not showing the full extent of the lens' sharpness. Talking about sharpness of the Zeiss 21mm using my S5 is like a colour blind person talking about colour gamut of EIZO monitors. Or like Britney Spears talking about real singing. Or maybe Sarah Palin talking about global financial crisis.<br /><br />But regardless, the 21mm is (surprise surprise), very sharp across all edges even wide open.<br />Do you still really want me to show 100% crop and all that using my S5? Oh well, one picture should be enough. But you have to trust my word on this, this lens is very sharp wide open even on edges… some people said it’s actually sharper than Nikon 14-24mm wide open, but I’ve never done the test, so just take it as it is.<br /><br />For this I’m gonna use this underexposed picture to do some quick sharpness example. Why underexposed picture you ask? That’s because I suck at taking pictures alright? Are you happy now? Haha..<br />Actually I couldn’t find any other more suitable picture that was shot at infinity (I don’t do infinity too often). But I’ve looked at focus around edges from my other normal pictures, they are all very sharp across the edges. Regardless, I am just being lazy.<br />I have to admit the shot that I have below is very far from optimal (handheld, ISO400, and underexposed) but the details are still there (I think).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrmpmqER69wyfVGcxNAJd2UyKu9oZlbDWrV_vovSrEW2HIW-aH0HOv0Ey8BHx0h5qfeUcI7epsbdEkbV9OD9VuQSlbTPmXQe6LNYPoIS3vhEI_rWktivixNN09d0XkW9lJCAlnfXarwI/s1600-h/Zeiss21-SharpnessTest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 372px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrmpmqER69wyfVGcxNAJd2UyKu9oZlbDWrV_vovSrEW2HIW-aH0HOv0Ey8BHx0h5qfeUcI7epsbdEkbV9OD9VuQSlbTPmXQe6LNYPoIS3vhEI_rWktivixNN09d0XkW9lJCAlnfXarwI/s400/Zeiss21-SharpnessTest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421742383736164466" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Distortion</span><br /><br />Before reading this, you might have already heard about the mustache distortion from this Zeiss lens. As you know I really don’t want to do a distortion test because it’s difficult to do a very proper one and I don’t want to mislead people by giving out samples with lots of variables introduced in it.<br /><br />What I can tell you is, I don’t find distortion in my normal shooting. But then again, I am shooting DX and I don’t shoot perfect straight lines all that often.<br />But you will find it if you shoot a perfectly straight line just right on top or bottom of your frame, or vertical lines on both left and right edge of the frame. How often do you shoot those kind of objects, only you can answer that. I don’t. So distortion is really not an issue for me personally.<br /><br />Even if you do once in awhile shoot this kind of object and the picture turns out to be the best picture ever made by you, you can always fix it via post processing. Again, I wouldn’t use this as a reason not to get the lens. The pros far far outweigh this.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Vignetting</span><br /><br />I also don’t notice this in real life shooting. If you read other reviews, some mentioned that you can actually find vignetting from this lens wide open. I don’t notice this on my pictures, so I don’t know what the point is because I don’t spend more than a grand for a lens to use it to shoot charts or blank walls. Haven't heard people with FX complaining aboout vignetting either.<br /><br />By now you are probably thinking I only talk about the good side of the lens and don’t really want to talk about the negatives. I will talk about negatives if it can actually affect real life performance. So yeah, don’t let this bother you. Okay, distortion, vignetting, CA, all the topics that I don’t like are already out, phew. Let’s talk about something else.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Colour and Contrast</span><br /><br />Indoor or outdoor, they both show very good contrast even wide open. Colour wise, it’s typical Zeiss – warmish but with character.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIA3wbPIN8JMzi_jeV0MR09g6lByqVUbYaRtfy8YICOO3q3AZN6O8o-tC-v1_FalNiAqfE1m4GaNPdMP6YzaWmEsJOpuoIozo3adPdhUFyxgr9OpLsTtm60rx6JvFomBIFi2qg8BGTyM/s1600-h/Zeiss21-colourcontrastDAY.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIA3wbPIN8JMzi_jeV0MR09g6lByqVUbYaRtfy8YICOO3q3AZN6O8o-tC-v1_FalNiAqfE1m4GaNPdMP6YzaWmEsJOpuoIozo3adPdhUFyxgr9OpLsTtm60rx6JvFomBIFi2qg8BGTyM/s400/Zeiss21-colourcontrastDAY.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421744386128313874" border="0" /></a><br />Colour is pleasant as usual. Here are some of the colours straight from camera:<br />(But bear in mind that I am using S5 – it’s well known to have excellent colours straight from camera)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-o2DCeNnYwM8xMQtG9vT7zpCNaab9U_mFeh4NddlQW2OgHIUuI0KN5taGK_SIwEA7uLE5e8TAj3UOeEYSavxl2-vnNKlfpx2WKnP_toVehFvwtlszKMiVgL5cijbpWjNcKlmzDGTEz4/s1600-h/Zeiss21-colour1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-o2DCeNnYwM8xMQtG9vT7zpCNaab9U_mFeh4NddlQW2OgHIUuI0KN5taGK_SIwEA7uLE5e8TAj3UOeEYSavxl2-vnNKlfpx2WKnP_toVehFvwtlszKMiVgL5cijbpWjNcKlmzDGTEz4/s400/Zeiss21-colour1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421744673918910466" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglahe64ZTSIrr3wBsCJ01ruIwnFnzgLkF6HvwZ3yio9cQuAqzbhZ-9XgHIOXKhuU2cWh6jRXDacTdFwXmdV8bil75MLnwQQWRI76JIFZZ8yxMuNhUivbnn7IicaBd4QSLifnK7K_fLExo/s1600-h/Zeiss21-colour2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglahe64ZTSIrr3wBsCJ01ruIwnFnzgLkF6HvwZ3yio9cQuAqzbhZ-9XgHIOXKhuU2cWh6jRXDacTdFwXmdV8bil75MLnwQQWRI76JIFZZ8yxMuNhUivbnn7IicaBd4QSLifnK7K_fLExo/s400/Zeiss21-colour2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421744777885241794" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUYZNOEAq60rUueHRWPqtwiwb7-58OCga6qN6kvtKmCoQhpjhFYUUijpGLvXqqtEGBluZhwDRg8q-nPAippuKNSnq-bZIDbc0GjW90nwrndb_d6iyexC_DnVrllp651FJxr20pIDEluE/s1600-h/Zeiss21-colour3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipUYZNOEAq60rUueHRWPqtwiwb7-58OCga6qN6kvtKmCoQhpjhFYUUijpGLvXqqtEGBluZhwDRg8q-nPAippuKNSnq-bZIDbc0GjW90nwrndb_d6iyexC_DnVrllp651FJxr20pIDEluE/s400/Zeiss21-colour3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421744905057517170" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVQ0_v9ymJcXU8fLpud7KS1nbFHBV_mTIJCvC6K227q5TMFnQ_qnqNJrFrUhAVJlW5val0hhos_iR8TbYhatMU24LwTvddo69Osi1y1VQdOlqPekKaMRrYROS9WCT8icyJFrMzx4mhQs/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Colour4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVQ0_v9ymJcXU8fLpud7KS1nbFHBV_mTIJCvC6K227q5TMFnQ_qnqNJrFrUhAVJlW5val0hhos_iR8TbYhatMU24LwTvddo69Osi1y1VQdOlqPekKaMRrYROS9WCT8icyJFrMzx4mhQs/s400/Zeiss21-Colour4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421745549939782594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Bokeh / Background Blur</span><br /><br />Bokeh? Yes I know it’s a wide angle lens, and usually people don’t talk about bokeh in wide angle lens. But the lens is a 2.8 and can focus as close as 22cm; so I think we really should talk about its bokeh and background blur.<br />Bokeh as in point of lights maybe not as nice as say, Nikon 85mm f/1.4, but the background blur (the non-point of lights) and the transition between blur to non blur are excellent. Hard to make sense I know, but that's how I see it.<br /><br />I have a couple of sample pictures showing the point of lights. You can still see the donut rings but fortunately they can look better depending the way you shoot it, the focus, and the strength of the light source, etc...<br />Notice that even after it is well stopped down, the point of lights still quite circle-like, thanks to its nine bladed apertures. But for those of you are not very familiar with point of lights, please don’t look at my following pictures as the ‘set in stone’ look of the point of lights, because they can always change depending on so many factors. And the sample below is a rather harsh one.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1ulxT4GGk_qnyXa09LiERQqsIMJS08uFJIcIwXxDlwD5QDpVRsPUPKBlZooiRBtbxKujzAqgllfUbYwk6p9XOyG7a65a4baZf48APbelGkc71vdHGHifi44bImnd6VpautLXCMJSNPU/s1600-h/Zeiss21-PointofLights.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1ulxT4GGk_qnyXa09LiERQqsIMJS08uFJIcIwXxDlwD5QDpVRsPUPKBlZooiRBtbxKujzAqgllfUbYwk6p9XOyG7a65a4baZf48APbelGkc71vdHGHifi44bImnd6VpautLXCMJSNPU/s400/Zeiss21-PointofLights.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421746818032121474" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_qgXFpmnJyCVdMcC-OEP1KvyGS7bvsrG-YCh9GL-1aEEKbHVY7xBxMKLYQI8Lo7Od7USotWdxQgtARoWZachBPYwOfodjmzL9hNNVF0RtgE2MbxtZOHdlbKxbPM6irhVt-fHNXTOyU8/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Bokeh2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY_qgXFpmnJyCVdMcC-OEP1KvyGS7bvsrG-YCh9GL-1aEEKbHVY7xBxMKLYQI8Lo7Od7USotWdxQgtARoWZachBPYwOfodjmzL9hNNVF0RtgE2MbxtZOHdlbKxbPM6irhVt-fHNXTOyU8/s400/Zeiss21-Bokeh2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421747387011732114" border="0" /></a><br />If you shoot wide open, focusing on short distance, you do still find point of lights quite often in your images (especially Christmas time, haha…), but those point of lights are not going to be as apparent as shooting tele wide open, obviously. With wide angle, the light sources that will turn into point of lights will be the ones further away (obviously) hence under regular shooting, they won’t appear as often and won’t be as large most of the time.<br /><br />I personally think the rendering of point of lights is not really the lens’ strong suit, but I have to say that it can render background blur and its transition very nicely. Actually at the end of the review under sample pictures, there is one flower shot with a very nice background blur, the little details of the blurred flowers at the background are very nicely drawn.<br /><br />But in the mean time, here are several samples of the background blur. They are either focused at short or rather medium distance. The reason why I didn’t include pictures with focus at longer distance is because in that case, almost everything will be in focus already.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYY2wrSNjKLG6ZEP3hSGwd59KyXnaoXEI4KBpEHDurBkgtNlyFYmRSRVNxYg6skKs9D4cT3teSBRZdB23lKv2BsFv5tb7KUDQTT9nPcV2TC9JbmB3fzQu2wwdn-ZYs6pzFuVzitF8AoY/s1600-h/Zeiss21-closefocus1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYY2wrSNjKLG6ZEP3hSGwd59KyXnaoXEI4KBpEHDurBkgtNlyFYmRSRVNxYg6skKs9D4cT3teSBRZdB23lKv2BsFv5tb7KUDQTT9nPcV2TC9JbmB3fzQu2wwdn-ZYs6pzFuVzitF8AoY/s400/Zeiss21-closefocus1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421748159801871874" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRVBGyXYGFS1U3T0Bj1mYTUHvFAofH_GlDVYc9hQ0wy_5UM9CAioStxHsoFDEyCz_QJ83y5sr9bFO_tZo-44N-yEZ-lDwrN2gF26D7XXpAJ8i_ylAAhGm7vCVD6U-njEqGa1UZ6790oY/s1600-h/Zeiss21-closefocus2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfRVBGyXYGFS1U3T0Bj1mYTUHvFAofH_GlDVYc9hQ0wy_5UM9CAioStxHsoFDEyCz_QJ83y5sr9bFO_tZo-44N-yEZ-lDwrN2gF26D7XXpAJ8i_ylAAhGm7vCVD6U-njEqGa1UZ6790oY/s400/Zeiss21-closefocus2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421748254957554770" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY3rIz9kd-fe-8mTjP0myKLK0sWnFh7cvrXXb0rhKdTyl7X6VCdVKSzvxs-857pqzrnn5j9nXzI8C7KMufM6Kx4MpD0Jtl7xfgx_20cm2rOmTB9AwJTdTpxBX-o-j6nMWJkmlal7YOqs/s1600-h/Zeiss21-close3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGY3rIz9kd-fe-8mTjP0myKLK0sWnFh7cvrXXb0rhKdTyl7X6VCdVKSzvxs-857pqzrnn5j9nXzI8C7KMufM6Kx4MpD0Jtl7xfgx_20cm2rOmTB9AwJTdTpxBX-o-j6nMWJkmlal7YOqs/s400/Zeiss21-close3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421748408373359858" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayxzO7Jt-QnME5r5re4Fgdd0q2mjJExlgd42PzYRzFKCPG7oA2rPXbzZX2iDK07MYsCN7VRs9gGbFfeZwUP_eK2vmol_aiLeSrMMgt91JglwSQEwEOWitdATFg4jvUchPNg6tKMbHNnU/s1600-h/Zeiss21-chain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgayxzO7Jt-QnME5r5re4Fgdd0q2mjJExlgd42PzYRzFKCPG7oA2rPXbzZX2iDK07MYsCN7VRs9gGbFfeZwUP_eK2vmol_aiLeSrMMgt91JglwSQEwEOWitdATFg4jvUchPNg6tKMbHNnU/s400/Zeiss21-chain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421748531860524274" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37CRgfOrN48BPMhcgR0RHCCdtPqDP50jG2Y22-yEUlDiv7W_6nKLE4TDV3H1Zngdsvz6xeP5P5u-YoQmKKojw01mVo1NcTLvy1rIQmilufJGihnScFwP68Pdt7FAL2-e4oFBwoIoke1o/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Mediumclose2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi37CRgfOrN48BPMhcgR0RHCCdtPqDP50jG2Y22-yEUlDiv7W_6nKLE4TDV3H1Zngdsvz6xeP5P5u-YoQmKKojw01mVo1NcTLvy1rIQmilufJGihnScFwP68Pdt7FAL2-e4oFBwoIoke1o/s400/Zeiss21-Mediumclose2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421748619788366098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Lens Flare</span><br /><br />Unlike Nikon 14-24mm, flare is not an issue for this lens. I did several wide open shots without the lens hood, some of them shooting right at the sun, some of them with the bright sun shining from the top side corner, and the results were either I didn’t get any flare, or only a tiny bit of flare crept in to the picture. But maybe if I used the hood, there wouldn’t be flare at all…<br />If even after I pushed it and I still couldn’t get any meaningful flare, I can confidently say that you won’t be getting any flares from this lens even wide open under normal shooting, especially if you use the hood.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxW3qLW5JmiD7axrBsyHgGVDReB_usDBzqGx6bIK_L_Jq237vI8UtDD_LdVg7KdmK4q1tGIa_Kf7cjscICFWTlrDWAWyZobygdpO42fpEcyEcKfmAImv9Y4GAAESpvq8iPKd_uojXQHM/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flare1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKxW3qLW5JmiD7axrBsyHgGVDReB_usDBzqGx6bIK_L_Jq237vI8UtDD_LdVg7KdmK4q1tGIa_Kf7cjscICFWTlrDWAWyZobygdpO42fpEcyEcKfmAImv9Y4GAAESpvq8iPKd_uojXQHM/s400/Zeiss21-flare1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421749180657853554" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmNoPbDAhBrFj8ZFzHJQoL1RYD68MnCOeC4vwg9CDo1jXW68HTkPMoh1dy0rM_30HWZEQL71licpt_C9Cv3GDzQlUjZEMiQzwcY2XXPhNQ_Mcx5TR0JUl0RUinAAiUgpLpY1H-DeDh-M/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flare2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBmNoPbDAhBrFj8ZFzHJQoL1RYD68MnCOeC4vwg9CDo1jXW68HTkPMoh1dy0rM_30HWZEQL71licpt_C9Cv3GDzQlUjZEMiQzwcY2XXPhNQ_Mcx5TR0JUl0RUinAAiUgpLpY1H-DeDh-M/s400/Zeiss21-flare2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421749265953202610" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyAmk8EeGEAv0q0oK6CUkPLSkzFZWXfieAdVCVzYaEg94YXRPqgY8jJzI4mz2Hb1UYvSJFm6df8rxuUAvqDlYgVKboKBIQznEHQyratqyPm-FCq1Gu3ntnaqN9LZcXr59gMRvRAwfRYo/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flare3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyAmk8EeGEAv0q0oK6CUkPLSkzFZWXfieAdVCVzYaEg94YXRPqgY8jJzI4mz2Hb1UYvSJFm6df8rxuUAvqDlYgVKboKBIQznEHQyratqyPm-FCq1Gu3ntnaqN9LZcXr59gMRvRAwfRYo/s400/Zeiss21-flare3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421749384762110834" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohcJiqeet11NWQfsATbX5ggK1-d_hJdKUnTIlxf6S5HRPGIdqPTS8nmnDGr6_G8PYJ8WODpidORxkyUb_XQbnuKdjle7fO34NLd8tncSfsnJ_bgs4BHyxvo_5pjISCmbtJ7dByvvLc0o/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flare4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiohcJiqeet11NWQfsATbX5ggK1-d_hJdKUnTIlxf6S5HRPGIdqPTS8nmnDGr6_G8PYJ8WODpidORxkyUb_XQbnuKdjle7fO34NLd8tncSfsnJ_bgs4BHyxvo_5pjISCmbtJ7dByvvLc0o/s400/Zeiss21-flare4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421749762964513330" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Minimum Focus Distance</span><br /><br />According to the paper, the minimum focus distance is 22cm. It gets you very close to the object. Below is a rough approximation of the closest the lens can focus, just to give you an idea how close it can do.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3wxIa1mMkXvYn2GnVi1-ZfcsiVPqs_KRgfbsqvyim82yFzB103_q75QUOsUwQf02X8IiGlY3M5Qt-yQuxBZqYpM-3TnoU4V_EuMrXZ7YdTa1PtmcuXYyaXz_WMYn2L4kxzCZmhToZNI/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Minimumfocus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw3wxIa1mMkXvYn2GnVi1-ZfcsiVPqs_KRgfbsqvyim82yFzB103_q75QUOsUwQf02X8IiGlY3M5Qt-yQuxBZqYpM-3TnoU4V_EuMrXZ7YdTa1PtmcuXYyaXz_WMYn2L4kxzCZmhToZNI/s400/Zeiss21-Minimumfocus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421752519283854146" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I think that pretty much covered all the general lens characteristics as far as I can remember. I don’t actually have graph or chart for you guys this time. Oh okay, let’s just use the ones I got from Zeiss website instead.<br /><br />Here is the picture showing the elements – you guys most probably already seen this one anyway, but regardless, that’s some serious amount of glass cramped in one lens there. Actually on top of my head, I can’t quite recall any other prime lenses that have more elements than this Zeiss 21mm ZF – it’s really impressive if you think about it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice3fEI04RC_j3pFXdWrxyi-ZNAhmCUgJebtiyHLZDxqKpUmEK4oM31Hv8IE6_o2iY8kXNirwH4s0Md5PLZC5qAVXNI3LV5rxeUvnaJ980FahpLFSm5s1HWM-pS73UfIBdbOUSu2yvv24/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Elementpictures.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 221px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice3fEI04RC_j3pFXdWrxyi-ZNAhmCUgJebtiyHLZDxqKpUmEK4oM31Hv8IE6_o2iY8kXNirwH4s0Md5PLZC5qAVXNI3LV5rxeUvnaJ980FahpLFSm5s1HWM-pS73UfIBdbOUSu2yvv24/s400/Zeiss21-Elementpictures.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421750101501458866" border="0" /></a><br />Here are some graphs also taken from Zeiss website.<br />I’m not a big fan of graphs/charts, really. But it’s there if you want to read them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uXmpvzqIsXAby-3zoD_Qh1CQrUqYq-Norb5y6KalQGueXHcVGBhPoecg4j17Tdbzs7UBc06h0aRdqwya5XYmWxRCLpbxFy-GtVgd3HZUQXD_CnXf5nzjYHjTLyydFdZCbRqbtp50W4Y/s1600-h/Zeiss21-MTF.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1uXmpvzqIsXAby-3zoD_Qh1CQrUqYq-Norb5y6KalQGueXHcVGBhPoecg4j17Tdbzs7UBc06h0aRdqwya5XYmWxRCLpbxFy-GtVgd3HZUQXD_CnXf5nzjYHjTLyydFdZCbRqbtp50W4Y/s400/Zeiss21-MTF.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421750243995495762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">LENS HANDLING</span><br /><br />Handling is also one of the best points of this lens (or any other Carl Zeiss lenses in general). It has a generous size focus ring, and the size/weight is also nicely balanced.<br />Let’s start from the enlarged front part first. If you never handled the 21mm or 18mm before, you probably wonder if the enlarged front part actually makes things awkward while operating the lens.<br /><br />Surprisingly, that front enlarged part (which is non-moving part) is actually very handy in its own way. When you are framing the shot and ready to press the shutter, you can actually sort of lean some part of your fingers against the enlarged front to get additional stability.<br />The enlarged front also makes it easier for you to grab the lens because you can actually use it to help support the lens – it works sort of like the cross-guard of a sword when you are holding a sword.<br /><br />Next to the front part is the focus ring. In fact the focus ring covers most part of the body. The focus ring is actually not only the ridged part, but the smooth parts sandwiching the ridged part are also the focusing ring, so you can imagine how easy it is to focus using this lens.<br />The focus ring turns very smoothly and the focus throw is long enough for you to fine tune your focus. It is not as long as Zeiss 100mm of course, but that’s because the 100mm is a macro lens and a large part of the 100mm’s focus throw is concentrated around the macro part. You won’t find this kind of manual focus feel from current AF lenses.<br /><br />Next to the focus ring lies a small section that does not move. It is the one engraved with the scale to indicate your aperture. Next to it is the aperture ring itself. If you look at the picture below, the aperture ring is actually quite thin. I can imagine it would be hard to operate if it didn’t have that ridged part around the aperture ring.<br />Luckily it is still easy to turn around thanks to the raised part. The aperture ring clicks on every half step in-between aperture stops, so it allows ‘fine-tuning’ your aperture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtSWg_Bal4tAVc9x0A_yN6WxbkbGwuH9oaPGjytcR6AEdBN7qTWf0r8Llzr__EaRTYEktZCYzkF9VNbTp-2aK0YzP4k-uu8T_mbrqqmAFwLI4CtWSoqOKteeQiD0uuHzGfjjJwRYjUms/s1600-h/Zeiss21-barrelanatomy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtSWg_Bal4tAVc9x0A_yN6WxbkbGwuH9oaPGjytcR6AEdBN7qTWf0r8Llzr__EaRTYEktZCYzkF9VNbTp-2aK0YzP4k-uu8T_mbrqqmAFwLI4CtWSoqOKteeQiD0uuHzGfjjJwRYjUms/s400/Zeiss21-barrelanatomy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421751574142455394" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">LENS USAGE</span><br /><br />It’s a 21mm, sort of explains itself - you can use it for all-purpose photography. But of course not for fast moving action because it’s a manual focus lens.<br />The interesting part is this wide angle lens can focus very close so you can actually get quite interesting pseudo-macro shots with it. So naturally, this lens is actually very good for shooting flowers; but maybe not for shooting insects though.<br /><br />If you live in Ireland/Scotland (think of those places from Braveheart movie) this lens will be great to use there; eg. for the landscapes, grassy hills, etc… or those tall grass area from Gladiator movie, this lens will be great to shoot those. I am sure it will be handy to use when walking around the streets in a small town in Italy too.<br />Unfortunately we don’t have that kind of scenery here in Sydney. All we got is grumpy people everywhere and unreliable non-air conditioned trains. Oh actually you can use this lens to shoot trains in Sydney - if they actually come at all, haha...<br /><br />Anyway, you can use the lens for portrait too but it won’t have the same feel as longer lens though. But for travel (tourist-style pictures), eg: shooting your partner across the table at the restaurant, and all those kind of stuff, you can still do it without the lens messing up your partner’s face.<br />Well, come to think about it, actually you can still use it for making nice portraits in photo-journalistic kind of style. As with everything it all depends on how good you are at utilising the equipment you have.<br /><br />To conclude, you can use it to shoot portraits, your dogs, your cats, or brickwalls if you are that sort of person, it’s fun to use as long as you are not lazy with your feet and vision.<br />Here are some examples of miscellaneous things I shot. Sorry, I didn’t shoot real life people with reason already mentioned in previous reviews. I did shoot quite a few pictures of my partner, and they turned out really nice, but unfortunately I can't post them here.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">For Shooting Flowers (Processed)</span><br /><br />Great for taking flower pictures because you can get pretty close if you need to. The lens has nice colour rendering, so flower pictures look very sharp, contrasty and vibrant.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFVovr5SiGRJojuLI8gdJlEl5zOLIudLQdLrR0_kKo6tLb8VNU6t7OezKfKUtE3yXoW2gkAdsBVOfJPz7_EkjZOagQzf7nMtYNDpyGWGkZiM6qultcUGAAPpSBYaJ7q19XxMKFLpShyphenhyphenI/s1600-h/Zeiss21-lotusPetal.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFVovr5SiGRJojuLI8gdJlEl5zOLIudLQdLrR0_kKo6tLb8VNU6t7OezKfKUtE3yXoW2gkAdsBVOfJPz7_EkjZOagQzf7nMtYNDpyGWGkZiM6qultcUGAAPpSBYaJ7q19XxMKFLpShyphenhyphenI/s400/Zeiss21-lotusPetal.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421754847509221138" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxUeVw47GLlGRmyv2-wiRstFuVykjk3GlbCT77u1m_VcX7zzILQtkR7Pe4luH60lrGvmHbk56qSgrc8mcHKwWsbJVeADvi5NBJSdaJ_Lm_xX6yZFOYbHCBXRqPGybR13oYcPANYfRmvg/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Smallflowers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLxUeVw47GLlGRmyv2-wiRstFuVykjk3GlbCT77u1m_VcX7zzILQtkR7Pe4luH60lrGvmHbk56qSgrc8mcHKwWsbJVeADvi5NBJSdaJ_Lm_xX6yZFOYbHCBXRqPGybR13oYcPANYfRmvg/s400/Zeiss21-Smallflowers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421754980528284210" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">For Shooting Portraits (Slight post processing involved)</span><br /><br />Wide angle provides extra field of view in an interesting way, making it suitable for portrait that shows interaction and connection with the subject’s surroundings. (damn, I sound like a brochure….)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-zuq3ed4TV7-EHLQQyQBpNnWeRX4wjamzoMdlYUHdCMt3vmYxGVa7Xe4fPrSUl0e7e1a1QJVNV67InR-IINPCsmtru49oUthXVaPEp2d8ixliUvsW8dblpSpwIsCgIhHEAhlVLxlbsA/s1600-h/Zeiss21-portrait.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 309px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik-zuq3ed4TV7-EHLQQyQBpNnWeRX4wjamzoMdlYUHdCMt3vmYxGVa7Xe4fPrSUl0e7e1a1QJVNV67InR-IINPCsmtru49oUthXVaPEp2d8ixliUvsW8dblpSpwIsCgIhHEAhlVLxlbsA/s400/Zeiss21-portrait.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421755344169791250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">For Shooting Duck Pictures (Processed)</span><br /><br />Now you know this lens is wide, notice how close I framed this duck (I didn’t crop this picture). The duck literally posed for me. I am serious – ducks love decent lenses. You can see from the picture, I was literally pointing my lens right in front of its face and it didn’t really mind. I was actually worried that the duck would get up and peck my front element but luckily she stood very still and happily posed for me.<br />Last time I went there with my point & shoot camera, the ducks looked very disturbed. Not so with this Zeiss lens. Ducks, they have good taste, I tell you.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRthOzEwA5KiSKPjIBazo67P0ZJ6baUnWgU6oBKzgzgD-9DCxPQ225BFBY_eDgaomDHIUBqefs_drSSlEIwGLUebodfNBANPgcZzJ_vLesROVpusyTXz2W03y87M-VXHHv58uTlDHFG0/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Duckcloseup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRthOzEwA5KiSKPjIBazo67P0ZJ6baUnWgU6oBKzgzgD-9DCxPQ225BFBY_eDgaomDHIUBqefs_drSSlEIwGLUebodfNBANPgcZzJ_vLesROVpusyTXz2W03y87M-VXHHv58uTlDHFG0/s400/Zeiss21-Duckcloseup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421755957748973714" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">For “What the Heck??” Pictures (Unprocessed apart from cactus one)</span><br /><br />Yep, with this lens, you can shoot all sort of crappy things with no sense of aesthetics whatsoever but at least you are having fun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GnAzzT7IOxHMhHJgt27IPql5bXNfTW8UfS977nLvyardQNn8jfWnfSIxzWeC_bsP3De2tQk58VB0ssCjZ7gtScmp0cRA3viXxdYekVcIu_3Ufcg5fBLjwYw9ner1N43Cy4-_PehD52I/s1600-h/Zeiss21-ThatsAfish.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GnAzzT7IOxHMhHJgt27IPql5bXNfTW8UfS977nLvyardQNn8jfWnfSIxzWeC_bsP3De2tQk58VB0ssCjZ7gtScmp0cRA3viXxdYekVcIu_3Ufcg5fBLjwYw9ner1N43Cy4-_PehD52I/s400/Zeiss21-ThatsAfish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421756281593250514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfRJ48TKS9H7xxDho4KBDRd7hlF_2rphV7EQqaQpnRLjjSxXCmrri7XONsWlset5ax5ihyphenhyphenhnd3xHhZsrRshlOAlpSHPy8i2SZvyxcllidzXsAes9tIg17vZvak42GIEU9UvFditoZ7iY/s1600-h/Zeiss21-BUG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfRJ48TKS9H7xxDho4KBDRd7hlF_2rphV7EQqaQpnRLjjSxXCmrri7XONsWlset5ax5ihyphenhyphenhnd3xHhZsrRshlOAlpSHPy8i2SZvyxcllidzXsAes9tIg17vZvak42GIEU9UvFditoZ7iY/s400/Zeiss21-BUG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421756398120890354" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnyygf1zYRTBcpHR4xlIbkYqXi2X7rx7Q9-DOVT8523VLruIkHs16wV-hPxPwuru1IqPJTI5jN_L5eG9fvOqnI-dogQu9j18doYi6byopmPo9lPzCNPOnJO9KwseSEC94E3xoB4nV42s/s1600-h/Zeiss21-cactus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbnyygf1zYRTBcpHR4xlIbkYqXi2X7rx7Q9-DOVT8523VLruIkHs16wV-hPxPwuru1IqPJTI5jN_L5eG9fvOqnI-dogQu9j18doYi6byopmPo9lPzCNPOnJO9KwseSEC94E3xoB4nV42s/s400/Zeiss21-cactus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421756702045998274" border="0" /></a><br />Okay, enough meaningless pictures. Let’s talk about something else.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">WHY ZEISS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE HIGH-END CAMERA?</span><br /><br />For me personally, the reason why I am using this lens even though I don’t have top of the range FX DSLR is because, to me sharpness is not everything. I know this lens is crazy sharp and no way I can see the real sharpness using my S5, but at least I know my S5 will perform at its max.<br />And the main reasons why I have this lens are the colour, the way it renders objects and background, also the build and the feel you get from using the lens. And I don’t need top of the range camera to experience that.<br /><br />Speaking of which, it also relates to the reason why I think those ‘scientific tests and reviews’ with graphs and charts don’t really mean so much to me. Yes to some extent it can be useful, but real life photography is not about shooting boring measurement charts under lab lighting. It’s about taking your gears outside, shooting different three dimensional objects, shooting living and breathing objects under different lighting conditions, it’s about the feel you get from using the equipment, etc etc… Damn I sound like a hippie…<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">THE “OLD’ AND NEW .2 ZEISS</span><br /><br />If I got no choice and only .2 version was available at around $300 more expensive, I’d still purchase it without having to think twice. But as mentioned earlier in the review, I did actually have the option between old and new version one, and I chose old one because it’s cheaper and for me, it doesn’t really matter if the lens is with or without chip. Well, the good thing with chip is, the lens now can actually communicate with the camera and able to send the actual information to the camera. This is important to some people, but for me, not really a big deal.<br /><br />But in my case, apart from being able to save $300 or so, it will also be awkward if I have to set aperture manually via aperture ring with my Zeiss 100mm but with 21mm I have to use my camera’s front wheel dial. And I actually prefer setting it manually using aperture ring anyway.<br /><br />In case the old ones have been phased out by the time you’re ready to make the purchase, I would still suggest you not to be discouraged by the price increase because even with the new price, this is still one impressive lens and it’s still definitely worth it. As of the time I am writing this review, there is no similarly or lower-priced lens out there that can perform as good as this Distagon. Well the other Zeiss offerings are good (28 or 35mm) but they are not 21mm.<br /><br />If you’re wondering whether to get this Zeiss or Nikon 14-24mm, only you can answer that because they are actually very different lenses and suit very different type of shooter. I know I would have great fun with Nikon 14-24mm, but the lens is too big for me and I like shooting manually using a solid all-mechanical lens (for the reason mentioned in my Zeiss 100mm review), and I like Zeiss’ rendering better.<br />Some people might prefer 14-24mm, some might prefer this Zeiss - it's all about understanding the lens (knowing what's good about them, and whether you can accept the shortcomings) and matching your shooting style with the lens based from the information you have.<br /><br />But if you insist on getting the ‘old’ one but a bit irked by the fact that your camera will always display your Zeiss 21mm as “20mm”, and this makes you embarrassed to share your EXIF data with other people, well don’t worry – I have a solution for you.<br />Like me, you can always photoshop the EXIF from 20mm into 21mm quite easily. See the example below. Nobody will notice that you have the ‘old’ Zeiss or be suspicious of your EXIF.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjtBpO9GT1M33AJzltawfrdrJnLXaglbctH9rxImfoi4nmONHUT03DguRHGZFhnC09FPKrRuu0nlC9hyUfIsbsi-PjXplsd25klDjflMHBvy2KMmxOh2BveDFXf31NaYqIC-QaMIAQTg/s1600-h/Zeiss21-EXIF.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjtBpO9GT1M33AJzltawfrdrJnLXaglbctH9rxImfoi4nmONHUT03DguRHGZFhnC09FPKrRuu0nlC9hyUfIsbsi-PjXplsd25klDjflMHBvy2KMmxOh2BveDFXf31NaYqIC-QaMIAQTg/s400/Zeiss21-EXIF.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421760225525505794" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">THE GOOD AND THE BAD</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">The Good</span><br /><br />- Impressive CA performance<br />- Highly resistant to flaring<br />- Very vibrant colours and contrasty<br />- Super sharp across the edges even wide open<br />- Very nice rendering of background blur (not point of lights) and blur transition (this is subjective)<br />- Built for real manual focus work<br />- Also built to last, construction is very solid – as long as you don’t abuse it, it will probably last longer than you<br />- It’s a Zeiss – cool people use Zeiss lenses<br />- And it’s a cool Zeiss lens because of the interesting look<br />- The box has a holographic sticker on it<br />- 9 bladed apertures – so stopped down point of lights look more round<br />- You can still use filter if you’re a filter guy<br />- Size and weight – not as big as some other fast wide lenses out there and the lens is very well balanced<br />- Lens is manually inspected by human before leaving the factory<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">The Bad</span><br /><br />- Lens cap suck – might want to get third party one to replace the original<br />- Distortion? But all wide angles have distortion anyway. But if you desperately need to fix the distortion, the uneven distortion might be harder to fix.<br />- Point of lights still show outer rings<br />- If you bought this lens, your partner might ask you to sleep on the couch<br />- Lens is on the pricey side but fully justified by its built and performance<br />- Not the widest lens – can be good or bad depending on what you shoot more often and your style of shooting<br />- Shows as 20mm under EXIF (remember, photoshop it!)<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">FINAL THOUGHTS</span><br /><br />This Zeiss 21mm and the 100mm are the two lenses that I desire most from the whole Zeiss line-up. I think my impression on this particular Zeiss 21mm is very identical to my impression of Zeiss 100mm f/2. When you hold them, they both will make you feel like taking pictures and they let you experience the intimate side of photography, while at the same time delivering superb results.<br /><br />If you are an old-school film shooter, you will feel right at home with this sort of lens. And the ducks seem to like this lens too. But this lens is probably not for spoiled users who only like auto this and VR that. And if you are one of those who keep ranting why Nikon hasn’t got a VRII-based AFS wide angle lens, don’t bother with this lens, seriously.<br /><br />But anyway, I am afraid I won’t be getting any more Zeiss lenses (at least at this stage) because the other focal length offerings are too similar to my current lenses collection at the moment. But who knows I might sell my other lenses and get the Zeiss version instead - only time can tell.<br /><br />So, til my next review, happy shooting and goodluck convincing the other half to let you buy the lens! <span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">PS</span> – If you liked my review and think that it can benefit other fellow photographers (no I'm not asking for donation), please feel free to link it to your website or posts because I actually made a huge mistake when I started this blog – I stupidly named it as “Tokina 11-16mm”, so this review might be harder for people to find when they type in the keyword search.<br /><br />I also tried registering it to Google index so that it will appear when people search for eg. Zeiss 21mm review but I might be doing it wrong. So if you are familiar with that indexing thing, please help me and try indexing it for me – that’d be awesome, thanks.<br /><br />Oh and below are some of the final product of images taken with the lens. I only went out a few times with the lens, so not many pictures yet (the picture that shows the 21mm ZF itself was not taken with the 21mm ZF of course…)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Thanks again for reading the review!<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHZ4ZtsVGwTKaYm6uYjnzrksZE2yxoxb3s9O_i_s411TY9ZfdaS_WJzMRFRfPqB8UsexTslYQqYsosHP5gXEzRPPAcVAFPstsTyFDfqqcoEyQdEZcTLzoY4ve74j7hwXjGDPZqmjYYYU/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Prod.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiHZ4ZtsVGwTKaYm6uYjnzrksZE2yxoxb3s9O_i_s411TY9ZfdaS_WJzMRFRfPqB8UsexTslYQqYsosHP5gXEzRPPAcVAFPstsTyFDfqqcoEyQdEZcTLzoY4ve74j7hwXjGDPZqmjYYYU/s400/Zeiss21-Prod.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421762480004398162" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Hq_oBqsCyDi5lsrQ3YN_ewLdu1dqoqiwtbtPQk6wYieCmAHduG1PSV7B_Eev2HT9BIP-BtNq1pCKkGhYxtjWEGV7qMDEPZ7dyVO8owf3fH-k2K0icFgN6jrysUaG-nPTvC5eB6BdQbs/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Fujibody.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Hq_oBqsCyDi5lsrQ3YN_ewLdu1dqoqiwtbtPQk6wYieCmAHduG1PSV7B_Eev2HT9BIP-BtNq1pCKkGhYxtjWEGV7qMDEPZ7dyVO8owf3fH-k2K0icFgN6jrysUaG-nPTvC5eB6BdQbs/s400/Zeiss21-Fujibody.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421762601789927538" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYfL9u1SVJPAIlBIYmUjX8eUYRIizREgjCPoqw4z2Vne65m0rOzzByirmNOwaaTFVyLZhRTmBOOKqre_hRBRUD6oKj2Qy2YlbADlevZA6pXrPSjLuWDhMyweY6ku9wCm-9r3WwwB8UfrI/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flowercloseup.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYfL9u1SVJPAIlBIYmUjX8eUYRIizREgjCPoqw4z2Vne65m0rOzzByirmNOwaaTFVyLZhRTmBOOKqre_hRBRUD6oKj2Qy2YlbADlevZA6pXrPSjLuWDhMyweY6ku9wCm-9r3WwwB8UfrI/s400/Zeiss21-flowercloseup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421762907402203826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw1VDntqAfF1CfavApdRPqjc2aL35WCEDYEKW7JVO8iEK8xet1FMKHbbAtN3fjRDrlio2DPUBS9qeAQ-R0C3k6Ju0WKwRewDZy-_0uPJAJU5Mw2-Ui9ZOP1IYUzO9RPlrp6qMtSmXAQw/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Dew.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw1VDntqAfF1CfavApdRPqjc2aL35WCEDYEKW7JVO8iEK8xet1FMKHbbAtN3fjRDrlio2DPUBS9qeAQ-R0C3k6Ju0WKwRewDZy-_0uPJAJU5Mw2-Ui9ZOP1IYUzO9RPlrp6qMtSmXAQw/s400/Zeiss21-Dew.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421763013597072130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpIjWxJoq1g2yI7WpUWYc914aulpjwHeBJp1WlZB2BPGq83grawKtAmUBcT6VFIzXpgcDEtaQyyOkVfRJYaCkkKICc1GoV0sbK8jlEC188sx9l_JETBJo3N-vwrO7AJ7RFBPKeCSKAho/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Steps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimpIjWxJoq1g2yI7WpUWYc914aulpjwHeBJp1WlZB2BPGq83grawKtAmUBcT6VFIzXpgcDEtaQyyOkVfRJYaCkkKICc1GoV0sbK8jlEC188sx9l_JETBJo3N-vwrO7AJ7RFBPKeCSKAho/s400/Zeiss21-Steps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421763137318977202" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgEbC7BWc5yCRHiaOitjqrGd-p7ZF8kF24ugTJYPdiQs_-0SYJHwBDAPgWGKxhwhFE9WgFtjlWfhXeCL4B-u8YXFdCd_Yn8Myd8R9AcJswRWzn29NjjiogYBqiBp3tVu7hbUeO366bTRU/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Lotus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 324px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrzUM2rXX96SEaypV39vSCMv2lbm-EAxK6osBOj5LF0mkmpl6OEoU4-GxQD2P8gXNLQ3BWyUSBW0V1yl78RtFuVLO2R-r50DSxSOCYgUYGuq3u-ypM61hgEkhu1-y88j4QATMu-Hm5ygw/s400/Zeiss21-door.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421764035811292498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnwgf8hnTEQzXPI1TypuH91_x7aHyAq_xCaN2TBBM46Gw6qiW09rKtLKfX4cE9ac8yNsyBAqPFKzP15KmHr1yPwduB6NXaIOUPgfoU8T9cExuBEubaGEHzwpIom6kyOiwO4BJ68BpjyA/s1600-h/Zeiss21-flowerBW.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnwgf8hnTEQzXPI1TypuH91_x7aHyAq_xCaN2TBBM46Gw6qiW09rKtLKfX4cE9ac8yNsyBAqPFKzP15KmHr1yPwduB6NXaIOUPgfoU8T9cExuBEubaGEHzwpIom6kyOiwO4BJ68BpjyA/s400/Zeiss21-flowerBW.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421764169565003426" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzPNnDeo71f5tPgEVEf73Al3vI3hQ5Lc9Ga8iU7NgS3f61JxgOvV4xX9-x5efPU-q2-QxsAhsuatEf-X_swpwWA4qBiItLD39dfI49Y5lMtFL2S1QXWDIySbEYhVSl7YsooHx_gsm-3Y/s1600-h/Zeiss21-pavement.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzPNnDeo71f5tPgEVEf73Al3vI3hQ5Lc9Ga8iU7NgS3f61JxgOvV4xX9-x5efPU-q2-QxsAhsuatEf-X_swpwWA4qBiItLD39dfI49Y5lMtFL2S1QXWDIySbEYhVSl7YsooHx_gsm-3Y/s400/Zeiss21-pavement.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421764291374361602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLyokYA1GqJ_OAWwa-FWwjTHAmDZAfUUf0rAmhJnyc-3JQJGsUEkeGm_WPytsW3Njz_KxcWaExgjOUk2cbbTRcrLqwCObY4RFKSNCW_v8AGfGSY26TokBJk4gHaOeyLscxm0Lh-4DuMmY/s1600-h/Zeiss21-Lotus2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLyokYA1GqJ_OAWwa-FWwjTHAmDZAfUUf0rAmhJnyc-3JQJGsUEkeGm_WPytsW3Njz_KxcWaExgjOUk2cbbTRcrLqwCObY4RFKSNCW_v8AGfGSY26TokBJk4gHaOeyLscxm0Lh-4DuMmY/s400/Zeiss21-Lotus2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421764482506849490" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>Albiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12319159901583891752noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348902629087457916.post-62349698056319219722009-11-29T22:10:00.056+11:002009-11-30T00:37:59.900+11:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">NIKON 35mm F/2 AF-D</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);"> REVIEW</span><br /></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlD1BnuMe0uNbEKOAW2qC8Iis8cl2DPrLKkInX57Sdf0F8RK3IAaBM8VtvMV24ZO3iXoOhm3SmH4jKccFaiRM4q-rHH4t9kt-8Ixnwxl81xzU4D2mq1rCB6kIJWVvxDQ6EQbnFTVEZyU/s1600/Nikon35mm-heading.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 317px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlD1BnuMe0uNbEKOAW2qC8Iis8cl2DPrLKkInX57Sdf0F8RK3IAaBM8VtvMV24ZO3iXoOhm3SmH4jKccFaiRM4q-rHH4t9kt-8Ixnwxl81xzU4D2mq1rCB6kIJWVvxDQ6EQbnFTVEZyU/s400/Nikon35mm-heading.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409485485269626754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">SPECIFICATIONS</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Maximum/Minimum Aperture:</span> f/2 to f/22<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Maximum Angle of View (DX):</span> 62<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Maximum Reproduction Ratio:</span> 1:4.2<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Lens:</span> 6 Elements, 5 groups<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Aperture Blades:</span> 7<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Compatible Format:</span> FX and DX<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Minimum Focusing Distance: 25cm</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Filter Size:</span> 52mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Lens Dimensions:</span> 65x44.5mm (diameter x length)<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Weight:</span> 205 grams<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Price:</span> Approx. US$ 360<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">DISCLAIMER</span><br /><br />My review is from my point of view only. My equipments and shooting method are not the most controlled, and the review was written based from the impression I get from my everyday usage.<br />I wrote a more detailed disclaimer under my Zeiss 100mm review, so you should read the disclaimer there if you want to know what my shooting methods are (and what the flaws are).<br /><br />And like mentioned before, the website is auto minimising the pictures into lower quality thumbnails, so click on the pictures and the click the pictures again (if they're larger ones) to fully expand them so you can see the proper size in original quality.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">FOREWORD</span><br /><br />A little background on why I got the lens…<br />After I acquired the 100mm, I feel that I won’t be using my Nikon 85mm f/1.4 that much anymore because I simply much prefer the optical quality of the 100mm compared to the 85mm.<br />I know the 85mm will work better in low light, but for low light, I can cover that with my 50mm f/1.2. So deep down I know that 85mm won't be going out with me all that often anymore.<br />After a quick discussion with the 85mm (yes, I talk to my lenses), we agreed on letting it go.<br />The discussion went pretty much like this:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 255);">Me:</span> So Nikon 85mm, I’m afraid we need to talk<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm:</span> I knew this day would come; recently you’ve been obsessed with that hot German oh-look-at-me-im-so-solid lens...<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Me:</span> </span>It’s not like what you think<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm: </span>Yes it is.<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Me:</span> But it’s not you, it’s me.<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm:</span> Do you think I am really that stupid, falling into cliché like that? What sort of cliché you wanna say next? Nikon holy trinity? 50mm 1.8 is the best bang for your buck lens? By the way, of course it’s you. You’re the one who’s bloody selling me out….<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Me:</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"> </span> Yeah okay okay.. so you know this is coming so I’m giving you two options; which one you prefer: sitting in a box unused, maybe just once in awhile or… I’ll sell you to someone who can appreciate you more and he will take you out more often?<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm: </span>Just sell me, I understand.<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">Carl Zeiss Jena: </span>Um, excuse me guys... but I think I'm also always in the box recently....<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Me:</span> Shut up you Carl Zeiss Jena. That's what y0u'll get for not being able to focus to infinity... Anyway Nikon 85mm, are you sure?<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm:</span> Yes I don’t mind. It’s perfectly okay. <span style="font-size:78%;">(Plus you can’t take pics worth shit anyway...)</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Me:</span> Did you say something?<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 255);">Nikon 85mm:</span> Nothing, nevermind.<br /><br />So… after we reached an agreement, I decided to sell the Nikon 85mm. It is still one of my favourite lenses, and letting 85mm go is going to hurt me. I thought about getting a puppy but it will crap on the carpet so I decided to just get another lens to curb my loss instead.<br /><br />I got ultra wide angle covered, tele is also covered with my Ais prime, normal zoom is relatively covered, so does 50mm range, macro too, so I decided to get something in the range of 20mm to 35mm for practical use.<br /><br />Some of the lenses that came to my mind were:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">- Zeiss 25mm f/2.8: </span>I know this is a very nice lens and MF just like they way I like it, but to be honest it is a tad expensive for me at this stage and my last two lens purchases had been MF lenses, so I thought I’d get an AF for a change and to have something practical when I feel lazy and just want to have something quick and simple. If I were to get proper WA, I'd probably get the CZ 18mm anyway.<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">- Tokina 35mm f/2.8: </span>The price is right, but I don’t really need another macro lens and it’s a DX lens, so I skipped this because I plan to get an FX body in the future.<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">- Voigtlander Color Scopar 20mm f/3.5:</span> I don’t want to pay US$550 for a UV filter… What? It’s actually a lens? That thin? Oh I beg you pardon.. Seriously though, I’m sure it’s an interesting lens, and I really wanna try it, but it’s not interesting enough for me to part with $550. Maybe if it was $300…<br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 153);">- Nikon 35mm f/1.8 AFS: </span>Again, it’s a DX lens but the f/2 looks more solid and it has a distance window. Everybody loves distance windows.<br /><br />I was also thinking about Nikon’s 20mm and 28mm, but from what I studied, I think the 35mm is the most suitable one for me. It performs very well and it’s relatively cheap. So I decided to get the Nikon 35mm f/2 from our local grey market shop.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">WHAT’S IN THE BOX</span><br /><br />The box is quite small. Inside you will find the manual (and 1 more paper can’t remember what it was) and the lens stored in a Styrofoam box. There is no lens pouch or even a lens hood. I honestly would rather have a lens hood included and pay $10 extra than having to buy it separately. I am not sure why it’s not included in the package. Now I had to purchase the hood by myself.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Wr5WuGowYTsYaJxZVXAvms6zyduX2VlHti72gHvfsc7pKrnT7tjoen_KApw8icQtiXjeyGMFt62bRZLUTqiySw7Mv2fejDIjBSWNULrFXKyXlblBBnWhtOWw5HNUlUnfA66f_3Ufj_U/s1600/Nikon35mm-retailbox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 323px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Wr5WuGowYTsYaJxZVXAvms6zyduX2VlHti72gHvfsc7pKrnT7tjoen_KApw8icQtiXjeyGMFt62bRZLUTqiySw7Mv2fejDIjBSWNULrFXKyXlblBBnWhtOWw5HNUlUnfA66f_3Ufj_U/s400/Nikon35mm-retailbox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409494301821547618" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Nothing really special packaging-wise, but it always feels good to open a new lens packaging, even if it’s not an expensive one.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">EXTERIOR</span><br /><br />A shot of the lens:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkAqtqmuoGnIXnjr8LpBL9EfcB74xdwOJX8w_21bbankp5WJQHwjdkAFiro89_4NcP6_gxrg5ZIrfj8CQbikLth9Yzz_RLMar6c-oHLohuvwlhH6iqtMzsC6NAKo0uxTB3jKkJCk8ls4/s1600/Nikon35mm-S5pro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNkAqtqmuoGnIXnjr8LpBL9EfcB74xdwOJX8w_21bbankp5WJQHwjdkAFiro89_4NcP6_gxrg5ZIrfj8CQbikLth9Yzz_RLMar6c-oHLohuvwlhH6iqtMzsC6NAKo0uxTB3jKkJCk8ls4/s400/Nikon35mm-S5pro.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409511775176837874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Upon picking it up, you will realise how light the lens is, especially if you are used to using metal-bodied lenses. Although I am all for metal lenses, but in this case I don’t really mind because my purpose for this lens is for convenient, casual outings.<br /><br />It has plastic (polycarbonate?) body, but it doesn’t feel crappy like 18-55mm kit lens. It also has rubberised manual focusing ring for more comfortable grip. Manual focusing is doable with this lens, and using it manually is not as terrible as what I expected. It’s not as smooth as Ai/Ais lenses for sure, but it’s still comfortable to use (surprisingly). From the picture below you can see the little aperture lock too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTihbRc3wE_wYZqWpOXHjeUqT_KDhCix7FOmxr-4-CrpcX1ITG7F31nlIc7D74T99TdLornkXOMihR6Jo_g38E4PzC4kTVx-Mrg3Hqccxq-JaVGGmw6yYORj_2reLL6PVuC7PpR6ZUOg/s1600/Nikon35mm-Side.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTihbRc3wE_wYZqWpOXHjeUqT_KDhCix7FOmxr-4-CrpcX1ITG7F31nlIc7D74T99TdLornkXOMihR6Jo_g38E4PzC4kTVx-Mrg3Hqccxq-JaVGGmw6yYORj_2reLL6PVuC7PpR6ZUOg/s400/Nikon35mm-Side.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409495240061690082" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The mount is made of metal, and the rear optic is located quite forward, so be careful when handling the mount without the rear cap.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjScyCpC6fYMQgcBlrw1zg25X2K-_Ed3DsGy0l0Igm3EDG508fEgxOGoc6ECxEuM27AoBcgMS-gNQ-X3b6vtEXVOb1HLSqwlbqY_0tC6_yPhky6prPRuHEhRvBYrbN0kPNYj_0ifdpXs7s/s1600/Nikon35mm-metalmount.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjScyCpC6fYMQgcBlrw1zg25X2K-_Ed3DsGy0l0Igm3EDG508fEgxOGoc6ECxEuM27AoBcgMS-gNQ-X3b6vtEXVOb1HLSqwlbqY_0tC6_yPhky6prPRuHEhRvBYrbN0kPNYj_0ifdpXs7s/s400/Nikon35mm-metalmount.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409495860547452210" border="0" /></a><br />Unfortunately the filter thread is not made from metal – looks like it’s made of some sort of cost-saving material… but I haven’t read anyone saying that the filter thread chipped, so it must be pretty durable.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7hUVg42EjIcdJ50LOeJfkoMQVaKpV8oUeiBL5Pi18GzJy3dssLBza8KNjLJn7Hp-M6iO5IEP0uPOlcqnAp5_7iHZKwyTWPo83yPq37AyIkRI2tcnTtKZ8_QvzHlviWZf3uglj7eLTEs/s1600/Nikon35mm-opencap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7hUVg42EjIcdJ50LOeJfkoMQVaKpV8oUeiBL5Pi18GzJy3dssLBza8KNjLJn7Hp-M6iO5IEP0uPOlcqnAp5_7iHZKwyTWPo83yPq37AyIkRI2tcnTtKZ8_QvzHlviWZf3uglj7eLTEs/s400/Nikon35mm-opencap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409496193024864882" border="0" /></a><br /><br />As you can see from the picture above, the front element is slightly recessed but the element itself is a bit bulbous, so you have to be careful with your fingers when handling the lens.<br />At the back of the lens, “Made in Japan” is printed on the barrel and serial numbers are slightly out of view, printed in small font in between the lens mount and aperture ring.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpIVimVGorrONV0tuv7oJLUBHtjI2TIfpO7ixlrWaM-qFOEBdtmjSsqN2nkZQDZD8vagY2zyY6NuOM59FlnIjIJ4vTJqcLPzBSk2OMHMDMycCOWSVvlTE4BVu-LhDbN8mLTI-2x9W6xw/s1600/Nikon35mm-madeinjapan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 305px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpIVimVGorrONV0tuv7oJLUBHtjI2TIfpO7ixlrWaM-qFOEBdtmjSsqN2nkZQDZD8vagY2zyY6NuOM59FlnIjIJ4vTJqcLPzBSk2OMHMDMycCOWSVvlTE4BVu-LhDbN8mLTI-2x9W6xw/s400/Nikon35mm-madeinjapan.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409498086294169202" border="0" /></a><br />A little side note about the lens' build, I've read that a few years ago, certain batch of the lens has this oil leak problem making the aperture blades sticky. Nikon must have fixed this problem a long time ago because I haven't read anyone got this problem from recent years.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">HANDLING</span><br /><br />The AF is fast enough when used with center focus point and the ones close to it. It can even focus accurately in very dark area. Of course it can still hunt at times, but this usually happen when you use the AF points on the extreme edges of your camera’s focus points (eg. The very far right/left ones). And this I think is also depending on your camera model.<br />The focusing is not that noisy, maybe because there is less mass to move around?<br /><br />For manual focus, I mentioned before that it is very usable. Maybe it could’ve been better with a bit longer focus throw, or more dampened smooth rotation, but considering it’s an AF lens by nature, I will say the MF is pretty good.<br /><br />The only thing that annoys me in terms of handling is since the lens is rather short, it doesn’t provide you with that much of a grip-space on your left holding hand when you are taking pictures. And you have to be careful not to hold the lens too far at the front part because that’s where the focusing ring is. Occasionally I’d accidentally hold the focusing ring preventing the AF rotation to work.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">OPTICS</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Colour and Contrast</span><br /><br />Some people mentioned that the lens was soft and not contrasty wide open. I am not sure if they’re talking about the older version or even the same lens. I found none of the softness or contrast issue with this lens.<br />Definitely good even at f/2. Stopped down to f/2.8, the colours pop, I didn’t even bother to do the test to prove from 2.8 onwards.<br />The picture below consists of 2 shots, one taken indoor and the other one outdoor, both taken at f/2 and they’re resized samples, I didn’t alter the colour and contrast. If you still call that not contrasty, I think we really have a completely different perception of what a real contrast is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kJn0VkOQYJuG3DtC2qJ1njwzuFv7BFG3AQkM4zX1LVWFm-tSkTQ7eWTwSFtEeofolvgHqaD5TL2N5_gtSkVDn1LEnIruTyS4XK8Za8ObpHPuCObjr3mXgSffffxc6Dt8bmss3PnHmr4/s1600/Nikon35mm-contrast.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 332px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kJn0VkOQYJuG3DtC2qJ1njwzuFv7BFG3AQkM4zX1LVWFm-tSkTQ7eWTwSFtEeofolvgHqaD5TL2N5_gtSkVDn1LEnIruTyS4XK8Za8ObpHPuCObjr3mXgSffffxc6Dt8bmss3PnHmr4/s400/Nikon35mm-contrast.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409500059871929746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Sharpness</span><br /><br />Here we also have two different set of opinions, some people say it’s bad until you stop down to f/5.6, some people say it’s good even at f/2. I’m from the latter camp.<br /><br />Center sharpness is definitely good at f/2. Corner sharpness? Well, it’s not a macro lens, but I believe that for the intended use of the lens, it is definitely sharp enough. Have a look at some pictures below to determine yourself how sharp it is. Apologies for being too lazy to do a full scale sharpness test.<br />** remember I did this handheld. And at higher ISO my S5 won’t resolve that much details. But if it looks alright even with my S5, it should look even better with superior cameras.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YbOmdBaTvSIsNwpVsE0FI-FTyi5O-msZJRE5f_d_7Dw5yMhJe_A06dk4S_t6KjLla-goO38mjzpvxKxTVwJKXCD1HjkHiJLVhoNyDDWX9J-7_Lmw_-IRdOSwApk2zrhWNTc7R_V88PM/s1600/Nikon35mm-leftcorner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8YbOmdBaTvSIsNwpVsE0FI-FTyi5O-msZJRE5f_d_7Dw5yMhJe_A06dk4S_t6KjLla-goO38mjzpvxKxTVwJKXCD1HjkHiJLVhoNyDDWX9J-7_Lmw_-IRdOSwApk2zrhWNTc7R_V88PM/s400/Nikon35mm-leftcorner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409500996886274690" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqyU_PUruVZ72qUszIBrP9NFzCSSuwKzKlBVbdYEWX8XdGiEmw7o4eG8AOa8btDRYUv1sYy0FH-ypD7JSx-rsAQ3e6X-jwY4r6okfdCihVvzmuA7p79VRkXBoBghmU-ZwdySAWRtoNnM/s1600/Nikon35mm-sidesharpness.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheqyU_PUruVZ72qUszIBrP9NFzCSSuwKzKlBVbdYEWX8XdGiEmw7o4eG8AOa8btDRYUv1sYy0FH-ypD7JSx-rsAQ3e6X-jwY4r6okfdCihVvzmuA7p79VRkXBoBghmU-ZwdySAWRtoNnM/s400/Nikon35mm-sidesharpness.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409501107548471746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Stopped down to f/2.8, it is very sharp. At f/8, it’s stupid sharp. Really stoopid sharp… I am glad I didn’t listen to those that said the lens was soft.<br /><br />If you are wondering about sharpness with FX cameras, I haven’t tested this with FX yet. But again, I also found different opinions from FX owners. Some says it’s great with D700/D3, some says so so….<br />I guess if you need to know how it works with FX, you just need to try it yourself. But with DX, definitely good enough, unless you are primarily interested in landscape and you need to get all the possible details from all edges. But even then, landscape shooters usually shoot stopped down, and with this lens, as I mentioned, it’s stoopid sharp at f/8.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">Flare Resistance</span><br /><br />I can’t really do an exact flare measurement, but for me, if I go out with this lens and use it on bright daylight and come home with no flare smears everywhere, I consider it to be very good. I went out twice with the lens for the last 2 weeks, and I didn’t see any flare problem. Mind you that I didn’t even use a hood too.<br />My HN-3 lens hood is still making its way here to Australia from some random eBay seller in Hongkong. Damn it’s almost 2 weeks already, where is my lens hood… Usually they arrive in a week or less… I guess this is what you’ll get when the postage cost is free … anyway… picture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFLXlJgS0eilA9ba5TmNxr6U_cgIoxGOohzpvo-FqMd2-V4PtGPDaz64_1w-aaw9wrA5zUeQtE6y-HjtXL0owtLCWKRUBf5owcuP4afdxh5DCN5Lv9hzIv3rMuIRgTRkkXzB9BexD4Hk/s1600/Nikon35mm-flare.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfFLXlJgS0eilA9ba5TmNxr6U_cgIoxGOohzpvo-FqMd2-V4PtGPDaz64_1w-aaw9wrA5zUeQtE6y-HjtXL0owtLCWKRUBf5owcuP4afdxh5DCN5Lv9hzIv3rMuIRgTRkkXzB9BexD4Hk/s400/Nikon35mm-flare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409501753405921778" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Vignetting</span><br /><br />I don’t notice its presence in my shots. So must be negligible. The only time I see it is when I shoot a plain white wall, you can see a tad of vignetting around the corners. I only did that once just to check it for you guys. I felt so dirty afterward. Don’t make me shoot white walls/brick walls again.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Fringing</span><br /><br />Wide open up until say, f/4, this lens is going to give you purple fringing in high contrast areas, just like any other lenses. The picture below shows the worst scenario. Remember that this is pretty much as bad as you can get – shooting wide open on bright daylight and the object is a tight clustered wire fence.<br />So instead of posting it on the forum whinging about why-my-lens-is-giving-me-a-bit-of-fringing-when-I-shoot-wide-open-at-bright-daylight-oh-I’m-so-pissed-I’m-gonna-write-to-Nikon, you should try stopping it down a bit or at least find different, less fringing-inducing angles. Or take up knitting. (damn, I'm bitchy today...)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy45S7dhPTEVn1W3LQz7KDvDmiCOhnySpBv01vkZ-lmkxPwFNQxZlBB3TPKsIEj_84ncuLn9QIkXkck6PmuXdxSVQP9wNPlWgbJy3DTdk5eM2VMMLG_EbAbmWfZ0G1kECr5To2hCIIV0Y/s1600/Nikon35mm-fringing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 247px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy45S7dhPTEVn1W3LQz7KDvDmiCOhnySpBv01vkZ-lmkxPwFNQxZlBB3TPKsIEj_84ncuLn9QIkXkck6PmuXdxSVQP9wNPlWgbJy3DTdk5eM2VMMLG_EbAbmWfZ0G1kECr5To2hCIIV0Y/s400/Nikon35mm-fringing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409502661420391170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Bokeh</span><br /><br />Yay! Bokeh…<br />This lens has good bokeh to my eyes. Yes, yes…. Flame me… call me ignorant… go check your Bokeh 101 Guidebook to see what sort of bokeh is the universally accepted ideal bokeh and then come back and flame me again…<br />I don’t give a flip, but to my eyes, bokeh is surprisingly good coming from this 35mm lens. I didn’t have much expectation at first, but I am surprised that it is actually quite pleasant.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmaifmqeSw2gOoNjBqwEPdNoJsrNWklGzzqilWTwVKikoa2rhUp96eLG3tXmVm6eorJSCIdlHOoMFz6-lUFg6uYWM04qM9n4INf6t1xK9FOQ22ypvEHEuBijldPpZQ7QbGPpGi0ymW20/s1600/Nikon35mm-bokeh-rail.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPmaifmqeSw2gOoNjBqwEPdNoJsrNWklGzzqilWTwVKikoa2rhUp96eLG3tXmVm6eorJSCIdlHOoMFz6-lUFg6uYWM04qM9n4INf6t1xK9FOQ22ypvEHEuBijldPpZQ7QbGPpGi0ymW20/s400/Nikon35mm-bokeh-rail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409503023191813250" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicC-bjWkLBXmdGbZwfU8d_Cyg3K4A6xfpExRSou0BO4CaQ6YPuW89hWMsAeU5fOVKbGIYhyphenhyphensRj2N406jZwqm2APYu_8Um0uPvugasE7A9jfC6nl8fUMGrgJwj5N12YdV-YnY6ep2dbBQ/s1600/Nikon35mm-Shoes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicC-bjWkLBXmdGbZwfU8d_Cyg3K4A6xfpExRSou0BO4CaQ6YPuW89hWMsAeU5fOVKbGIYhyphenhyphensRj2N406jZwqm2APYu_8Um0uPvugasE7A9jfC6nl8fUMGrgJwj5N12YdV-YnY6ep2dbBQ/s400/Nikon35mm-Shoes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409503162059884690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I think bokeh is better than 50mm 1.4 or 1.8.<br />On point of lights, it still displays this outer different coloured ring, but it’s not as harsh as the 50mm 1.8.<br />This is more obvious when it is rendering foliages, but for some reason it is quite alright when it is rendering artificial lights.<br /><br />The shape of the point of light quickly becomes heptagonal (seven sided – yes I googled what seven-sided is called…) once you stop it down to f/2.8.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTu5CjY9TQK7oLh7aTalvI8uiP3pBGXWBOlAp_kLFrhyphenhyphenBgP_HTKccUgeGoy-pSzDEVM7X_KtAQHt6uxJlwZvbNF7HxtXeCPKcRn_1cz4a8kU_7hZyw5xOcBMUHHNu9DjgTHyu8J5LzZMo/s1600/Nikon35mm-blades.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTu5CjY9TQK7oLh7aTalvI8uiP3pBGXWBOlAp_kLFrhyphenhyphenBgP_HTKccUgeGoy-pSzDEVM7X_KtAQHt6uxJlwZvbNF7HxtXeCPKcRn_1cz4a8kU_7hZyw5xOcBMUHHNu9DjgTHyu8J5LzZMo/s400/Nikon35mm-blades.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409503630428980050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Being a seven bladed lens, Nikon is being honest about it and there’s no effort to make the blades curved or something. So with f/2 you get round bokeh (or sometimes cat's eye bokeh), and from f/2.8 onwards, the bokeh snaps to very obvious heptagonal and looks pretty much identical if you stop it down further. I have a five-bladed lens, and I must say it makes very interestingly different bokeh.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5NpbdasavC9rRqdeWBOFa8ZbYoYf3wZGTnMhGJPlxOJDA23wRok756wksMn-7k5IpjFEQilRQtgqniAES2MiGpg07BTTG5WrYPNdBh6rjoJd_Pp_4JE8dS_ulU-zI8NshTAcEsBVzak/s1600/Nikon35mm-Bokehpointoflights.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5NpbdasavC9rRqdeWBOFa8ZbYoYf3wZGTnMhGJPlxOJDA23wRok756wksMn-7k5IpjFEQilRQtgqniAES2MiGpg07BTTG5WrYPNdBh6rjoJd_Pp_4JE8dS_ulU-zI8NshTAcEsBVzak/s400/Nikon35mm-Bokehpointoflights.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409503990389335282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">The Light Gathering Ability</span><br /><br />This lens is f/2 (yes I can see that, Captain Obvious), and it is 35mm (yes, Captain?).<br />What I’m trying to say is, the f/2 combined with the short focal length makes this a low light lens. In my case, if I can still handheld this lens at f/2 at 1/20 second and still gives me a sharp result, I’d say it’s a low light lens for me.<br /><br />The picture below looks underexposed, but in real life it’s actually a little bit darker than how it looks like on the picture. I switched off the main light and took the picture.<br />If you are in a dimly lit café, I can safely say that this lens will still work well without the need of flash.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm4onocNUgKCvY7lhKHcTsICF-h2aNPAteCf-LqVPR5MEDVf108COcdZMejWISoTXn8Mz7QnosXBKessnPtoKDkLPZAx23uwWGb9vauEk0p54gKvWpgQnuyohFMSowjefvyvaJsYyItU/s1600/Nikon35mm-lowlightperformance.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEm4onocNUgKCvY7lhKHcTsICF-h2aNPAteCf-LqVPR5MEDVf108COcdZMejWISoTXn8Mz7QnosXBKessnPtoKDkLPZAx23uwWGb9vauEk0p54gKvWpgQnuyohFMSowjefvyvaJsYyItU/s400/Nikon35mm-lowlightperformance.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409504424812787474" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">Object Isolation</span><br /><br />With 35mm f/2, you can still isolate objects reasonably well, especially when you get closer.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQtZlel4-vrKwje22ko3wmR4Lp2hK_JYWKdSa55DqrAFcY__84tH3bBqLkdzb5DyaT3QUEJ6sNLZzoHRxa4zzuNELSIkndZNBOLVm8N87-BLUouP7MCpJxZEXwH8ph5wYgkG4xzJ6LXE/s1600/Nikon35mm-ticket.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQtZlel4-vrKwje22ko3wmR4Lp2hK_JYWKdSa55DqrAFcY__84tH3bBqLkdzb5DyaT3QUEJ6sNLZzoHRxa4zzuNELSIkndZNBOLVm8N87-BLUouP7MCpJxZEXwH8ph5wYgkG4xzJ6LXE/s400/Nikon35mm-ticket.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409504668382806722" border="0" /></a><br />Speaking of getting close, the minimum focusing distance is 25cm. That’s very close. So you can actually use this lens as a makeshift macro lens.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">USAGE</span><br /><br />So what kind of things is this lens best used for?<br />On DX, the field of view will be more or less like a 50mm film. I agree when on film days they say that your 50mm is your general all purpose lens. Its field of view is very useful for everything. Some people say it’s boring length, but I think it depends on how your eyes see and how it gets translated in your brain. Focal length doesn’t make boring pictures, the person taking the picture does. Of course it’s easy to get “creative” pictures when you have ultra-wide angle, fisheye, or (god forgive me) Lensbaby, but I personally think that 35mm on DX can give you many options for taking pictures.<br /><br />I wanna call it a “Jack of all trades, master of none” type of lens, but it will give the impression that it can only do so-so job in all tasks. I think this lens can do excellent jobs for pretty much every type of photography, but it is not the ultimate best for specific type of photography. (not like 14-24mm for landscapes, or 85mm/105mm for portraiture)<br />But it does however can keep up and cater all sort of styles of photography.<br /><br />On FX, it will be without the crop factor and you’ll get the actual 35mm view - still usable for all sorts of general photography (but you will need to move around). Also with the actual 35mm view and the close focusing distance (25cm), you can have different look of closeup shots compared to using 50mm.<br /><br />Below are some examples of general shots taken with this lens (to show the all-purposeness of the lens). Some of them are processed (colour adjusted and sharpened)<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Junk Food Photography</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9HuS5XcjfVzvq0kVaBHtV_CZl0Jlc8-MimW4MD7gyQAOFCFn6px3Olx4X5adDtF67YvHmjsjY_wjBwkj4_6S2AmB6XlL8rLgHYr56Lcepmu7Nt7WY_RWY6yOjGi0ToKCgk-9oGuTmpE/s1600/Nikon35mm-hashbrown.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9HuS5XcjfVzvq0kVaBHtV_CZl0Jlc8-MimW4MD7gyQAOFCFn6px3Olx4X5adDtF67YvHmjsjY_wjBwkj4_6S2AmB6XlL8rLgHYr56Lcepmu7Nt7WY_RWY6yOjGi0ToKCgk-9oGuTmpE/s400/Nikon35mm-hashbrown.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409505961815447250" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Chinese Food Photography</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMZE7pcprMayIDfFIYNVbg3gj1Cb94vupFlW6zUcpq0IHWVipjG08mHuXWgQh_H6WmdpaSdfA6IjLQIhl7qOd7eqfRQRYqJgrmCnWeFLscLsTJDNK0TUOOWL6XytCQ2cIZ8XmCdm18Uk/s1600/Nikon35mm-pekingduck.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 272px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMZE7pcprMayIDfFIYNVbg3gj1Cb94vupFlW6zUcpq0IHWVipjG08mHuXWgQh_H6WmdpaSdfA6IjLQIhl7qOd7eqfRQRYqJgrmCnWeFLscLsTJDNK0TUOOWL6XytCQ2cIZ8XmCdm18Uk/s400/Nikon35mm-pekingduck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409506286926280130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />When taking pictures of food such as in restaurant, on DX it is just wide enough to cover the food on the table in front of you (assuming you are sitting down). It’s definitely more useful than 50mm because it’s a tad long to do that. If you have FX, then I think it will be just wide enough to take the food and your companion if you back up a little bit.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Padlock Photography</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbUEiipe4qiKYCvwzk3FFbJWZ5KNATqNRahFj7q30_z6Z12am7new4CLJNXjbU-r7tT7_7G8qy430dwwsIuYWWWfDMDsR3T0ZjqupTU98bN6HAXoYT61knn8XQI7h2SkvSE2QIODLNck/s1600/Nikon35mm-Padlock.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUbUEiipe4qiKYCvwzk3FFbJWZ5KNATqNRahFj7q30_z6Z12am7new4CLJNXjbU-r7tT7_7G8qy430dwwsIuYWWWfDMDsR3T0ZjqupTU98bN6HAXoYT61knn8XQI7h2SkvSE2QIODLNck/s400/Nikon35mm-Padlock.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409506597149167890" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Portraiture Photography</span><br /><br />I don’t have willing model, so like my previous review, this is just to roughly illustrate how portrait looks like on 35mm.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4cKb5IK777HzRfdXgVdf5QHGUxhhkAG6Mhhv7r5F7TT20txITw57RjvNkMtdPjuMvNtYGo4RkLra0cLCiFLaWyiSgH1JO3ekWJo3nMk8DoDFF0rJ_5KIozRI7aU8ZjQcTWF_qC7BBqk/s1600/Nikon35mm-Portraidwmd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 246px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR4cKb5IK777HzRfdXgVdf5QHGUxhhkAG6Mhhv7r5F7TT20txITw57RjvNkMtdPjuMvNtYGo4RkLra0cLCiFLaWyiSgH1JO3ekWJo3nMk8DoDFF0rJ_5KIozRI7aU8ZjQcTWF_qC7BBqk/s400/Nikon35mm-Portraidwmd.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409506773697237938" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Sunflower Photography</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9C2mv4wYRJQqyopp0n6X6N6IESAbSo7v7sESFU7rLXletQYvO4kHt-lOOQWl4U9rHRoqj4gS1IYa9UG0H_UTfAkQ1PQZDmaj7SqP77EJ-GukTSUPVOvH4H9KiLL-U_Jakh3OMwgDpi68/s1600/Nikon35mm-Sunflower.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9C2mv4wYRJQqyopp0n6X6N6IESAbSo7v7sESFU7rLXletQYvO4kHt-lOOQWl4U9rHRoqj4gS1IYa9UG0H_UTfAkQ1PQZDmaj7SqP77EJ-GukTSUPVOvH4H9KiLL-U_Jakh3OMwgDpi68/s400/Nikon35mm-Sunflower.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409507002776746802" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX1IZdgxftfV2ZYhMeO4ByXrICG272TGAOhCmRJRWan0VbMKu2MrrxgyqP7pTbl5tkT2CllCZCcBm6Jl9fQomqGF4H3NRhMz9borAZUL9Hix0xxUdo2TBb3yeELRA1uxzTNjgpMlkuJ0/s1600/Nikon35mm-sunflowerclose.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 357px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipX1IZdgxftfV2ZYhMeO4ByXrICG272TGAOhCmRJRWan0VbMKu2MrrxgyqP7pTbl5tkT2CllCZCcBm6Jl9fQomqGF4H3NRhMz9borAZUL9Hix0xxUdo2TBb3yeELRA1uxzTNjgpMlkuJ0/s400/Nikon35mm-sunflowerclose.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409507106820654738" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You can safely use this to photograph Sunflowers. I haven’t tried it to photograph orchids, so not sure if it can be used for orchids or not… If you wanna take this lens to Egypt, I am also not sure because I haven't tried it yet... Also not sure if we can use this for taking pictures of indoor volleyball....<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Duck Photography</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVfMndzOHR7g19WUX25klTPQhVjP6Jvw6agd9wEkvkj73vv4CN28ahIVW2ecN0DRUtp0ZUvgcV7VcN1SSLjDK1sdr4ct2hU6GDh-_oWA8Qhs1KMsrWFe9HtLXlcACxpE4dSOUbr82t_M/s1600/Nikon35mm-duckandkids.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVfMndzOHR7g19WUX25klTPQhVjP6Jvw6agd9wEkvkj73vv4CN28ahIVW2ecN0DRUtp0ZUvgcV7VcN1SSLjDK1sdr4ct2hU6GDh-_oWA8Qhs1KMsrWFe9HtLXlcACxpE4dSOUbr82t_M/s400/Nikon35mm-duckandkids.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409507341266469314" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_KYqv1FLcn-5zQFaqKAWn-p4DDg41arv3g3l12zJYh6DrirsZ1ZHvigqAKVb9gxId4X4jBtwUjZ5pGMHqDlZ5aLayQR06PtJYrEsG997C6LK5gnRG3hYOh805WzZFkZWLbKoy8ZwaWc/s1600/Nikon35mm-ducklings.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_KYqv1FLcn-5zQFaqKAWn-p4DDg41arv3g3l12zJYh6DrirsZ1ZHvigqAKVb9gxId4X4jBtwUjZ5pGMHqDlZ5aLayQR06PtJYrEsG997C6LK5gnRG3hYOh805WzZFkZWLbKoy8ZwaWc/s400/Nikon35mm-ducklings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409507481577998722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 204);">VALUE</span><br /><br />I think for what it is meant to be, Nikon made a right decision of what to do / what not to do with the lens. The body is purposely made cheap enough to ensure that the executives still get their bonuses every year, and also for the lens to be light and still affordable. But the optical quality definitely does not look cheapish. Probably corner wise wide open it is not in the same league as the 14-24mm, but for the intended purpose (general walk around), I think Nikon successfully drew a perfect balance between price/performance/purpose here.<br /><br />Well you can say that it has fringing wide open, but then even lenses in the caliber of Canon 85mm f/1.2L still has fringing wide open. It's just a matter of whether you are interested in taking up knitting as a hobby or not.<br /><br />So value wise, in terms of optical quality, I find that we are getting a lot from this little lens. The AF mechanism and focusing accuracy is also easy to use and they are not problematic.<br />But in terms of build quality, I understand that we don’t expect too much from a lens that costs less than $400. But it’s a shame that they decided not to include the lens hood (unless they are that confident with the flare handling ability) and I wish the filter thread was made of metal too.<br />But all things considered, I still think this is a really great value for money lens.<br /><br />So do I recommend this lens for a general walkaround lens? Definitely.<br />Especially for street photography, I think this lens is a great companion. It’s small and light, so it won’t weigh you down, and also it doesn’t attract too much attention from people. AF is also fast enough, and you can use this lens for low light photography too. A very good street lens in my opinion.<br /><br />To close off this review, I will tell you one last thing why I think this lens is a better choice for doing street….<br /><br />Because I heard of this story…<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">The were this 2 tourists walking around doing the usual street photography around the city. The first tourist had his Nikon attached with this puny 35mm f/2 AFD. The other tourist was looking down at him all the way because he was using his tiny itsy bitsy 35mm. “</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Damn Noob….</span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">” The snobbish tourist guy thought…</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">So anyway, they both walked around the neighbourhood taking pictures, candid pictures, scenery, pretty girls, you name it. So later on, they came across this bunch of big guys with tattoos everywhere just sitting down minding their own business.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Thinking that it would make awesome street pictures, they started shooting at the guys without asking for permission. The big guys started to look annoyed and signalled them to stop shooting.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">But being smartasses, they read on the internet forum that on public places they have the right to shoot anything they want, so kept shooting they did...</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">So finally the big guys had enough of them, they got up, grab those two tourists, and took them to the back alley. And there they stripped the two tourists, took the cameras, and they shoved the poor guys’ 35mm f/2 Nikon lens up to his arse. Literally.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">I tell you that must hurt like hell….. damn… a Nikon 35mm f/2 AFD up your arse…</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">Ouchhh…</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);">But the snob tourist got it worse… </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 204);font-size:78%;" >he was using a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR all along…</span><br /><br /><br /><br />Thank you for reading the review guys, hope you liked it. And below are samples of some of the things that I took using this lens. Happy Shooting!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX65QUO5AbBUQviKo6sM7L-Ob2lm8LRkwBxY2_tYqheXWJ8sOmegfPmlt3uCcdtkwzQKT8Gfs1kegZptQTMd2d-ZC24K2eG8jNYgR7s1wGSpaEuPL9Ds_kORB3cV_krvoctglLTktdVuE/s1600/Nikon35mm-chair.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX65QUO5AbBUQviKo6sM7L-Ob2lm8LRkwBxY2_tYqheXWJ8sOmegfPmlt3uCcdtkwzQKT8Gfs1kegZptQTMd2d-ZC24K2eG8jNYgR7s1wGSpaEuPL9Ds_kORB3cV_krvoctglLTktdVuE/s400/Nikon35mm-chair.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512011683536498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFf8RdXi4tSR3XF261TFIOwFSNesOBflygOLy4RFqlE0ZyvQfobtT00sSYFeGnu6E3VOlXj24YvxVcj3zEgp3_wxc2ikT5Bf6XwwTgzH7boPvq5d6JOe3QsbwOBdw6UshVhEBpSMX-78/s1600/Nikon35mm-littleflowers.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwFf8RdXi4tSR3XF261TFIOwFSNesOBflygOLy4RFqlE0ZyvQfobtT00sSYFeGnu6E3VOlXj24YvxVcj3zEgp3_wxc2ikT5Bf6XwwTgzH7boPvq5d6JOe3QsbwOBdw6UshVhEBpSMX-78/s400/Nikon35mm-littleflowers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512294961582498" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPHW6TimdWfWjBDYd2ehTHKfciGK77cyBTPaZOmknJSQit0xwFnXvViD0FybVE-3m7zNrtBq8dp_EzUIO91U2p6M3nmBZtoOaasW2O11Y48t22CkB74dXDO47-LOzBKpf2wPPE_au5P4/s1600/Nikon35mm-franiks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPHW6TimdWfWjBDYd2ehTHKfciGK77cyBTPaZOmknJSQit0xwFnXvViD0FybVE-3m7zNrtBq8dp_EzUIO91U2p6M3nmBZtoOaasW2O11Y48t22CkB74dXDO47-LOzBKpf2wPPE_au5P4/s400/Nikon35mm-franiks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512438358443090" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RG_4NbLYE7ez2N64VsJNJk3kdiH2KRkoB3cs4DMQ4Qai3xXQ6AvaX1hgRBhfZi9aZhlUj9VBm7hSjregkXAfioSCzfell1kYVJanCap0VFVd1p_FobeKp1Pdw6UBdjXg2FhZbrK7XVI/s1600/Nikon35mm-Flower.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RG_4NbLYE7ez2N64VsJNJk3kdiH2KRkoB3cs4DMQ4Qai3xXQ6AvaX1hgRBhfZi9aZhlUj9VBm7hSjregkXAfioSCzfell1kYVJanCap0VFVd1p_FobeKp1Pdw6UBdjXg2FhZbrK7XVI/s400/Nikon35mm-Flower.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512556905887698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOWO0cPj5NN7IE18MBs_6BCSqWNKCfOftp2H3au1ktTVFuTfCV710SYYLY8E3UCkD7pu6-lwPJdyRMD1zbIxEESqeKJlrVZzdilljtadkZPh1ic23a-F38wJ5gX424v28U3avjRssAuA/s1600/Nikon35mm-freedom.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoOWO0cPj5NN7IE18MBs_6BCSqWNKCfOftp2H3au1ktTVFuTfCV710SYYLY8E3UCkD7pu6-lwPJdyRMD1zbIxEESqeKJlrVZzdilljtadkZPh1ic23a-F38wJ5gX424v28U3avjRssAuA/s400/Nikon35mm-freedom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512695873433490" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkj05UKsFYGF9AqhoKghjc2vSc7AUwr-WAsMTN62AWsFwd4rqvL0ugpryGXKJF527xV4q1xr2Ixe9mhu81QdlOzG8-7BF5f3Maao7saJEyE3c0WD4KVztjomKZxzTyCEkcraxzcuQxBg/s1600/Nikon35mm-cap.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLkj05UKsFYGF9AqhoKghjc2vSc7AUwr-WAsMTN62AWsFwd4rqvL0ugpryGXKJF527xV4q1xr2Ixe9mhu81QdlOzG8-7BF5f3Maao7saJEyE3c0WD4KVztjomKZxzTyCEkcraxzcuQxBg/s400/Nikon35mm-cap.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512810893321970" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lMYXpcvyVrjVq6RZPf2MK6xQklNhS3Ad5sWpgltYOOw46Lk-ePDRLys2UHmcHfL7imBn5emJ6bYVJ9nlnd-8JbLoSqsl4emvGJgT820XvIYO2A3ij9RhCYywwFI0ibrZsH0-aupsuEQ/s1600/Nikon35mm-lavender.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8lMYXpcvyVrjVq6RZPf2MK6xQklNhS3Ad5sWpgltYOOw46Lk-ePDRLys2UHmcHfL7imBn5emJ6bYVJ9nlnd-8JbLoSqsl4emvGJgT820XvIYO2A3ij9RhCYywwFI0ibrZsH0-aupsuEQ/s400/Nikon35mm-lavender.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409512917160884194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ehdCgQIlY0meYzgoZsCE0XFFZIcSPANTu_H6IDolcgfSjfcP0krXylaDVHHhGz-5lJwE8DN-qQypa7LENk8Z1ySK4UQ2IonxJviLI5Wb2JyGQZg_zbO1sV5XwGgZ1ZugLJm39Z6ryWg/s1600/Nikon35mm-rainbow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ehdCgQIlY0meYzgoZsCE0XFFZIcSPANTu_H6IDolcgfSjfcP0krXylaDVHHhGz-5lJwE8DN-qQypa7LENk8Z1ySK4UQ2IonxJviLI5Wb2JyGQZg_zbO1sV5XwGgZ1ZugLJm39Z6ryWg/s400/Nikon35mm-rainbow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409513025953935122" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS76j83CTH0RB5dsfMzsEzqYL23_zf2-xYsMty9UNEMOWvrsSbK7N6UxXaJl2llfINDk95RgxHDhmVBAbXqCKIer-Ym1wcJrRUjGLsx1SfR8n03Eibm52rvqrfNpxoqk-r3uvi-MCeXNM/s1600/Nikon35mm-Vine.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS76j83CTH0RB5dsfMzsEzqYL23_zf2-xYsMty9UNEMOWvrsSbK7N6UxXaJl2llfINDk95RgxHDhmVBAbXqCKIer-Ym1wcJrRUjGLsx1SfR8n03Eibm52rvqrfNpxoqk-r3uvi-MCeXNM/s400/Nikon35mm-Vine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409513113376743202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieswCARN7EyfMAVhQXInJ_kdIlUMMH2O3TtbNE24eb0aONzaJ8_XWVm07sSjh47oyFXZs5pyTmooIad-wYJfeKbHs2sotB4oOLAddaGSo5g9iDXoIGN7YxFKahsm3l7-wsm0A-j69q27A/s1600/Nikon35mm-Bokehbench.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieswCARN7EyfMAVhQXInJ_kdIlUMMH2O3TtbNE24eb0aONzaJ8_XWVm07sSjh47oyFXZs5pyTmooIad-wYJfeKbHs2sotB4oOLAddaGSo5g9iDXoIGN7YxFKahsm3l7-wsm0A-j69q27A/s400/Nikon35mm-Bokehbench.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409513237715405138" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLv0e9h8sj1IRcp-rkN1Vgu92amBQB9wZzRpwBhnhRA01t9it1TP3rqymlVK7v6CwvrZZIfUCdmZ85ishpGPeh_i62TMtGGqKUXsOnRxv7P5MB8vGhE_cfFDU1QaeCP26w0P01_UBsDo/s1600/Nikon35mm-vegetably.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLv0e9h8sj1IRcp-rkN1Vgu92amBQB9wZzRpwBhnhRA01t9it1TP3rqymlVK7v6CwvrZZIfUCdmZ85ishpGPeh_i62TMtGGqKUXsOnRxv7P5MB8vGhE_cfFDU1QaeCP26w0P01_UBsDo/s400/Nikon35mm-vegetably.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409513336764321874" border="0" /></a>Albiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12319159901583891752noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348902629087457916.post-90558894816176595302009-11-16T19:14:00.075+11:002009-11-16T23:24:56.525+11:00<div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 255);font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">CARL ZEISS 100mm F/2 REVIEW</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">(aka. Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> T*</span> 2/100 ZF)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgngCu9OqKEqdUs4wfOW9PVmNBb3eZ2K55NZwLXbtgZ3uhmjCgAfFfm9enzTpk37DnlWIJRjvL-NT8KGWzxh34TEyKmB4YBvoggVGVy6CzjeliIk5VG0NvMNCk1WMCfU9laz3zh_nPyU/s1600/Zeiss_Heading.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgngCu9OqKEqdUs4wfOW9PVmNBb3eZ2K55NZwLXbtgZ3uhmjCgAfFfm9enzTpk37DnlWIJRjvL-NT8KGWzxh34TEyKmB4YBvoggVGVy6CzjeliIk5VG0NvMNCk1WMCfU9laz3zh_nPyU/s400/Zeiss_Heading.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404614427090236722" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255); font-weight: bold;">SPECIFICATIONS</span> (shamelessly copied from Zeiss website)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Name:</span> Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZF<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Focal length:</span> 100 mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Aperture range:</span> f/2.0 – f/22 (1/2 steps)<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Focusing range:</span> 0.44 m – infinity<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Number of elements/groups:</span> 9 elements, 8 groups<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Image ratio at close range:</span> 1:2<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Filter thread: </span>M 67 x 0.75 Dimensions (with caps) ø 76 mm, length 113 mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Weight:</span> 680 g<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Camera mounts: </span>F Mount (ZF) & K Mount (ZK)<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Official Website for Lens:</span> http://www.zeiss.com/photo<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255); font-weight: bold;">DISCLAIMER</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Please read this first before proceeding any further</span><br /><br />First and foremost, this review is merely my humble opinion, so please take it with a tablespoon of sea salt, Tabasco, or whatever you usually take to digest biased review.<br /><br />Secondly, the tests are by no means strictly controlled tests; there will be errors, and my methods are not the most optimized to begin with, because:<br /><br />- I shoot with Fuji S5Pro – now to some people that’s a flaw already (haha…) due to its limited pixel.<span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"> sidenote -</span></span> I love the camera to death though.<br />- I shoot JPG (blasphemy! I know I know…)<br />- I use in-camera SRGB (what!? I know I know…)<br />- At this stage you probably wonder, can it get any worse…? Yes it can. My JPG is set to F1C, now that is not the most accurate colour mode I can tell you that, but heck, does it look nice and so film like… that’s why I am using it.<br />- And just to top it up, the S5’s sharpening is set to lowest. That’s because I like to sharpen things by myself, but then it means my untouched sample pictures won’t be as sharp as other people’s pictures using different cameras and settings.<br />- Some sample pictures were taken at higher ISO handheld (sometimes while I was under the influence of alcohol too….)<br /><br />If you wonder why am I allowing all these “flaws” for an equipment review? That’s because I am trying to share my opinions based from my everyday real life usage, and I am sure many people are just like me - they don’t always have the most optimum, perfect setup every single time they go out to take picture. So at least this review will provide a bit more real life expectation of what you can get from this lens.<br /><br />This brings us to third point – I don’t get paid for writing this and I also didn’t receive this lens as a review material. So you may find that I might be slacking off at times.<br /><br />With those out of the way, you most definitely will get better quality pictures out of this lens if you are shooting FX with RAW, and if you’re a little bit more sober.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">FOREWORD</span><br /><br />Before I got this lens, I was extremely content using my Nikon 85mm f/1.4 Ais as my main portrait lens and for general purpose walkaround lens. But then I started seeing a few samples here and there from this Zeiss 100mm f/2 posted by members from various forums.<br /><br />Then I said to myself, as good as my 85mm is, there are just some situations that I honestly think that I can not do that with my 85mm straight from camera. First of all, the sharpness is definitely superior than my 85mm, but sharpness is not the most important thing for me.<br />I feel that the Zeiss has this special colour and feel to it that I can’t really get out of my other lenses. Mind you, I felt this way before I actually acquired the lens, so it’s not owner’s bias.<br /><br />So I looked up for more info on this lens, and saw a few more samples, and the more I saw it, the more I wanted the lens. Then based on the recommendation from fellow Australian member, I got mine from a shop in New Jersey that specializes in cinematography equipments, and the lens arrived safely here in Sydney in less than a week (isn’t the internet beautiful?)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">THE PACKAGING – WHAT’S IN THE BOX?</span><br /><br />I must say that Zeiss is not big in flashy presentation box, which I actually prefer, or else the cost would be even more expensive. The lens comes in a rather understated thin carton box with the Zeiss holographic sticker in the middle of the box.<br />Can be seen from the picture below:<br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">(Note - from this point onwards, please click on the picture to view it on larger size because this website auto minimizes all pictures to thumbnail sizes. Also, depending on your screen resolution, after you click the image and it appears in new window, you might still need to click the image one more time to fully expand the image - if not, the picture will be in much lower quality because it's compressed)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmf-83xp9fhnZMmi2zSx08Pz6qDoAQMrANbJLmBwduP-ozzVJiNwiHNIPmXu-PipvAWbueIK_BpsHcGL7i8F2-ESMSWktHbdz4-c_tBfP5p3sinfo0kCUhHAkQLoatme7DiOd3o7bRv8/s1600/Zeiss_Whatsinthebox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmf-83xp9fhnZMmi2zSx08Pz6qDoAQMrANbJLmBwduP-ozzVJiNwiHNIPmXu-PipvAWbueIK_BpsHcGL7i8F2-ESMSWktHbdz4-c_tBfP5p3sinfo0kCUhHAkQLoatme7DiOd3o7bRv8/s400/Zeiss_Whatsinthebox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404615658396252658" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I learned since I was a kid that anything that comes with a holographic sticker must be super awesome. This is also the case with Zeiss lenses – it is super awesome indeed.<br />I think the sticker itself already worth the asking money.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURHYyTgDng1RhXPLgQvRY_Yf_SZ4N6-q6b3VsrQNSaLEc30L-ve6-a8XlKYkppVgMXSD5AQ1JojUDFvXsoR8mR2zH88ykJdzPOTnOoBd1kxj1HLO2I1HShEtMpuvKDgzvbrWVFGqpO30/s1600/Zeiss_SuperAwesome.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURHYyTgDng1RhXPLgQvRY_Yf_SZ4N6-q6b3VsrQNSaLEc30L-ve6-a8XlKYkppVgMXSD5AQ1JojUDFvXsoR8mR2zH88ykJdzPOTnOoBd1kxj1HLO2I1HShEtMpuvKDgzvbrWVFGqpO30/s400/Zeiss_SuperAwesome.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404615995840450018" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Upon opening the box, you will find on top of the Styrofoam inner box some paperwork which consist of: Warranty card, Lens specification paper, Lens manual, and QC-passed Certificate.<br /><br />I am impressed because the certificate has your unique Zeiss lens serial number printed on it with all the check boxes that lets you know what had passed the inspection. All the boxes were ticked by hand with the person’s initial signed on it.<br />I just wish whoever that person was, he/she really checked my lens instead of just tick-tick-tick it while eating potato chips and watching Seinfeld.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVgs3HPMhqfzQ2qYNFKGZXNrWeVt1H4tQ6NNravHG05lty7KH5yz4dB_jPDcu17gjjI2_pL7JCYMyPNx-f8x-J9gx8Ql6fpBMyVHaDJM2NcNU1LmAwWCylODJIUg58OYL1ZN6A7fRyJY/s1600/Zeiss_QCpaper.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVgs3HPMhqfzQ2qYNFKGZXNrWeVt1H4tQ6NNravHG05lty7KH5yz4dB_jPDcu17gjjI2_pL7JCYMyPNx-f8x-J9gx8Ql6fpBMyVHaDJM2NcNU1LmAwWCylODJIUg58OYL1ZN6A7fRyJY/s400/Zeiss_QCpaper.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404616478175912226" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />But seriously, this shows that Zeiss lines have tighter QC compared to your usual Nikon/Canon lenses (which sort of reflects on the price too I guess), and they must have much lower production volumes too in order to be able to do this sort of QC.<br /><br />So back to “What’s in the Box”, inside the Styrofoam box is the lens and the hood wrapped in clear plastic. There’s no leather pouch like some lenses from other brands (eg. Sony Alpha mount-Zeiss). Nothing fancy and it’s very straight forward packaging, really.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">EXTERIOR</span><br /><br />Albeit without fanciness and wow factor in the packaging, the moment you pick up the lens I can guarantee you that you will understand why this lens is expensive. Imagine a cold, heavy, all-metal lens in your hands, with a focus ring that is so smooth to turn.... If you hold it and it doesn’t move you into feeling like taking pictures with it, you’re not a photographer.<br /><br />It is a very handsome looking lens. But, (I know it’s trivial) I don’t think the look goes very well with Nikon cameras. Nikon bodies tend to have this rugged look, whereas the Zeiss has this very slick and stylish look. If you ask me personally, I think this lens will look better attached to something like a new Phase One or Leica S2 body. Anyway, let’s talk about the body itself in more details.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCDf16cI4MhKKFgZ4_omcVxvMmZSocpgbvBGzkbNwiqbR4WqWJNrfl7f3O0jF-zxq_udDldzgXIgtrD_uzd560hLDe-9Rfs6rHuq6WUrhdwOhNNyUy06DM5m2spuQ24hxYbEyEPF_2G4/s1600/Zeiss100mmf2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCDf16cI4MhKKFgZ4_omcVxvMmZSocpgbvBGzkbNwiqbR4WqWJNrfl7f3O0jF-zxq_udDldzgXIgtrD_uzd560hLDe-9Rfs6rHuq6WUrhdwOhNNyUy06DM5m2spuQ24hxYbEyEPF_2G4/s400/Zeiss100mmf2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404617631042909298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Focus Ring & Barrel Extension</span><br /><br />I think you are well aware that the focus ring for this lens turns almost a full 360 degree. Most probably because of the macro feature of this lens, with most portion of the focus rotation is for fine tuning from 1:4 (approximately 60cm) magnification onwards to full 1:2 (approximately 44cm) – which of course makes very much sense because around that range you really need to extra fine tune it since the depth of field is very shallow.<br /><br />It doesn’t mean that it only leaves very little focus rotation for mid-distance to infinity though. Since the ring is so ridiculously smooth, you can very easily fine tune your focus when doing something like portrait works. Some people mentioned that the focus ring is stiff, but I don’t find it stiff at all. I think they might be just too accustomed to this so called “manual focus” ring from current AF lenses.<br /><br />The rotation feels solid, but at the same time it is very smooth. It doesn’t feel “slidy”, jumpy, or gritty like when you use manual focus from AF cameras. I rate the focus ring to be in the same league (or even better) than my Nikon 85mm 1.4 Ais or 50mm 1.2 Ais (and those two have very smooth focus rings, so that says a lot).<br /><br />Aperture wise, it clicks every half step, so that means it starts from f/2, one click will position it in between f/2 and f/2.8, one more click will switch it to f/2.8, and so on. I don’t particularly shoot in in-between apertures, but I guess it might be useful for some people (eg. When you just wanna quick-fine tune your exposure).<br /><br />The barrel for this lens is rather long just like all semi-tele macro lenses, and when it’s fully extended (doing 1:2), it is even longer. When you turn the barrel all the way out, you can hear this metal sounding “ding” from the barrel parts colliding and reaches the maximum extension - sounds nice.<br /><br />When the hood is attached in reverse position, you can still manual focus the lens. A bit difficult because the hood will cover most of the lens, but doable in case you need to focus something fast or too lazy to re-attach the hood.<br />The picture below shows you how long the lens is when it’s fully retracted, extended, and extended with the hood on.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaqmkeLBpdswydkboEgHyKVj2KOeXlnE02ZHKo2z-cAxRWG_utSCwyYjAAbn_BdBaYrF3_J-rLrGpkPudRINnmnWgOCVVMzrPggeF2Kt68Mtt38HzKKUOj_tetNTJ6S9Oe93rWo4X5t8/s1600/Zeiss-Barrel_Extension.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDaqmkeLBpdswydkboEgHyKVj2KOeXlnE02ZHKo2z-cAxRWG_utSCwyYjAAbn_BdBaYrF3_J-rLrGpkPudRINnmnWgOCVVMzrPggeF2Kt68Mtt38HzKKUOj_tetNTJ6S9Oe93rWo4X5t8/s400/Zeiss-Barrel_Extension.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404618955292867698" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Overall Look of the Barrel</span><br /><br />Just like Nikon’s Ais lenses, it has the “rabbit ears”. Not sure how relevant it is when used with today’s DSLR though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpi9yfga-1Qjc7vHRtSk7ckWk1vOnAXHvFkl3DdYwidKoOevLRrfej5yLVflv4bw-hrN9vgLEzwO9-hbe1hUebr30_1mIvqnXNDnH4YJhD3ep_FXQifRNw40yPr5ArCXzT8tOj3GejI24/s1600/Zeiss_BunnyEars.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpi9yfga-1Qjc7vHRtSk7ckWk1vOnAXHvFkl3DdYwidKoOevLRrfej5yLVflv4bw-hrN9vgLEzwO9-hbe1hUebr30_1mIvqnXNDnH4YJhD3ep_FXQifRNw40yPr5ArCXzT8tOj3GejI24/s400/Zeiss_BunnyEars.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404619180684709250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Front markings are engraved, including the serial number.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJm_OmYxzR81pl1Xos6LLo0QZyIjMtFcl3ArJNG-NfSIMwGBz2Xf429WXNkZhsyhkxeUS3qpOiBQUWqEwLfJZ16UjkvL5SagFm5LnygYyLZQYMvqWSzXBkk0gd4QUM5itfeT14lhp0XQ/s1600/Zeiss_engravedLetters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvJm_OmYxzR81pl1Xos6LLo0QZyIjMtFcl3ArJNG-NfSIMwGBz2Xf429WXNkZhsyhkxeUS3qpOiBQUWqEwLfJZ16UjkvL5SagFm5LnygYyLZQYMvqWSzXBkk0gd4QUM5itfeT14lhp0XQ/s400/Zeiss_engravedLetters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404619671083408722" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Not sure about the side markings though. They don’t look recessed, but the markings look very well etched on the barrel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pVtRev76s58x-dIlsZGnTlWg7kJLbGv9IJd7pjku30UiGM64mTen9fTVpBZf90ww5_ArG-Be5LQbrYnUOupmD4muZ6P7Kg_rAczwtsCdMRAlmEEQUECWjHaKtRve1vgoufsb3EmIoVA/s1600/Zeiss_ApertureMarking.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pVtRev76s58x-dIlsZGnTlWg7kJLbGv9IJd7pjku30UiGM64mTen9fTVpBZf90ww5_ArG-Be5LQbrYnUOupmD4muZ6P7Kg_rAczwtsCdMRAlmEEQUECWjHaKtRve1vgoufsb3EmIoVA/s400/Zeiss_ApertureMarking.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404619837863836130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The rear mount is also very pretty:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAmPsY9swnaKlR8v3shD9De_KGWaVmONppzIjryj21Z5d-Q4MNkC2PtntPDc0IJo6RA5Mo78fUlv3TJM4m-_SOtRZfszNJVCHwj1-Q_Kt38n2a6i3K1hWj2CJnEpAIo4fBedAqMp6fM0/s1600/Zeiss_RearMount.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAmPsY9swnaKlR8v3shD9De_KGWaVmONppzIjryj21Z5d-Q4MNkC2PtntPDc0IJo6RA5Mo78fUlv3TJM4m-_SOtRZfszNJVCHwj1-Q_Kt38n2a6i3K1hWj2CJnEpAIo4fBedAqMp6fM0/s400/Zeiss_RearMount.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404620095803873186" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Hood and Caps</span><br /><br />The hood is made from metal, just like old times. I am so glad that in this plastic fantastic age, someone still cares enough to make solid metal equipments.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb1N0AVZ47b46VY7dig770OWQYRj6wJhugvShrbCib_Xir8vzzqPKsR6xW3Jh294TUJriDvfep3O7klXn9D3Z2qc-I67Vp8md6EunzTieOp2HSydM5mFmQrszek4qlVqjgL18CiKWyiw/s1600/Zeiss-hood.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbb1N0AVZ47b46VY7dig770OWQYRj6wJhugvShrbCib_Xir8vzzqPKsR6xW3Jh294TUJriDvfep3O7klXn9D3Z2qc-I67Vp8md6EunzTieOp2HSydM5mFmQrszek4qlVqjgL18CiKWyiw/s400/Zeiss-hood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404620350090873186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Since the front element itself is rather recessed already, I think on casual shooting day you can survive without carrying the hood. With the hood attached, I usually won’t bother with attaching the lens cap when I’m walking around because it will provide enough cover from dust and prevents you from accidentally touching the element (I don’t use filters).<br />The only thing that I don’t like with the hood on is it makes the lens look much larger than it is – attracting curious attention.<br /><br />Now lens caps. The rear cap is alright, just like any other Nikon rear caps. The front cap is different story though. I <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">hate </span>the front cap. It’s a pity that built-wise, everything is perfectly super solid, but then comes this crappy lens cap. I wish it was also from metal (or part metal) but it’s just plain plastic cap.<br /><br />My concern is not it being plastic though. The cap is rather badly designed and it’s difficult to pinch the cap (either from outer side or centre pinch). You have to be careful with the cap because it doesn’t provide generous grip unlike Nikon lens cap. It can easily snap out of your grip when you are trying to remove the cap.<br />Well I guess you can always get a third party or Nikon cap to replace this crappy cap.<br />I personally think it looks rather ugly too and doesn’t go with the nice looking lens itself. They should at least make the Zeiss logo from metal or something.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKHSr2PrEsHLwmwfk1QxpeXLrPUXSdh_vuR4SA5BXnHDBh0PSdTdoiX2rT9rWjhdYnhmBqYE9FIO3EMCwZw2pAy2H1-5UnGT1yNOOvNM2yCwHq0CC9qHunpUjx-LdDAvOBPYwyjwXGPc/s1600/Zeiss_Caps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKHSr2PrEsHLwmwfk1QxpeXLrPUXSdh_vuR4SA5BXnHDBh0PSdTdoiX2rT9rWjhdYnhmBqYE9FIO3EMCwZw2pAy2H1-5UnGT1yNOOvNM2yCwHq0CC9qHunpUjx-LdDAvOBPYwyjwXGPc/s400/Zeiss_Caps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404621641116535570" border="0" /></a><br /><br />But overall, the lens itself is very solid. Unlike those super solid and heavy Russian Jupiter lenses, you can’t murder people with this lens; but it is very well made. I am sure it will live longer than you as long as you don’t abuse it. It also looks very smoothly made. No cost-cutting evidence, everything looks refined. Sort of what you expect to see when you pay $1500 for a manual prime (I wish it has better front cap though….)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEid9NMI6jBtTYlgpFM34_XccZqv5eZ5MDAZnFIDFnILXDSxqJ5GBfLEVdA0MT9IKIxW7wGqgTok7zUYZ13vUz8kwNOdHKYr-bxL_TwLkJrDBTg9W6Zo85TGbubZE0IYQGMADpwLiY-8/s1600/Zeiss_andS5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEid9NMI6jBtTYlgpFM34_XccZqv5eZ5MDAZnFIDFnILXDSxqJ5GBfLEVdA0MT9IKIxW7wGqgTok7zUYZ13vUz8kwNOdHKYr-bxL_TwLkJrDBTg9W6Zo85TGbubZE0IYQGMADpwLiY-8/s400/Zeiss_andS5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404622640609345282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">OPTICS</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Coating</span><br /><br />Not sure how many layers there are or what sort of coating they use, but it does look rather different compared to my other lenses. Indoor, it has this rather strong pink hue reflection, quite pretty and I find it stronger than my other lenses’ coating. It’s much easier to see in real life though, not easy to capture the hue. I tried to make the hue more noticeable in the picture, but too lazy to do a proper one. Hopefully you get the idea from the picture below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQq7w-ZgHM34uDxPOwBZkiAs99hxR7MfTZuI4Io1zwGo8pyWjfJWaz8PIBZLUzj7FkiB49YEA_PO0njybFzFvo30OKPfsYpMzVvCmqZEqNhk-WDyev6JJNk76TANh-NpH7Su1Ik5I7MM/s1600/Zeiss_PinkHUe.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQq7w-ZgHM34uDxPOwBZkiAs99hxR7MfTZuI4Io1zwGo8pyWjfJWaz8PIBZLUzj7FkiB49YEA_PO0njybFzFvo30OKPfsYpMzVvCmqZEqNhk-WDyev6JJNk76TANh-NpH7Su1Ik5I7MM/s400/Zeiss_PinkHUe.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404622179650893410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Distortion, Flaring, and Vignetting</span><br /><br />I can’t see these in real life shooting, so I won’t bother talking about distortion or vignetting. On FX, I haven’t heard much of people complaining about it too. Unless you shoot brick walls or white walls for a living, don’t worry about it.<br />Flaring wise, again, I don’t see any problem. I took it shooting under harsh noon light, shooting up tree branches when the sun was on top of me and all that, didn’t encounter any stray flaring at all. It will show if you do it in purpose, but under actual shooting I doubt you will get flaring.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Chromatic aberration</span><br /><br />Now let’s get the bad thing out of the way first. This is the only weakness that I can think of the lens (apart from the damned front lens cap). But as in fast lenses, this is something you pretty much have to tolerate. Also fringing is not always entirely your lens’ fault – I think the amount of fringing also depends on the camera itself too (at least that’s what I read).<br /><br />This lens is definitely more resistant to fringing than my 85mm 1.4. With 85mm 1.4, you can have pretty wild purple fringing when shooting wide open on bright daylight. What’s funny with Zeiss 100mm is, sometimes I find fringing in a scene that I don’t expect it to be that obvious, but sometimes when the light is so harsh, I don’t even see that much of fringing.<br /><br />Have a look at some of the sample pictures below - this next picture illustrates the absence of fringing even when the lens was used under harsh light.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW8uHzPX7ZsMo9K_w5WkBqPd5mZtyJv-fuxYMoUsnCQb4gDEcGtfL0auCAXHmR5yc-ZiCQLm8ouVVDfhtLiIL8d0mrFgPkL42YtJX6vOjXxfE3VY-_vNEt1erhwM-zg1zjpRrkjtPdtA/s1600/Zeiss_Fringing1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW8uHzPX7ZsMo9K_w5WkBqPd5mZtyJv-fuxYMoUsnCQb4gDEcGtfL0auCAXHmR5yc-ZiCQLm8ouVVDfhtLiIL8d0mrFgPkL42YtJX6vOjXxfE3VY-_vNEt1erhwM-zg1zjpRrkjtPdtA/s400/Zeiss_Fringing1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404623178383375634" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On the next picture, you can see a bit of fringing, but I am very impressed considering how harsh the light was.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdzGSvRfO_HOEyC2vuTp9aoqwjAZwI50vaoWbUGutyImtviziAPgH2lYMvc0NFrqKrlXB_Us46bJCUnrN0WlCaVgMi2munLElaS1HO7wqfGk1lsR0lmzf6rIok2_-G3jGayUlqonlg7Y/s1600/Zeiss_Fringing2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGdzGSvRfO_HOEyC2vuTp9aoqwjAZwI50vaoWbUGutyImtviziAPgH2lYMvc0NFrqKrlXB_Us46bJCUnrN0WlCaVgMi2munLElaS1HO7wqfGk1lsR0lmzf6rIok2_-G3jGayUlqonlg7Y/s400/Zeiss_Fringing2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404624027253525474" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I was also expecting fringing when I shot this, but I found none!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeI5G5RX4E_Da24PpUlnHBTASRApgqf517InwrR6eochx89sr4Pax2AnbMRUvufrlhDnY0wJxC7k5zRTpAP3prZomDVh7tHPhnD_-kAQl0eP7G0hMVEEoz8b0oIwebSykvzb_vTGVQTw/s1600/Zeiss_Fringing3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeI5G5RX4E_Da24PpUlnHBTASRApgqf517InwrR6eochx89sr4Pax2AnbMRUvufrlhDnY0wJxC7k5zRTpAP3prZomDVh7tHPhnD_-kAQl0eP7G0hMVEEoz8b0oIwebSykvzb_vTGVQTw/s400/Zeiss_Fringing3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404624230687319026" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now these are when I find fringing unexpectedly.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOU3eCsY0EAICCBRcaVARb2QPiQZZ6h93pNOvsikipmfwg6wBEl4Qlm2iAkD_dxdZvOMnWXzyt1su6FnfLFwhVNuluRvENh5Rmtc3kAGL1XjtqHYue3DqzF3xOBziwcfUeoIoUh4y1EBw/s1600/Zeiss_fringing4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOU3eCsY0EAICCBRcaVARb2QPiQZZ6h93pNOvsikipmfwg6wBEl4Qlm2iAkD_dxdZvOMnWXzyt1su6FnfLFwhVNuluRvENh5Rmtc3kAGL1XjtqHYue3DqzF3xOBziwcfUeoIoUh4y1EBw/s400/Zeiss_fringing4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404624630930947186" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is rather bad one:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrP-V-kwSeNsVJ4m02cbfBqe14z0L7r9qTIV5yGHJjvH1FY85aZeH1L1Wn-ZinOqx03x9DBoIXV1EldLjciAqAZ_W87Jmevk7ZBfBBkCfH5Oc8_yq2UsT7ooXHECyCHAq7H6KU8-USMGc/s1600/Zeiss_fringing6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrP-V-kwSeNsVJ4m02cbfBqe14z0L7r9qTIV5yGHJjvH1FY85aZeH1L1Wn-ZinOqx03x9DBoIXV1EldLjciAqAZ_W87Jmevk7ZBfBBkCfH5Oc8_yq2UsT7ooXHECyCHAq7H6KU8-USMGc/s400/Zeiss_fringing6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404624809535935074" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Fringing can be pretty bad on patterned object as shown below. But I also took some other similar looking shots, and some of them are not that obvious compared to this one. Maybe different angle, different lighting, etc… I don’t know.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-G7ZYtLiEzg6dJoR63iEqh8tFujQ8uKtZb8dw4baHOVbm8U74pS5veS6a6pfbhYR2TLwb3Ca5Mlenf5wRkvSf-14I8Hch7pZbiHeo9qxIZIy3BTYKw7jTa9Soz6IjcqFj7Qiz21IFQY/s1600/Zeiss_fringing5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK-G7ZYtLiEzg6dJoR63iEqh8tFujQ8uKtZb8dw4baHOVbm8U74pS5veS6a6pfbhYR2TLwb3Ca5Mlenf5wRkvSf-14I8Hch7pZbiHeo9qxIZIy3BTYKw7jTa9Soz6IjcqFj7Qiz21IFQY/s400/Zeiss_fringing5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404625129122103266" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If any, I notice that fringing is more often found on darker objects compared to bright/white objects.<br />Stopping down to f/2.8 significantly improves the fringing, and by f/4 fringing is almost completely gone. Have a look at the sample below. Please don’t be scared of the amount of fringing on the first one, this shot was done in purpose to expose the most fringing and it’s a 100% crop.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDNgod9Q8WsxyZsMVC5h9VfiTZjcU7hH0fyonaPv3MTHvi1b2c11MsvBOfRO-P1j3CSEBhyphenhyphenPbqL2RfpNNLOwGZk0GlNZTz7AZGD_AnFlPxv-1JZo_41rTAvfx-AcSeNBGR3ePnO2vBE4/s1600/Zeiss_Fringingonapertures.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDNgod9Q8WsxyZsMVC5h9VfiTZjcU7hH0fyonaPv3MTHvi1b2c11MsvBOfRO-P1j3CSEBhyphenhyphenPbqL2RfpNNLOwGZk0GlNZTz7AZGD_AnFlPxv-1JZo_41rTAvfx-AcSeNBGR3ePnO2vBE4/s400/Zeiss_Fringingonapertures.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404625378745276242" border="0" /></a><br /><br />In relation to fringing, it will sometime quite noticeable in point of lights too. But usually it’s not always obvious, and generally you won’t notice it unless you have fringing in mind and specifically look for it. The beauty of the image taken with this lens will distract you from this flaw - very cheeky indeed.<br /><br />The shot below shows a pretty bad case of fringing found in point of lights. My 85mm f/1.4 and Tamron 90mm f/2.8 also showed this fringing when I shot the same object. I guess that means it’s pretty normal.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuFHZKJYJUEMoRltLUr_fKtVnVTTFhaBFRO7xSYkvZj2pa48JyXXveIvyslrqPYzWLD2LUwjyvJAMKhpL0Aaluq9ukRLpmH-jaDGe7m3FdHBMCSp1c012TI1ZuKbk6GGqnRZgotBIERo/s1600/Zeiss_BokehFringing.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieuFHZKJYJUEMoRltLUr_fKtVnVTTFhaBFRO7xSYkvZj2pa48JyXXveIvyslrqPYzWLD2LUwjyvJAMKhpL0Aaluq9ukRLpmH-jaDGe7m3FdHBMCSp1c012TI1ZuKbk6GGqnRZgotBIERo/s400/Zeiss_BokehFringing.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404625675974162530" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I read a post of this one guy who was considering getting the lens but changed his mind after he saw some samples of purple fringing. What a shame, he just missed one really great lens - it’s not like it’s going to appear in every single picture you take. A few fringing here and there is expected – if you have very fast lenses you are most likely familiar with this.<br /><br />So should you worry about this? Well, I guess you should know about the fringing before purchasing the lens, but I really won’t view this as a deal breaker because it’s a common weakness found in lenses, and not so obvious one. The good points of the lens far outweigh this single weakness.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Colour and Contrast</span><br /><br />The colour and contrast is obviously excellent. But how much am I seeing the full potential considering how undisciplined I am? I am not sure, but I guess I will find out when I get myself an FX camera in the future.<br /><br />But can I still see the famous Zeiss colour and contrast everyone’s been talking about? Yes. Indoor under artificial lighting, the Zeiss has a slight edge over my Nikon when I compare the image closely. However, outdoor, the Zeiss is easily superior.<br /><br />Through my eyes I see the real potential of the Zeiss when used outdoor under natural light. It might be due to coating or maybe the lens design, I am not sure. But having used my 85mm and numerous other lenses for several years already, I am certain that the Zeiss produces nicer colour tones compared to my Nikon especially outdoor. Even when the light is so harsh, it still manages to bring out a nice colour and contrast straight from the camera.<br /><br />So yes, I am a Zeiss colour believer. But is this a snake oil? Placebo effect? Well, I hope not. Interesting that my partner who is photographically-challenged also said that the colour is very nice. If that comes from the mouth of an average Joe (or Jane in this case), so I guess it must be noticeably different afterall...<br /><br />But anyway, I am going to show a few shots to give you an idea of what I am seeing when shooting with the lens with my current equipment.<br /><br />This first sample was taken under very bright light – when I came home and looked at the picture through my monitor, I was impressed that this shot that I took when the light was harsh looks like a shot that I took under mellow afternoon light - the colour and the tones are still very well maintained (the highlight on the picture tells you that it is very bright indeed)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP4kaXDzoC3i24b45hqbJQljHITONdDRGEuvRQahMEvB4OPGlYtqmvHUbrLg6QLAlOmLK2-3YPUidaiOCf7uKLGjG5o7qXYUGsktdgneLVmE1oO4PUA_gopmbsvYoIofNMgP1GzQ4vY8/s1600/Zeiss-colour1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlP4kaXDzoC3i24b45hqbJQljHITONdDRGEuvRQahMEvB4OPGlYtqmvHUbrLg6QLAlOmLK2-3YPUidaiOCf7uKLGjG5o7qXYUGsktdgneLVmE1oO4PUA_gopmbsvYoIofNMgP1GzQ4vY8/s400/Zeiss-colour1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404627159162496594" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now I took this second picture to show the red colour from Zeiss. Remember I am using SRGB so technically speaking, my colour gamut is limited, but it still turns out really nice. The red reminds me of Leica red....<br /><br />This is pretty much why I don’t really bother with Adobe RGB. Of course I can get even better colour but getting out the full potential of SRGB is not as simple as just shooting with SRGB, you have to have the right monitor, the right calibration, etc etc... I'll probably do Adobe RGB once in awhile, but not for every image I have.<br />But anyway, those of you who shoot Adobe RGB can rejoice because (theoretically speaking) you will see even richer colour than this one (make sure to get yourself an EIZO monitor though).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCAgEQHnU6o6unvmV4QZwiZPvuP74Q0r4V21Roo4ihMVJ5ocq-UNqfZUqi5aH7BoE4ZzoeksZMhKD4GMjCkQdnaputO_fX5UYBcaK6suGp7PBrY4RxmGK6YAv_eGMbxTC_BvzB9d7SWo/s1600/Zeiss-colour2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCAgEQHnU6o6unvmV4QZwiZPvuP74Q0r4V21Roo4ihMVJ5ocq-UNqfZUqi5aH7BoE4ZzoeksZMhKD4GMjCkQdnaputO_fX5UYBcaK6suGp7PBrY4RxmGK6YAv_eGMbxTC_BvzB9d7SWo/s400/Zeiss-colour2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404628169381427490" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Now the next picture is a picture of a duck (well, duh…) Even the ducks seemed happier when I shot them with Zeiss lens.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR8admuJC0ZAjoEjdEsRSEskWXEPBb8RtG2OMMKEhtUIW9XnB2MWHqI3Q5de23BKa5Px7TEOGkxc4zyLwQ3uigiCeD6M_fuU5zVBuGhXrHodkWX5QKLMnIAcwJzlWp7O8t4uR4Ny6JLo/s1600/Zeiss-colour3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipR8admuJC0ZAjoEjdEsRSEskWXEPBb8RtG2OMMKEhtUIW9XnB2MWHqI3Q5de23BKa5Px7TEOGkxc4zyLwQ3uigiCeD6M_fuU5zVBuGhXrHodkWX5QKLMnIAcwJzlWp7O8t4uR4Ny6JLo/s400/Zeiss-colour3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404628368375308930" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This one was taken at Circular Quay, under strong afternoon light. There are two random dudes in the picture. Again, as from previous samples, you can see that the colours straight from camera are very nice already. I didn't even do any post processing... <span style="font-size:85%;">(although a little bit of credit should go to my Fuji S5 too... haha..)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwfIfJs21eNgUBFTeGe9QVG09tvJgfy-UBRyBZdIO2ncUhqCSidHMrRmWo4G3GWKDwRYuxeBWB9YGisfKg_xiTvJha26Aj8Cl8_KnyM1AKYs8vmifivcNjyjrTxKY04ilihkuvy8GPyo/s1600/Zeiss_randomdudes.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwfIfJs21eNgUBFTeGe9QVG09tvJgfy-UBRyBZdIO2ncUhqCSidHMrRmWo4G3GWKDwRYuxeBWB9YGisfKg_xiTvJha26Aj8Cl8_KnyM1AKYs8vmifivcNjyjrTxKY04ilihkuvy8GPyo/s400/Zeiss_randomdudes.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404629044697186354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I chose this last example because I just love the contrast and colour tone straight from the camera.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheehkTtFg1DfTnqoRnLKO6XKT5dpXhmbeNhqs9ygklHRbNVYmRwGkI37GQeV6R7Cp3ZD7teUOPh8OKHIbyrHa2fxP3FDWYopniqrqlcvcQGYQJobdhg8vix60-2cEZokp02ISCv88op_w/s1600/Zeiss-colour4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheehkTtFg1DfTnqoRnLKO6XKT5dpXhmbeNhqs9ygklHRbNVYmRwGkI37GQeV6R7Cp3ZD7teUOPh8OKHIbyrHa2fxP3FDWYopniqrqlcvcQGYQJobdhg8vix60-2cEZokp02ISCv88op_w/s400/Zeiss-colour4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404629536266861122" border="0" /></a><br /><br />So basically, you can see that the red, the blue, and the green are very rich and beautiful ---- hey, aren't those the primary colours? so what does it mean to the rest of the colours? <span style="font-size:85%;">** hint hint**</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Sharpness</span><br /><br />Too bad you need to only take my words on this – it is bloody sharp across the egdes wide open. Unfortunately my S5’s resolution and my shooting habit won’t fully utilise the sharpness capability of this lens but this lens is a badass indeed.<br /><br />Its wide open f/2 is easily sharper than my 85mm 1.4 stopped down to @f/2. But then again, I’ve never heard of soft macro lens.<br />I admit I am too lazy to do controlled sharpness test. You know how hard it is to do a REALLY proper sharpness test? Need to align to perfect angle, I need to even be careful at wind blowing my tripod. It’s not as simple as shooting a darn brick wall and start mumbling about how sharp your lens is.<br /><br />In saying that, I will first admit that this is not a perfect sharpness test because there are plenty of room for errors, but this is just to give you an idea of what you can expect from the lens in less than optimum situation (aka. real life situation)<br />And you should expect more sharpness if you think you are more disciplined shooter than me or if you have a better DSLR or if you bother to use tripod unlike me.<br /><br />This is the scenario – The image below, I took it casually when I was having a cold beer with my partner on a pub across the road on second floor (Sydneysiders will probably know which Pub I was at from the picture).<br />Distance? Not sure, but it’s rather far all the way across the road. With my eyes I could only see people trying to cross the road.<br />No tripod, shot with S5 JPG and sharpness set to lowest, ISO was 400, straight from camera…. Lots of variables, so this is by no means the sharpest the lens can provide, but it captures lots of details even in this (very) less than optimum scenario.<br />This is the resized, unprocessed shot: (ISO was 400, so details were slightly sacrificed to begin with)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbIk7GfZOC1mnMscyUM2P1wkLhfSWkKE6SFEvoP4n6stkw78hwICZOiHzjwNr5ihmDWYrbhJUThcszuFnX0XnY1r0aOmcPqgNaIo0TQ7SU2YnlA10jtE4H6jFII6BoBdhj0ZxNT7EmDQ/s1600/Zeiss_Across1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWbIk7GfZOC1mnMscyUM2P1wkLhfSWkKE6SFEvoP4n6stkw78hwICZOiHzjwNr5ihmDWYrbhJUThcszuFnX0XnY1r0aOmcPqgNaIo0TQ7SU2YnlA10jtE4H6jFII6BoBdhj0ZxNT7EmDQ/s400/Zeiss_Across1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404631215397964754" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Below is the unprocessed 100% crop of the picture:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUF0f1ZGKhr1gEHiztoUCWKxaPrcUcTEqh3RMTQZsjdyNd_Ldyl097pbKlTbA2JcQPoDy9dqJJFcYYgqCkNLnESd_h7E6umduCYI_m5jYE9e6GjZB5WzF1ON11zYEXSCv76XUTnY6Tf0/s1600/Zeiss_100cropA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihUF0f1ZGKhr1gEHiztoUCWKxaPrcUcTEqh3RMTQZsjdyNd_Ldyl097pbKlTbA2JcQPoDy9dqJJFcYYgqCkNLnESd_h7E6umduCYI_m5jYE9e6GjZB5WzF1ON11zYEXSCv76XUTnY6Tf0/s400/Zeiss_100cropA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404631400219955442" border="0" /></a><br /><br />One more sample, but this time I took this wide open at f/2, focus was infinity. I guess many people wonder how sharp the lens is wide open. ISO is better this time – ISO 100 (awesome!)<br />But I was still shooting Jpeg with lowest sharpness, image was saved as “save for the web jpg”, yada yada and handheld. So again, less than optimum situation.<br /><br />This time the subject is very far away, obviously. I shot this when I was at Harbour Bridge. I thoughtfully did a 100% crops from all edges and divided them into sharpened and unsharpened sides. It takes time and annoying. You see how nice I am?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUQSehyphenhyphen92YSQL34C6PJ_LlW7iSNKZpUGMIvj9PuFebbikBZmOFIE2KutipBr30Fwpt9bfJDVFZY0kRyB4Khwj1u9k3G1mBnBI6Gpapi8yPAV49wu1BX760vudaHgum6BBLXSuFncDzuY/s1600/Zeiss_Sharpnesstest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 353px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaUQSehyphenhyphen92YSQL34C6PJ_LlW7iSNKZpUGMIvj9PuFebbikBZmOFIE2KutipBr30Fwpt9bfJDVFZY0kRyB4Khwj1u9k3G1mBnBI6Gpapi8yPAV49wu1BX760vudaHgum6BBLXSuFncDzuY/s400/Zeiss_Sharpnesstest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404631702030945810" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">The Chart</span><br /><br />I know some of you guys like to read charts and graphs - Owning the lens and using it in day to day shooting just won’t cut if for you. You need to read the charts so they can tell you it has the most awesome sharpness wide open and 0.009% distortion.<br /><br />I am terrible at maths, so naturally I don’t like charts and graphs, also, when I look at those fancy lens charts and graphs, I have no idea what those mean...<br />But nonetheless I’ll show you chart and graph for all you chart huggers and graphs humpers out there. I made this chart based on my personal findings after acquiring the lens, so result may vary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBfnTeVEXNX_4gHXxmpVCWy07RBg14_thYuwa5Ml0PuTTZKDDWZI9Jzg-KoCo_bQUkMzwOIf5fOmspndWRRe2XRC-ndzck_0DlrALZVvri71PVnBy0qSz7y0AGGPF71ef8BsXGw-m_T8/s1600/Zeiss_Chart1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBfnTeVEXNX_4gHXxmpVCWy07RBg14_thYuwa5Ml0PuTTZKDDWZI9Jzg-KoCo_bQUkMzwOIf5fOmspndWRRe2XRC-ndzck_0DlrALZVvri71PVnBy0qSz7y0AGGPF71ef8BsXGw-m_T8/s400/Zeiss_Chart1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404632762794372450" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-RP0OcB3i6ZY7rhaHR6PU7Pf0MHvOWRJdpGzWN-dw7mmBB7xr8uFzBDGWzd0TzvipOVmOQmep8Sc-NmJiPScdNAaN-3CKzOOP-UG5jHEOyj52pNby2OfJC3wHxBS5Vb7qyBtB36-UNM/s1600/Zeiss-chart2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-RP0OcB3i6ZY7rhaHR6PU7Pf0MHvOWRJdpGzWN-dw7mmBB7xr8uFzBDGWzd0TzvipOVmOQmep8Sc-NmJiPScdNAaN-3CKzOOP-UG5jHEOyj52pNby2OfJC3wHxBS5Vb7qyBtB36-UNM/s400/Zeiss-chart2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404632635696392578" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">The infamous, almost obligatory brick wall test</span><br /><br />I live in a cardboard box, so no brick wall test for you. Okay, okay, no more kidding around. Let’s talk about its 1:2 macro feature instead.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Macro Feature</span><br /><br />Although the name says Makro Planar, but I don’t think I <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Plan </span>to use this as <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Makro </span>lens at all (get it? plan? haha? I am terrible am I...)<br />But I seriously don't look at this lens as macro lens. I personally consider this lens as a portrait/general outdoor semi-tele lens first, and macro second (the macro for me is just like bonus feature from the lens).<br /><br />Anyway if you are thinking to buy this lens as a macro lens and having doubts because it’s “only” 1:2, don’t be. First of all, because you can get an adapter to make it 1:1 and besides, 1:2 can get you very small too unless you are shooting very very tiny objects.<br /><br />Since I also have Tamron 90mm diMacro f/2.8 (awesome lens by the way) which is 1:1, I can give you a comparison shot of how small is 1:2 compared to 1:1. Look at the picture below. Note that my Tamron at closest distance can only operate at f/5.6, whereas the Zeiss at closest distance can still be used at f/2. Not sure how useful it is though since f/2 will give you very little DOF when you are that close.<br /><br />But manual focusing wise (eg. critically fine tuning the focus), the Zeiss obviously has much superior manual focus and as mentioned earlier, it has very generous focus throw in close distance, allowing you to easily fine tune your macro.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR_ZoFWY-0dGJweKA4S9XAs0tr0kGAtuhWq97bj7vy38Smlexm8OYYZFpMslqbKv2gc08e0yAkHYZa0Pd7-18CdJ-WQ9Rc19USflPeurC71sREznS1oMzGzi0V0NVOu99ElQiZPB-Hcc/s1600/Zeiss_1-2Scale.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKR_ZoFWY-0dGJweKA4S9XAs0tr0kGAtuhWq97bj7vy38Smlexm8OYYZFpMslqbKv2gc08e0yAkHYZa0Pd7-18CdJ-WQ9Rc19USflPeurC71sREznS1oMzGzi0V0NVOu99ElQiZPB-Hcc/s400/Zeiss_1-2Scale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404633893713182274" border="0" /></a><br />I know this particular picture below does not really resemble the beauty of the lens' macro feature, but I just need to include this because I spent bloody half an hour under the strong sun just to take a moderately decent picture of this little bugger on flight. So considering all the hardwork, at least I should just whack it in the review...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4AAD2snd6mo1JuB7mQY-P8hTp2tc-FN0gt6h-v6IMW4-vUE-Ll9JYD1MwU9J6alZOuvlmSTCZRL4pvs4SzO2TUeY1bDszxHlU4hmmtrC4g9r5Zt_HJQUR5XB0mMpVZsTJI4Y71YC0ss/s1600/Zeiss-dragonflymacro.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4AAD2snd6mo1JuB7mQY-P8hTp2tc-FN0gt6h-v6IMW4-vUE-Ll9JYD1MwU9J6alZOuvlmSTCZRL4pvs4SzO2TUeY1bDszxHlU4hmmtrC4g9r5Zt_HJQUR5XB0mMpVZsTJI4Y71YC0ss/s400/Zeiss-dragonflymacro.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404634930372003410" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Bokeh</span><br /><br />Ah bokeh… my favourite yet so subjective subject. I am sorry that it’s not objective object (??)<br />I briefly mentioned about bokeh earlier. Compared to 85mm 1.4, I think the Zeiss has more polite bokeh, but it’s by no means clinical or sterile looking.<br />It is not as polite looking as Tamron 90mm – can be bad or good depending on your taste.<br /><br />I haven’t used older Zeiss lenses before, but I’ve read that Zeiss as good as they are, tend to make lenses with sterile looking bokeh in the past (precision is their main concern), but they seem to break the trend with this new 100mm. It has very good bokeh with lots of character.<br /><br />Let’s talk about point of lights first, and then we’ll talk about bokeh as in background blur and blur transition later on.<br />Below is the point of light sample that I took at different apertures. Stopping it down to f/2.8 will still result in pretty acceptable round bokeh. But if bokeh is your main obsession, I suggest you to look at Kinoptik 100mm f/2, now that is my idea of perfect bokeh. It has this crazy swirly bokeh, but to be honest I can’t bring myself to part with that much money just for bokeh. Here is the Zeiss bokeh:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNUOlPLfkcJHNKQ65hLCuqP2twvglhZav22gTrkpkepKAUOl28HZNejWGVYgHuQ27k8HNac5ctlRBPlrMID7Wb9DvUVmj-lVRF7Hw4mcgaUGGVZKV2t8uRd0tkzS_VksDcOoYcc9Mz-I/s1600/Zeiss_Incrementbokeh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 171px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijNUOlPLfkcJHNKQ65hLCuqP2twvglhZav22gTrkpkepKAUOl28HZNejWGVYgHuQ27k8HNac5ctlRBPlrMID7Wb9DvUVmj-lVRF7Hw4mcgaUGGVZKV2t8uRd0tkzS_VksDcOoYcc9Mz-I/s400/Zeiss_Incrementbokeh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404635330559804130" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And this is bokeh in foliage – probably where you will find most of your bokeh from, so I am attaching a sample of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunH1eodIF_Dra-BumWXe88MKrS73s1b0pGHqYvTseHUgjOtzLOEuDMAsaGaB8lkNbsNWj1ACAU5nV7gu8HpnaUWD2KqAUVm1_pBI61VNF9FqCsfedXHEz8EkWkkZjUXSo9aky5Ga4CAw/s1600/Zeiss-foliagebokeh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunH1eodIF_Dra-BumWXe88MKrS73s1b0pGHqYvTseHUgjOtzLOEuDMAsaGaB8lkNbsNWj1ACAU5nV7gu8HpnaUWD2KqAUVm1_pBI61VNF9FqCsfedXHEz8EkWkkZjUXSo9aky5Ga4CAw/s400/Zeiss-foliagebokeh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404635705993478162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Bokeh in Background Blur and Blur Transition</span><br /><br />It’s all good. (man, you have to wonder about the credibility of a reviewer that says “it’s all good” for the impression…)<br />Anyway, I found that the transition is “it’s all good”.<br />Very smoothly transition. I included two different set of samples here, one is in macro range, the other one is in more normal range.<br /><br />These are from closer range ones – pictures are not as sharp as they could be because I didn’t process the images.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0O13QwH9jXWXSrCEb-Dsz5qR0rlDgXbuiR8trjbsnyOecxSbTtIwaPsmBPiRdMyIL3Pzyu6wzsyzJqJk2NaPFtZ6HVle9WgNohW9gSxKLrhl4CHNOtZDFBVrQcCySA5l_r754cj-Ld78/s1600/Zeiss_blurtransmallONE.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0O13QwH9jXWXSrCEb-Dsz5qR0rlDgXbuiR8trjbsnyOecxSbTtIwaPsmBPiRdMyIL3Pzyu6wzsyzJqJk2NaPFtZ6HVle9WgNohW9gSxKLrhl4CHNOtZDFBVrQcCySA5l_r754cj-Ld78/s400/Zeiss_blurtransmallONE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404636082270669410" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbiDY50GCbsXL5FP0gafcrs_hs6HGbRZK18Td-XlRA3hR2zbGH1O5Zd7UGiVon7IApKrxgNYlP12VdW-Aw4Vcdc6c91IGZ5ZRK9l5R9-a8U4JJNipi-bzJ7GUUELX4la49DcvE6kf53o/s1600/Zeiss_blurtransmallTWO.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbiDY50GCbsXL5FP0gafcrs_hs6HGbRZK18Td-XlRA3hR2zbGH1O5Zd7UGiVon7IApKrxgNYlP12VdW-Aw4Vcdc6c91IGZ5ZRK9l5R9-a8U4JJNipi-bzJ7GUUELX4la49DcvE6kf53o/s400/Zeiss_blurtransmallTWO.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404636251200969362" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This one is from “normal” range. The letter boxes are very nicely blurred<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MZvDeHYkU9d3qkXibGUIdZ-ecQNY-M3iV3ueh8YbFr8UeWJ6pAvd1e5dJjJP60r6ILNW0Oh9M54hlXd4-qD5MBDFib1sTdmIvLEdU4JA_GJ_RL2UEjg9z7Mha3y3l4tqK8N0RgaZ-RM/s1600/Zeiss_Blurtransition_LargeObject.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6MZvDeHYkU9d3qkXibGUIdZ-ecQNY-M3iV3ueh8YbFr8UeWJ6pAvd1e5dJjJP60r6ILNW0Oh9M54hlXd4-qD5MBDFib1sTdmIvLEdU4JA_GJ_RL2UEjg9z7Mha3y3l4tqK8N0RgaZ-RM/s400/Zeiss_Blurtransition_LargeObject.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404636438431260818" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And this one is blur transition from more pointy objects:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpFmHPMId0_0eEdJuBSbrr34tZyduskIoC8CU5Q9P4WtavwmSrqqd6E-Veb8g9jH9IkoJCY014mGN3WO9WoZ3sfns6tg_PoemumaCgJVu7XWFjwg_FFnsoumI7nZE647BJSpQ-3N63wo/s1600/Zeiss_transition1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpFmHPMId0_0eEdJuBSbrr34tZyduskIoC8CU5Q9P4WtavwmSrqqd6E-Veb8g9jH9IkoJCY014mGN3WO9WoZ3sfns6tg_PoemumaCgJVu7XWFjwg_FFnsoumI7nZE647BJSpQ-3N63wo/s400/Zeiss_transition1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404636803946607250" border="0" /></a><br /><br />On to the background blur itself, Zeiss renders this very nicely. You should be noticing this already by now.<br /><br />The next picture shows how Zeiss renders the out of focus background.<br /><br />Well actually my partner took this one below. I am sure that her intention was to create a sharp picture but since she is not really good at taking picture, she accidentally misfocused it and turning the whole picture into a background blur instead (haha…).<br />But amazingly it turned out to be one beautiful picture (maybe I shouldn’t have laughed so early…. meh… beginner’s luck…). Anyway, have a look at the picture that she took – the way Zeiss renders the background is very good and by no means sterile or boring.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFqN6UlFIYre6lOMSK9NlF4Fo6so0xKGygR3xt8bxiu3EN19EhYUjo71IGLUsPocHd2d-RikgpV3TdCg2feUsXaUGg5QN413xH-vJMoXnKuhCGVXXtuLM608uPAnwmFCN2ZvXMmkMZ7w/s1600/Zeiss-partnerbackgroundblur.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFqN6UlFIYre6lOMSK9NlF4Fo6so0xKGygR3xt8bxiu3EN19EhYUjo71IGLUsPocHd2d-RikgpV3TdCg2feUsXaUGg5QN413xH-vJMoXnKuhCGVXXtuLM608uPAnwmFCN2ZvXMmkMZ7w/s400/Zeiss-partnerbackgroundblur.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404637129102663362" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is another sample; I took this one, not her. But hers is still nicer...goddarn it...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGhFVnFVhjwHgvtiTjytrf4fyONLnof15sCRkrABHGzmxiwIiJlNdeZi6dVmsm7U7WloCxLpxDKn6_6Tz-F8lGZLvvG4TX_JQlcojEbhoSb4wr_MeGqbAvROYZQahoM4xgqemDSWKYHM/s1600/Zeiss_backgroundblurr2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGhFVnFVhjwHgvtiTjytrf4fyONLnof15sCRkrABHGzmxiwIiJlNdeZi6dVmsm7U7WloCxLpxDKn6_6Tz-F8lGZLvvG4TX_JQlcojEbhoSb4wr_MeGqbAvROYZQahoM4xgqemDSWKYHM/s400/Zeiss_backgroundblurr2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404637317579206834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Combined this with Zeiss’ sharpness and colour, you get yourself a killer portrait lens. I have a lot of very beautiful portrait made from this lens, but I am not able to post this on public because it’s private photos.<br />But Imagine a nicely focused portrait, with pleasing colour that reminds you of film, smooth blur transition, and creamy but yet detailed background, that’s what you’ll get from Zeiss 100mm f/2.<br /><br />Speaking of background and portrait, you must have heard the infamous “Zeiss 3D look”. Well, any fast semi-tele will be able to create 3D look, although many people report that this lens has the “special” Zeiss 3D look.<br /><br />I think this look is actually a combination of many things. Firstly, the aperture and focal length (obviously), combined with its sharpness wide open which is impressive, and also from the tonality of the colour. The lens provides very good contrast too. I apologise again for talking so much about portrait without providing one single portrait shot. I am not comfortable to ask strangers for portrait.<br /><br />Hopefully I can redeem myself with the sample below – I framed a shot that resembles a portrait scenario, so just imagine yourself that there is someone in the picture, then you will have an idea of how the portrait looks like. Oh well, I put a picture there to help you improvise. Geez... looks like I have to do everything in this review...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBG-YRu4VrKFEi0bNRBvQSyPrH_NND7GMM9nNHMyODCM3gP1VA9RJoy3MMhtnaM6T6YeuISrd6ogl45dOTPErrnmldEMpHiiKET1P0daByqfDhyphenhyphenfY-SbvoV2giqogL9JaOVcaPz3zXII/s1600/Zeiss_ProcessedandUnprocessed.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPBG-YRu4VrKFEi0bNRBvQSyPrH_NND7GMM9nNHMyODCM3gP1VA9RJoy3MMhtnaM6T6YeuISrd6ogl45dOTPErrnmldEMpHiiKET1P0daByqfDhyphenhyphenfY-SbvoV2giqogL9JaOVcaPz3zXII/s400/Zeiss_ProcessedandUnprocessed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404638747243304050" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well I do have some shots of random people, but they were all made in a hurry, so you won’t see the best of the lens can offer. But I’ll post an image anyway. If you are one of the people in the picture, sorry I didn’t get a signed release form off you beforehand.<br /><br />I colour corrected the picture below because my S5 confused the WB on this picture.<br />The two girls shouldn’t be in perfect focus because I focused on the guy in the middle.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizDXBs8m2oNJChAQK_mPNIMQ6990bZe_gHO387FzLCuGo5j79NQBq7QDZsLE7KBq-OlxHwXasZfOsoCPPJS6hKcr3SWVIpED0t6F9ugAQBtb856rJR6hQkn1yTwNyAvo68IU0Mv0cDN8/s1600/Zeiss_peoplesample.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizDXBs8m2oNJChAQK_mPNIMQ6990bZe_gHO387FzLCuGo5j79NQBq7QDZsLE7KBq-OlxHwXasZfOsoCPPJS6hKcr3SWVIpED0t6F9ugAQBtb856rJR6hQkn1yTwNyAvo68IU0Mv0cDN8/s400/Zeiss_peoplesample.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404639048394732738" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">Object Isolation & Making Ordinary Objects Not So Ordinary (aka. OI&MOONSO)</span><br /><br />Some of you may also wonder how much Depth of Field are you missing out on this lens compared to f/1.4 lenses since the Zeiss is only f/2?<br />With comparison to my 85mm 1.4, if you do the DOF calculation, the DOF you get from 85mm f/1.4 at f/1.4 is almost identical to 100mm f/2 lens at f/2, so you can still get that very shallow DOF just like when you use 85mm 1.4.<br />For example, if the object is 3m in front of you, with 85mm at f/1.4 you’ll get around 6.85cm total focused area. With 100mm at f/2, similar object distance, you’ll get around 6.96cm total focused area.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkXSlX7Sfaja73fMxRNVkQ6ltUnG5F7vS6OTWAFmgwoumZKwyhA3honrVJUzlovmxUesXIkA08uro5ZtOtSlKfyCQEs4rhibGkUqHWNqiSMLgWh3KrnwxLi1HUDXWblc9Adz0-07TNhg/s1600/Zeiss_nikon_wideopen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 397px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkXSlX7Sfaja73fMxRNVkQ6ltUnG5F7vS6OTWAFmgwoumZKwyhA3honrVJUzlovmxUesXIkA08uro5ZtOtSlKfyCQEs4rhibGkUqHWNqiSMLgWh3KrnwxLi1HUDXWblc9Adz0-07TNhg/s400/Zeiss_nikon_wideopen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404639657909960162" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Because of that, it also has the ability to make ordinary objects look special, just like your fast 50mm or 85mm lenses. The next three pictures conclude my observation of this lens from optical point of view.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GhfGJVraVpUUmCskEPp5DXFVfP4AxJder_zCqx0RrGISH7zegaiMs5beBoSwbrGBPPVJ85T2UCtQd8HKTcaWHLoq9Pay-rtXZ_4k7aDFDznYva5x8Yjzy2M-Fdu5Z-qs5VH8BRLbusA/s1600/Zeiss_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-GhfGJVraVpUUmCskEPp5DXFVfP4AxJder_zCqx0RrGISH7zegaiMs5beBoSwbrGBPPVJ85T2UCtQd8HKTcaWHLoq9Pay-rtXZ_4k7aDFDznYva5x8Yjzy2M-Fdu5Z-qs5VH8BRLbusA/s400/Zeiss_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404640032371947010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQqKkRH6o3k_AoUIVh6vWYYmWaNRHrEXGrZ7cVLOHRgnQ924eZxcFIxpEBDWLA00L3U_figVJgqjVyHnsxG_cPaylvGicr_0iEUKrvjNA0eK6BnKIE5z4NVEeGfGb2JMnWbLNzDy-hZo/s1600/Zeiss_2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQqKkRH6o3k_AoUIVh6vWYYmWaNRHrEXGrZ7cVLOHRgnQ924eZxcFIxpEBDWLA00L3U_figVJgqjVyHnsxG_cPaylvGicr_0iEUKrvjNA0eK6BnKIE5z4NVEeGfGb2JMnWbLNzDy-hZo/s400/Zeiss_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404640127602783058" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezbLSBvawKoLZzufzjIibeb1eOMDYnJS9GK0B00fSolHcJaAsiYbhbFV5617mnhLIvEqoCvLIvmfxD-DDkxCaTQyjrvDTh8HWKGDt3FhC-P_AaQ0nda81Mbem7jBgjM-OAyT45j4hl2c/s1600/Zeiss_borderlands.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezbLSBvawKoLZzufzjIibeb1eOMDYnJS9GK0B00fSolHcJaAsiYbhbFV5617mnhLIvEqoCvLIvmfxD-DDkxCaTQyjrvDTh8HWKGDt3FhC-P_AaQ0nda81Mbem7jBgjM-OAyT45j4hl2c/s400/Zeiss_borderlands.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404640294300270946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">THE ASKING PRICE & FINAL THOUGHTS</span><br /><br />At the time I am writing this, the price for the lens is roughly around US$1,500. With roughly a mere $250 extra you can get top of the range Nikon zooms like 14-24mm f/2.8 or Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 which undoubtedly will provide much more convenience and more focused shots too.<br /><br />If you don’t understand the lens well, you will probably think this lens is not a good value for money. I too was thinking maybe this Zeiss is a bit overpriced considering it’s “only” a manual focus lens. I purchased it just from image quality only, but after I actually held one in my hands and started using it, now I understand better why the lens is not cheap.<br /><br />People (especially those who never used it and those who are not too keen on MF lenses) tend to be too hung up on weighing the value of a lens from image quality and fancy features only.<br />And also, because what they do is just viewing the samples from the web, comparing Zeiss samples with the <span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">very well-processed shots</span> from other lenses, they will probably think, “meh, it's not that much better than my Nikon/Canon plus MF is a hassle.”<br /><br />I must say that these days we are getting more and more spoiled with all those VR and high ISO to the point that some of us start asking for a VR on wide angle. Of course it’s nice to have a very high-tech lens, but getting back to basic has its own value too.<br /><br />Having said all those little rants above, what exactly are you buying from this lens?<br />Naturally, Zeiss being a much smaller company will need to have higher margin than companies like Nikon or Canon because like it or not, this Zeiss is a niche lens.<br />But I don’t think it is overpriced at all. If I had to start all over again, I’d buy the lens again.<br /><br />To understant the price of the lens, you have to have the notion that the manual focus of the lens is actually a feature, not a drawback. Sure, you can get a new Nikon 85mm 1.4 with less money and it gives you an AF. Or you can even get the beautiful 105mm DC.<br />But no way those lenses have the build and feel of this Zeiss 100mm especially when it comes to manual focus. So you buy this lens if you actually want a very well made manual focus lens, not you buy it but you have this feeling that you need to 'tolerate' the manual focus.<br /><br /><br />I will describe the experience of using this lens like this:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">You go walking around, and then you see something nice that catches your attention. After having a rough idea of how you want to take that picture, you look through the viewfinder of your camera and then you start fine tuning the composition that you have in mind.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Then you start turning that smooth, cold metal barrel, carefully watching how the object slowly forms to focus in your viewfinder. You relax your breath, exhale, making sure you ground yourself well, waiting for the perfect moment, and then you press the shutter button of your camera. Once.</span><br /><br />Of course, often your result will be slightly unfocused, or you make a slight camera shake resulting in not so sharp picture, but when everything is right and you perfectly NAIL that picture, it will give you a very very beautiful picture and you will have this very satisfying experience and you are going to be very proud of that picture.<br /><br />This experience will take you to the root of photography itself, really connected with both your subject and your equipment. That is what I call photography as a hobby. Going out and randomly started shooting at 10fps filling 8GB memory card every 1/2 hour is not my idea of photography as a hobby.<br /><br />It’s a similar experience like fishing - it’s not always about the fish. If it’s all about the fish, you might as well just hire a trailer with a net and just scoop the fish out - easy.<br />The experience of the fish hooked on the rod and reeling the rod will mean a lot, and if you finally able to land the fish, you will feel accomplished and proud.<br />Manual focus with a nice lens somewhat feels like that. However you really need to get a nice MF lens for this experience (at least those Nikon Ais lenses, not manual focusing a Nikon 18-55mm kit lens, haha..)<br /><br />So, buy this lens if you honestly enjoy working with a manual focus lens. If you buy it just for image quality only and you think you have to force yourself to put up with the lack of manual focus, I don’t think this lens gives the most value for you. You might be better off with something like 105mm DC which itself is an excellent lens, but you won’t get the same feeling as using this Zeiss (can be either good or bad depending how much you appreciate working manually)<br /><br />If you like MF, you can also get those Ais lenses which I think offer the best value for money, but then again, you won’t find the Zeiss 100mm f/2 quality from Nikon Ais primes. The Zeiss won’t double the image quality, but it is still significant enough to justify the price.<br /><br />So back to price talk, I think what justifies the price is, the build, the shooting experience, and of course, superb image quality, and at the beginning of the review you learned that Zeiss has more controlled QC. With that in mind, ask yourself, how many years are you going to keep this photography as a hobby?<br /><br />If the answer is still many many years, this $1500 you cough up will mean nothing in the long run. If this lens is what you really want but the price is a bit high, try not to settle for lesser lens because this lens will probably last longer than you. So save up for a few more months, do a bit more overtime at work or whatever, but I am sure you much rather lose a few hundreds more now than getting stuck with a second best choice for many years just because you want to save a bit of money.<br /><br />In a nutshell, should you get this lens? The answer is Yes, if:<br />- You love MF (this is a must, if not, don't bother with this lens unless money isn’t really a concern of yours)<br />- You want a versatile lens that you can use for macro, portrait, semi-tele works, and everything else in between<br />- You don’t shoot fast moving objects most of the time<br />- You want a lens that excels in sharpness, colour, and contrast<br />- You don’t have a partner with violent tendency. No matter how nice this lens is, it is not worth your live. It is not funny to be killed by your partner just because you bought a fancy lens.<br /><br />That concludes this rather long review and I hope you like the review. 6000+ words on this – it’s longer than most of my major essays back when I was still at Uni. Phew.<br />The rest of the photos below are the ones that I took using the lens, but if you see a picture of the lens itself, that means it was not taken with the lens, obviously.<br />Sorry that I don’t have striking photos yet, I just got this lens not long ago.<br /><br />**** <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">I support my growing lens addiction through this review. So if you find this review helpful, you can</span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);">help me</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);">help you</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">help me</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 153);">help you</span> <span style="color: rgb(0, 204, 204);">help me</span> <span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">to donate some money for me so that I can continue my lens addiction. $5 is good but $10 doubles the joy. $25 will buy me a couple of Dominos Pizza delivered; $799 will buy me a new Zeiss 25mm. Send me a message when you are ready to donate and I will send you my details for you to donate your money. Don’t worry I won’t chop your dolla.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Nah... Just kidding. If you like the review, just say thanks or tell other people about it. </span>Oh, hope you liked the review!</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> </span></span>*******<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTFIkw5cDAIuuNsbHwqK7NtDlGYguUJZyucbVxfoL9t542mDb8GkwmpRG5T03cdusTQRhZSp4_tGIi6fPQ8xgDEkiu62VL6PMehOCRAopUfzQxcZeSlTZbI4hRM0BDrPcAnNNl1RZ7Qw/s1600/Zeiss_Product1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTFIkw5cDAIuuNsbHwqK7NtDlGYguUJZyucbVxfoL9t542mDb8GkwmpRG5T03cdusTQRhZSp4_tGIi6fPQ8xgDEkiu62VL6PMehOCRAopUfzQxcZeSlTZbI4hRM0BDrPcAnNNl1RZ7Qw/s400/Zeiss_Product1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644391097390162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8L1lpiuGCJKzpXwGaEW-mNgfjlbe8Q_dx1qqt3KAnkm5Q-h9b1v0p3FphjhYZATabxcNyBHsG9q1LFkFZDFrYSyqPLjhjsTQQe7_kT8JTsj12-Rc9ctbLOiwxVAhyphenhyphen3q0zhsPQn0YbbSU/s1600/LeavesOnSunnyDay.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8L1lpiuGCJKzpXwGaEW-mNgfjlbe8Q_dx1qqt3KAnkm5Q-h9b1v0p3FphjhYZATabxcNyBHsG9q1LFkFZDFrYSyqPLjhjsTQQe7_kT8JTsj12-Rc9ctbLOiwxVAhyphenhyphen3q0zhsPQn0YbbSU/s400/LeavesOnSunnyDay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644530411127458" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvgjHRPD053OnOuIeqn9DdzYLhHpf7RmfaR19unch6TJcmayF1E8H2XiIR9GblAu6j_BZ4BMxfF5zEK1mF2ktU4U0PYU4jK4-GXVOLjeGOlP2jJM6mt1Ym0dSn0fg9SfQGjifVA8IJpI/s1600/LeBokeh.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvgjHRPD053OnOuIeqn9DdzYLhHpf7RmfaR19unch6TJcmayF1E8H2XiIR9GblAu6j_BZ4BMxfF5zEK1mF2ktU4U0PYU4jK4-GXVOLjeGOlP2jJM6mt1Ym0dSn0fg9SfQGjifVA8IJpI/s400/LeBokeh.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644636515397938" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4rltPoaRcy7sDzUjFPGQaYoerdItgcPvQdKTBYILQaQLcikjyrMIvIn1QaXNQDxTTPRMtrvcYjQpDXFTeZUg2_RwKIGd-oL287QJaRHGMSBED_Bm4MCQpa8z4VLREiREVOiITmJB9BXE/s1600/Flight.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4rltPoaRcy7sDzUjFPGQaYoerdItgcPvQdKTBYILQaQLcikjyrMIvIn1QaXNQDxTTPRMtrvcYjQpDXFTeZUg2_RwKIGd-oL287QJaRHGMSBED_Bm4MCQpa8z4VLREiREVOiITmJB9BXE/s400/Flight.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644743586660562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmU8K11YzA2Cm6dZPuY-fTHmWqNMrqCRy2BHed3cVPMlizEwwyNgBTUTkgzo-QxiYNV7pX5P2Vt5njuY2-OzgsiYr6P7cIJzeSeIXlvcoOajK-KpsXCX6wC9P7eyX9Hrs5NhU7NpBMxY/s1600/Quack.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJmU8K11YzA2Cm6dZPuY-fTHmWqNMrqCRy2BHed3cVPMlizEwwyNgBTUTkgzo-QxiYNV7pX5P2Vt5njuY2-OzgsiYr6P7cIJzeSeIXlvcoOajK-KpsXCX6wC9P7eyX9Hrs5NhU7NpBMxY/s400/Quack.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644846635728898" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtSVMuwMbQ30bgRa9NZ_qqdY3K9072AcII0gdhCHygRKeDNC5sDQkigCcASfCL3sDwL2pu7kkKBIMOVZwIJJdYPYELvpgT0wTzStexr8HaTQZQ7hAG59ycTqK4-EvICnRx2-kkvRaypg/s1600/Zeiss_chairs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghtSVMuwMbQ30bgRa9NZ_qqdY3K9072AcII0gdhCHygRKeDNC5sDQkigCcASfCL3sDwL2pu7kkKBIMOVZwIJJdYPYELvpgT0wTzStexr8HaTQZQ7hAG59ycTqK4-EvICnRx2-kkvRaypg/s400/Zeiss_chairs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404644944511864050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUk8XmkEoJSNy0VXn32ykZ2e_pWnWVvS8zB4d84krmhj-hJUveweu5BkCcBX9_cE5XL-1BnxHxHtXJEbusPAwiM1TGar4UO8pfRBdqxtVWCMKMX_yMCQZmrMC0Uy0x7ST5FSfRU4fzjg/s1600/Zeiss_overwater.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDUk8XmkEoJSNy0VXn32ykZ2e_pWnWVvS8zB4d84krmhj-hJUveweu5BkCcBX9_cE5XL-1BnxHxHtXJEbusPAwiM1TGar4UO8pfRBdqxtVWCMKMX_yMCQZmrMC0Uy0x7ST5FSfRU4fzjg/s400/Zeiss_overwater.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404645080644111618" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23Cp5vuE_xdeQUXcuszGXnu-52S1p9u1yfWNxmdHC3A7fEdUD_nZzt_Kk9O9NkM-wKVVeUQ4nJI0dh2ceU4R6CWPyrQthAvFN85sYqVo8nd9TPTixy76dtUwEwXwMsuBZ6nD8J4PayGg/s1600/grass.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23Cp5vuE_xdeQUXcuszGXnu-52S1p9u1yfWNxmdHC3A7fEdUD_nZzt_Kk9O9NkM-wKVVeUQ4nJI0dh2ceU4R6CWPyrQthAvFN85sYqVo8nd9TPTixy76dtUwEwXwMsuBZ6nD8J4PayGg/s400/grass.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404645302439929794" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3YDlNiJG6iJQQGmP-LojnTfJivrDJnvLGurFozrnpKnaTw7QOxntcK5a9EWiVu4mkYaWMUsyYA0uygYuRPcOc-QBe4sCgduzp2F4UOU1OgX63DJtuzPqJZo_PrPEoTXDMMZXwv1udI4/s1600/tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3YDlNiJG6iJQQGmP-LojnTfJivrDJnvLGurFozrnpKnaTw7QOxntcK5a9EWiVu4mkYaWMUsyYA0uygYuRPcOc-QBe4sCgduzp2F4UOU1OgX63DJtuzPqJZo_PrPEoTXDMMZXwv1udI4/s400/tree.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404645838584988850" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4CCGwpXuOyGRMaDmZtoTCNw5AraVQe1Ds5VbsX4J15SLcEI4ad9ZLHlwzJP3n2t1SUixBThht1pMZQIvQShz1zBDZ9D6xvQ3qP7_PnCBrL7gKwHLJH487eL0mMBx7kSHgFO2yT4JbJo/s1600/fern.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4CCGwpXuOyGRMaDmZtoTCNw5AraVQe1Ds5VbsX4J15SLcEI4ad9ZLHlwzJP3n2t1SUixBThht1pMZQIvQShz1zBDZ9D6xvQ3qP7_PnCBrL7gKwHLJH487eL0mMBx7kSHgFO2yT4JbJo/s400/fern.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404645990860393970" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToAxOXxEfF2qo4_OUGQEGF7-myzwJv1qTLVYT8kar2Qkh8w1Y66sdgXBhXpNARX2Ge6UUg5asvav6S4ZusnQ-WEyqfxNy6EcXd4qdPYOu0Ip_RAPVNzVF8lAEY3BiSQNS4mB1KWXbLNE/s1600/Zeiss-opera.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 244px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhToAxOXxEfF2qo4_OUGQEGF7-myzwJv1qTLVYT8kar2Qkh8w1Y66sdgXBhXpNARX2Ge6UUg5asvav6S4ZusnQ-WEyqfxNy6EcXd4qdPYOu0Ip_RAPVNzVF8lAEY3BiSQNS4mB1KWXbLNE/s400/Zeiss-opera.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404646126781497826" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dHkDGyasl3s0AIzd-foTqhRFTZdcFN-o3oB0ezPMqrOkzSo4N6T2KMuf4fTJt72hn6PCMvS7e8XLjWBrWOYIVH2GQAhUvYmJx7p6m8aukxBziatSnUa6EU2t1chdZJjDxjN4bPuyhD8/s1600/Zeiss_lizard.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dHkDGyasl3s0AIzd-foTqhRFTZdcFN-o3oB0ezPMqrOkzSo4N6T2KMuf4fTJt72hn6PCMvS7e8XLjWBrWOYIVH2GQAhUvYmJx7p6m8aukxBziatSnUa6EU2t1chdZJjDxjN4bPuyhD8/s400/Zeiss_lizard.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404646286997870098" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4Lb9SL5btXTvbUqYiu1vlqqxYN0vPQwGZ5iBzios6I2axwMRE7py_9DKAkdA5HUh3Paur56khl1eAc_PjT-sdGljomVazEYS3vmIpGX9fkmrlNhwed3z-CeA7CyJ8p_vBgFYCk0cmFM/s1600/Zeiss-lizardy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF4Lb9SL5btXTvbUqYiu1vlqqxYN0vPQwGZ5iBzios6I2axwMRE7py_9DKAkdA5HUh3Paur56khl1eAc_PjT-sdGljomVazEYS3vmIpGX9fkmrlNhwed3z-CeA7CyJ8p_vBgFYCk0cmFM/s400/Zeiss-lizardy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404646369546501218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Wxik5ONKWi9tBmBo0jKSAuHQNen8hRBIdbyS8zzRoKuCv67-kEsrwHYLejlN2BSZz2BNB0pXYaiDN79h92Dld8UD6ykEmrQYu4fG8QzeoWpXEULQADVxk3JDuwx7eEux5E37-ZyHqVU/s1600/Quack2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Wxik5ONKWi9tBmBo0jKSAuHQNen8hRBIdbyS8zzRoKuCv67-kEsrwHYLejlN2BSZz2BNB0pXYaiDN79h92Dld8UD6ykEmrQYu4fG8QzeoWpXEULQADVxk3JDuwx7eEux5E37-ZyHqVU/s400/Quack2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404675953287288850" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div></div>Albiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12319159901583891752noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348902629087457916.post-7219637960172708522008-08-28T18:44:00.028+10:002008-09-06T23:58:41.123+10:00<div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:verdana;" >TOKINA AT-X 116 PRO DX REVIEW </span></span><br />28 August 2008<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSzMVjvMBe7s6wv17XcRdbTLvYGGrt7Y00sUgPqZUxa8dt39dR7c2PIFPjXCDl7E76UcoCZyKn3l989klk55j7vQ6pGFHR2P58aDJP6E3SzpYBLTwRPjNOb0E_GqZAvKgkKqRHubSeSA/s1600-h/Tokina-5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSzMVjvMBe7s6wv17XcRdbTLvYGGrt7Y00sUgPqZUxa8dt39dR7c2PIFPjXCDl7E76UcoCZyKn3l989klk55j7vQ6pGFHR2P58aDJP6E3SzpYBLTwRPjNOb0E_GqZAvKgkKqRHubSeSA/s400/Tokina-5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489200840250962" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">SPECIFICATIONS<br /><br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Scientific Name:</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Also Known as:</span> Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Mount Available:</span> Nikon and Canon mount<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Aperture Range:</span> f/2.8 - f/22<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Optical Elements:</span> 13 elements in 11 groups<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Minimum Focusing Distance: </span>30cm<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Focusing Type:</span> Internal focusing<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Filter Size:</span> 77cm<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Length:</span> 89.2mm<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Weight:</span> 560 grams<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">Price:</span> US$560 - US$699<br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204);">What's in the box:</span> Lens, manual, and lens hood<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);font-size:100%;" >__________________________________________</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >Camera Used for This Review: Nikon D80</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">___________________________________________</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Okay, first of all, I realise that this is a fairly long, if not long winding review. So for those of you who like to skim through and only interested in the conclusion, let me tell you beforehand to save your time: Yes, This Lens is Good! :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Also, what I am going to write now is just purely from my point of view, based from my personal usage, and from my experience (and style) in photography. Therefore some people might not relate to it, some people might, but I am happy to share with you what I think of this lens.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Sample pictures shown are small thumbnails only, so please click them in order to view them at normal sizes. (duh!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-size:100%;" >FOREWORD</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">I have had been wanting to get a wide angle lens to add to my collection for a long time, but had always been put off by the lack of speed from such lenses. For example, I really like the Tokina 12-24mm, but even with the constant f/4 which is considered to be 'fast', I still was not really convinced.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">This might be because all the lenses that I have until recently were primes, so I am very accustomed to no hassle, constant aperture of f/1.4, or f/2.8 the most. I know many people would think why would I need a fast lens for a wide angle? That's because personally I don't shoot daylight landscapes that much, I don't like flash, and I shoot a lot of night/available night photography for my personal use.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">So anyway, at the fourth quarter last year, Tokina announced the surprisingly weird but interesting lens, the Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX. Perhaps the people behind Tokina were sick of their product lines always trailing behind giants like Nikon or Canon. So maybe during one of the team meetings, someone mentioned: "<span style="font-style: italic;">Hey, why don't we just introduce a totally different lens altogether? That way at least we will stand out from the competition for sure</span>."</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">And what a great idea it was - with the introduction of Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX, I finally found the lens that really suits me. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">After waiting a bit to make sure that it performs as good as the specs say (in other words, I don't like to be a guinea pig), I finally made up my mind and bought the lens. I got it from my favourite local camera shop - it was the last one they had. I actually got it because the person who was supposed to pick it up never showed up. Seems like not many stores in Sydney have this lens in stock. </span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxM7JUwPVbhy6Gcm85LPmaXFhzmwjn-H1xhnIHa_NK7_lB4DMSXFGW6060mvf9pFcNJmgJUBenqm3H6fTJsft2DIX5to0EOVqR7WGXbAKUtMnqK06rjvGneR0PTSJYEF4M5NdHxRjZcU/s1600-h/tokina-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxM7JUwPVbhy6Gcm85LPmaXFhzmwjn-H1xhnIHa_NK7_lB4DMSXFGW6060mvf9pFcNJmgJUBenqm3H6fTJsft2DIX5to0EOVqR7WGXbAKUtMnqK06rjvGneR0PTSJYEF4M5NdHxRjZcU/s400/tokina-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489191517547234" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">______________________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">The Review</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">______________________________________________</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">EXTERIOR<br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The Name</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Reviewing a lens' name? Now that's new. Tokina humbly gave a simple name for this lens: <span style="font-style: italic;">Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX</span> - unlike some of the more richly-named <span style="font-style: italic;">Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF)</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Sigma APO 70-200mm f/2.8 II EX DG Macro HSM</span>. Boy, am I glad this lens was not named <span style="font-style: italic;">Tokina ATX 11-16mm f/2.8 Aspherical DX BBC BBQ SESAMESTREET Mark IVDs Doublecoating Youtube</span>.<br /><br />I like the simple name approach; just with an addition of "Pro" to indicate that if you buy this lens, you will suddenly become a pro, haha... But really, I like the naming of the product, it's nice and simple. Well actually on the box it also says Aspherical, but I don't think that's part of the official name. But for some reason I like to call it Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 or Tokina 116 ATX Pro.<br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The Look</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Just like the name, this lens follows a more conservative approach in the looks department. There is no 'look at me' factor, it just looks like a nice, normal lens. This can be either good or bad depending on how you prefer your lens to look like. It doesn't have gold markings all around it, or large focus distance window, or huge front element that tends to attract more attention from passer-by. Instead, its design is more down to earth and subdued.<br /><br />I actually like the combination of silver and white lettering of the lens instead of gold colours like many other lenses. But overall I am just glad that this lens is not white. If I had to personify this lens, I would say this lens is like Roger Federer or Pete Sampras; not flashy, not attention-seeking, but still performs very well (but this is not the best lens ever made though) :)<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFF9UdIRnf7TX_2kDWtA-Ck-0agSGq6ZZdB8L9lf-quBFxZ0fLk56ms-HKSanBgs8fNPNFJNnyQrd4T2vBMMCXKFhCHlqxhggmrCn3uRxCmrd3RqCh8ndmyQgQId3B3S2YQSiMklefuk/s1600-h/tokina-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFF9UdIRnf7TX_2kDWtA-Ck-0agSGq6ZZdB8L9lf-quBFxZ0fLk56ms-HKSanBgs8fNPNFJNnyQrd4T2vBMMCXKFhCHlqxhggmrCn3uRxCmrd3RqCh8ndmyQgQId3B3S2YQSiMklefuk/s400/tokina-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489193616000882" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The Front Element</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Just like any other ultra wide angle lenses, the front element is dangerously close to the lens cap. It's so close you can accidentally scratch it with your lens cap if you are not careful enough. You can use a thin, quality filter to protect the lens, but I decided that I am not going to use a filter mainly for two reasons: I don't want to have additional glass (no matter how neutral) in front of my lens and secondly because I just can't justify the high cost of top grade filters.<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeN3RVTe5QrpcTR3EG9wCgVQy34JT2g1W4mVdZLJmZJYOaBP_u9RoPLyVHJhXdp6IvraPZZceGJpaGP_34pBZgPaZpA4FBrdNCyEvWeehyFbFpD2OZ6nEsnMh7hMJ0BetfPiwl7gLv1Q/s1600-h/Tokina-4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeN3RVTe5QrpcTR3EG9wCgVQy34JT2g1W4mVdZLJmZJYOaBP_u9RoPLyVHJhXdp6IvraPZZceGJpaGP_34pBZgPaZpA4FBrdNCyEvWeehyFbFpD2OZ6nEsnMh7hMJ0BetfPiwl7gLv1Q/s400/Tokina-4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489199196101954" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Build Quality</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Some people may not care about build quality as long as it delivers nice image; but I think build quality is part of the equation for joyful shooting. I really appreciate it when the equipment that I am using is actually solid, and not feel like a flimsy plastic toy. In my case I don't even mind to sacrifice a bit of convenience in order to have a more solid equipment. That's why the lens that I use 80% of the time is a Nikon 85mm f/1.4 Ai-S which is built like a tank.<br /><br />So how good is the Tokina 11-16mm in terms of build quality? It actually feels very similar to its older brother Tokina 12-24mm f/4, which is a very solid lens. The barrel and rear mount of this lens is made from metal, and the zoom grip is made from some sort of hard rubber. It has a solid weight to it so it balances up nicely with medium-sized or larger DSLRs.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Actually the build quality (and somewhat the look) of this lens reminds me of Nikon Ai/Ai-s range. Although not as solid as all-metal Ai lenses (they don't make them like that anymore), but it is solid enough to be categorised in "Pro" range among current production lenses similar to the likes of Nikon 17-35mm or 70-200mm. From my experience of using the Nikon 17-35mm, I personally prefer the feel of Tokina 11-16mm over the Nikon 17-35mm.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I also like Tokina's zoom, it's very smooth when you twist it around - no choppy or bumpy feel at all. The zoom ring is thick and nicely placed (not too far back or too front), so it's very comfortable to operate. However, I feel that the focus ring is not as nice as the zoom ring. I am not saying that it has this toy, crappy feel like when you manual focus a Nikon 18-55mm, but the focusing feels 'only' like a 17-35mm focusing. It is nowehere as nice as an MF-only lens, but then I think I'd be asking too much if I wanted it to feel like an MF lens.<br /><br />Good things aside, there is something that I don't like about the build. The top bit of the barrel (where you attach filter and lens hood) is not made from metal. Instead, Tokina opted to use some sort of hard plastic material. I am not sure whether it is to minimise cost or because Tokina didn't want to make this lens too heavy. But overall, the lens is still very solidly built, no wobbly bit or hollow-feeling parts.<br /><br />One thing that I really don't agree is the lens hood. For me it feels cheap and too plasticky. I don't expect the hood to be made from metal, but I would prefer a more solid hood. Also the inside of the hood has this funny texture and dust seems to stick around that area easily. But fortunately when you attach the hood, it actually clicks in and fit perfectly onto the lens.<br /><br />Overall, I rate the build quality of this lens pretty much in the same calibre as Nikon 17-35mm, but I think Tokina wins a bit in terms of zooming feel.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Handling</span><br /><br />Attached to D80, it feels balanced, not front-heavy at all. I am sure it will also feel great on D300 or bigger cameras. But maybe it won't feel as good if you attach it to small DSLR like Nikon D40.<br /><br />Manual focusing in this lens is done by sliding down the focus ring, and if you want to switch to auto focus again, just slide back the focus ring, simple. But I don't think I will use manual focus so often (if at all) with an ultra wide angle lens, especially considering the AF is accurate. There is no manual focus override, but again, I don't find this necessary. There is no aperture ring for this lens, switching aperture is done via your camera.<br /><br />This lens does not have a built-in motor inside, so it relies on your camera's motor, making AF only available for cameras like Nikon D80 and higher.<br />Does it really matter that this lens does not have AF-S or HSM feature? I personally don't think so. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if I can actually notice the AF speed difference between this lens and Nikon 17-35mm. Maybe the 17-35mm is actually faster, but I never noticed it in real life shooting. With my D80, the lens focuses quickly, but I think all ultra wide angle short zoom will focus fast anyway, so nothing to worry about here.<br /><br />Does the AF hunt in low light? It might once in awhile. But the only times that it might do that is when you focus the lens to a very flat object with even colour with no angle (eg. focusing on plain wall). But other lenses usually will hunt too if you do that.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0tB-GbNfhK8fsjzKwD6zG3tIfFMEjf21eoH6Jo2oMe4ITRH2G6M-OZ5fNlNliZChivHl9tntO-brn4xtGAjLtJ0G-Gv4xDQY8G16kaH53BBLHQn6r6cW1TolBdQQKUO__zfN6IUyH9A/s1600-h/Tokina-3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0tB-GbNfhK8fsjzKwD6zG3tIfFMEjf21eoH6Jo2oMe4ITRH2G6M-OZ5fNlNliZChivHl9tntO-brn4xtGAjLtJ0G-Gv4xDQY8G16kaH53BBLHQn6r6cW1TolBdQQKUO__zfN6IUyH9A/s400/Tokina-3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489198930973746" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">OPTICAL PERFORMANCE</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Distortion</span><br /><br />I know when we are talking about ultra wide angle, we have to talk about distortion, but I am sure that before reading this, you have also read a couple of other reviews of this lens in which distortion was thoroughly mentioned.<br /><br />The reason why I don't want to put samples here is because it's actually hard to create a perfect setup for distortion test; everything should be 100% level and straight, lens and object should perfectly align both horizontally and vertically, etc... In other words, me dumping a tripod-mounted camera in front of my neighbour's brick wall doesn't strike me as accurate enough, that's why I don't really want to do the test. I don't want to give false impressions by showing samples from a slightly-off setup.<br />Excuses aside, I admit I am just a lazy bum. :)<br /><br />However, I pretty much agree with the observation from the reviewers, meaning that distortion although present at 11mm, it is easily corrected using post-processing software. Distortion performance improves significantly from 14mm onwards.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Sharpness - 1st Test</span><br /><br />For this test, I decided to begin the test by putting it up against one of the sharpest lenses around - Nikon 50mm f/1.4 stopped down to f/2.8. As you all know, this is a very sharp lens, easily revealing facial hair and pores of the subject.<br /><br />The test shot from Nikon 50mm was manually focused. Now before you say blasphemy, let me assure you that the sample picture I post is from an accurately focused, sharp copy of 50mm. To make sure that the focus was accurate, I took eight pictures in between - starting from when the focus confirmation dot appeared on the camera, and then I slowly rotated the focus ring and took seven more pictures in between the rotation until the confirmation dot disappeared.<br /><br />After that process, I viewed the pictures individually at 100% and picked the sharpest one out of the eight pictures; this way I could make sure that the picture that I chose was focused properly. For the Tokina, it was much simpler. I just relied on the camera's auto focus.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The result was quite a surprise for me. I know that by theory, the stopped-down Nikon should be sharper than a wide open Tokina. The test shot from both lenses confirmed that the Nikon was indeed sharper, but it's only by a slight margin and you probably wouldn't notice the difference unless you really looked for it from 100% view or from a very large print.<br /><br />This result should put a lot of people at ease if they wonder about the sharpness of this lens wide open. Refer to the comparison shots below and see it yourself.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsunm-qXS48pnB51W_yRfy-MmqpSHul7fd1UmH2Kqd6w-NiWyZAX81olWi-6TNICFZZG13VyK7krOedbYeV_8D1cOpceNHIOVn3kpdzluuXl_BQHhpTr88AYU1f6pw6mAYhJ5KeaTb2Zo/s1600-h/TokinaVersusNikon.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsunm-qXS48pnB51W_yRfy-MmqpSHul7fd1UmH2Kqd6w-NiWyZAX81olWi-6TNICFZZG13VyK7krOedbYeV_8D1cOpceNHIOVn3kpdzluuXl_BQHhpTr88AYU1f6pw6mAYhJ5KeaTb2Zo/s400/TokinaVersusNikon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489724818327298" border="0" /></a>100% Crop:<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17UqpPzipREMUt5ub6KIb2FvqLd_aJzSHs5aAihbe_idVIYf3aG2dW48CH8P2jBxLLlMkHQrGX_O3yZOikYfsf55JIXrZzfJV_IjDFwf0o8b29U5loYu9kcZrO6mTrb_j9mcCE98MbuM/s1600-h/TokinaVersusNikon2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17UqpPzipREMUt5ub6KIb2FvqLd_aJzSHs5aAihbe_idVIYf3aG2dW48CH8P2jBxLLlMkHQrGX_O3yZOikYfsf55JIXrZzfJV_IjDFwf0o8b29U5loYu9kcZrO6mTrb_j9mcCE98MbuM/s400/TokinaVersusNikon2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489725731544210" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Sharpness - 2nd Test</span><br /><br />The sample below is a picture of a plasma TV showing a movie. I know it's not the most ideal object to test sharpness, but I must admit that I was too lazy to find other objects. The picture was basically taken with the camera positioned in front of a 50" plasma at the distance as close as possible so that the TV filled the whole viewfinder. I didn't exactly measure the distance between the lens and the TV screen, but it was very close.<br /><br />The roughness that you see from the 100% crops is from the plasma's pixels ("screendoor effect" of plasma TV). I also put two different types of 100% crop: untouched ones and crops that have been applied with a bit of sharpening in order to roughly show how much difference between the original and the after-sharpening picture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PMCXoi2ZBXIjBm0mZ9pTF4_zlDVJXiL_lVNNL5e6v7ylRIxlbSeExbNsjgFoUbL55PvyLj679_raSSxjkvtvu-gdeL7BseATecJuEykVH9ZIm0Sl8ELMXupwdCOmm9YJKZIOVdsQo90/s1600-h/tokina-sample.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PMCXoi2ZBXIjBm0mZ9pTF4_zlDVJXiL_lVNNL5e6v7ylRIxlbSeExbNsjgFoUbL55PvyLj679_raSSxjkvtvu-gdeL7BseATecJuEykVH9ZIm0Sl8ELMXupwdCOmm9YJKZIOVdsQo90/s400/tokina-sample.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489731581958834" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DRxumATgEYznpFq4dFPyCoCxu_eOfkY1kkIjE_pAwM7NJvx8Xo4Pb-C1SSVQHI6NqjnQU-TJH6dC8w92OpR1ZF1VJXFX2FzsPo4vD04QkOMjK-p0lV2vBbwKiln2p_JBTB7r2QOi2_Y/s1600-h/tokina-sample2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4DRxumATgEYznpFq4dFPyCoCxu_eOfkY1kkIjE_pAwM7NJvx8Xo4Pb-C1SSVQHI6NqjnQU-TJH6dC8w92OpR1ZF1VJXFX2FzsPo4vD04QkOMjK-p0lV2vBbwKiln2p_JBTB7r2QOi2_Y/s400/tokina-sample2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489732714159282" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Sharpness: 3rd Test</span><br /><br />For the third one, I decided to use outdoor shots without tripod because we don't always shoot with tripod and it's good to estimate how much sharpness you can get from casual shooting. The result may not be accurate since I wasn't using tripod, but even then, I am still very pleased with the details it provides.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lGwpu0ue0TPMFS51XlTZx9Yga-mxPylpuzNhVbpSFCHH_uClrML0Ck7qxJW5UvT9BAQVn_BPyQylGjBPhxDfrC9lk9ebZCfXE9YtjxNjqF8_s5roEy3SDy03skt10QE15FOU0OgcaXc/s1600-h/SharpF4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lGwpu0ue0TPMFS51XlTZx9Yga-mxPylpuzNhVbpSFCHH_uClrML0Ck7qxJW5UvT9BAQVn_BPyQylGjBPhxDfrC9lk9ebZCfXE9YtjxNjqF8_s5roEy3SDy03skt10QE15FOU0OgcaXc/s400/SharpF4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239489736164247250" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdfrKlCSamoyjD3dAXbfoAe6y7pfary071qwJIQrpSFDr1jjbJBVgaCxXaznmS1mX1mBWUFSMPKDFsI29Qsq9xlCGiQa-wlUNVpk6KiC_dNR_aYBezQQQw_a-MU83gONyG6e1iHiakt0/s1600-h/sharpF8.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdfrKlCSamoyjD3dAXbfoAe6y7pfary071qwJIQrpSFDr1jjbJBVgaCxXaznmS1mX1mBWUFSMPKDFsI29Qsq9xlCGiQa-wlUNVpk6KiC_dNR_aYBezQQQw_a-MU83gONyG6e1iHiakt0/s400/sharpF8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490083600210546" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Note</span><br /><br />Before I move on to next category, I feel inclined to chip in my 2 cents in regards to comments floating around the net that this lens might be very soft. If you regularly visit Nikonian, chances are you might have encountered posts mentioning how poor the sharpness performance of this lens. If I am not mistaken, the poster later mentioned that it might be because of the poor shipping method (lens shaken too much during shipment or something). But I experience none of that and the lens is actually very sharp as you can see from the samples.<br /><br />Furthermore, the supporting cardboard inside the packaging really prevents the lens to bump around inside the box, so I really wonder how come the poster could get two bad copies in a row like that... either someone might have intentionally slamming the box on the ground (but then the outer box would've been damaged) or he was indeed one of the unluckiest photographers around.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Colour and Contrast</span><br /><br />I don't really want to comment much on colour characteristics since this is a very relative subject that can depend on so many factors, but all I can say is (warning: very subjective speak) with the combination of my equipments, my Nikon lenses in general have colder tone compared to this Tokina (and my Tamron lens being the warmest). Contrast wise, I am very happy with this lens even from its wide open performance.<br />The samples below were taken at f/2.8, saved in Jpeg-Fine. The only thing I did was resizing the pictures, no contrast or saturation adjustments applied.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8aadX_RH3grSns4atDaZiCxHnM-ecY6Uh0zOwW5av36rJrYzvYI7UA5S7cuKgLXGHepbuJMqCLpyz4VbIARHNhhQClOpmVAbXNX0GQ4Sff8k22mccR5fYj87MTcEani1ai-V-sWIjOY/s1600-h/colourcontrast.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY8aadX_RH3grSns4atDaZiCxHnM-ecY6Uh0zOwW5av36rJrYzvYI7UA5S7cuKgLXGHepbuJMqCLpyz4VbIARHNhhQClOpmVAbXNX0GQ4Sff8k22mccR5fYj87MTcEani1ai-V-sWIjOY/s400/colourcontrast.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490088330154306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Bokeh/Background Blur</span><br /><br />With ultra wide angle, it is hard to assess bokeh as in point of lights like the ones you see from 85mm or 105mm lenses. Talking about background blur is more relevant since it is easier to produce than those fat, round point of lights. But blur characteristic is a very subjective matter, so I'll let you draw the conclusion yourself on this one. But if you asked me to describe the characteristic of its background blur in one word, I would probably describe it as 'tidy'.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAlvPPYaCMIAAO6mCzjZnjPLxoKVzFOZVk1YaLS_3xNXecjDJKqkOMk_4LwrzvDMcKD8AHOh2QYfcMIvNaAZrO6aDlUdzU4wHrlYy6VvC60-1exNDKB0KyAjYZyb0YUjYZ2L2grTBtbI/s1600-h/tokinablur.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLAlvPPYaCMIAAO6mCzjZnjPLxoKVzFOZVk1YaLS_3xNXecjDJKqkOMk_4LwrzvDMcKD8AHOh2QYfcMIvNaAZrO6aDlUdzU4wHrlYy6VvC60-1exNDKB0KyAjYZyb0YUjYZ2L2grTBtbI/s400/tokinablur.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490086687072658" border="0" /></a><br />Somewhat within the same subject, what I like about this lens is the style of "stars" it renders from light source. This lens has 9 blades, so 9x2=18 (at least that's what I learned). I took the shot at f/22 so that you can see the effect more clearly. with that kind of rendering, I can tell that long exposure street shots will look nice indeed.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr2fBR7bewhd-reSC1w6POLAO0PZDXOnFu5O94Fdw45NBltNWdvOZnyVxNBG_-JvC1pf6TCSSu5N5YXlRtLsHMzKMjKiaN97_xvHkO1EEq5FFvBkgBowoPLastbNq2ditpG5b7gmvURqQ/s1600-h/candle1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr2fBR7bewhd-reSC1w6POLAO0PZDXOnFu5O94Fdw45NBltNWdvOZnyVxNBG_-JvC1pf6TCSSu5N5YXlRtLsHMzKMjKiaN97_xvHkO1EEq5FFvBkgBowoPLastbNq2ditpG5b7gmvURqQ/s400/candle1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490089964638226" border="0" /></a>100% crop<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa4PdKC1mMW001WCwBAf_Kt0DLFBEyS_ZJQj7sDsoZ8S4Dsg8xR4IlXduarMvBt6aCNXqSVolp4RUcjpA5abQtMVEDmTPuUYx77yyOaUvV0v0UgqZ7LZJ7_bmGgh3_nRP_liWwGfYif8/s1600-h/candle2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfa4PdKC1mMW001WCwBAf_Kt0DLFBEyS_ZJQj7sDsoZ8S4Dsg8xR4IlXduarMvBt6aCNXqSVolp4RUcjpA5abQtMVEDmTPuUYx77yyOaUvV0v0UgqZ7LZJ7_bmGgh3_nRP_liWwGfYif8/s400/candle2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490093445380162" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">Flare Resistance</span><br /><br />I am delighted to inform you that this lens is not prone to flare at all, even wide open. I used it under very bright sun without the hood, and I really had to do something out of the ordinary in order to create flares.<br /><br />I didn't do a flare test because flare is also a relative thing - it can depend on the angle of your lens, aperture, the intensity of the source of light, etc... So the following sample is just pretty much to show you what it looks like when I shoot wide open but no flare present and the other one is when flare is present. Mind you that the lens won't always create tidy flares like that. Sometimes you just get one or two annoying blobs of flare around your image.<br />Under normal shooting condition with the use of hood, I doubt you will have flare problem, unless you deliberately do it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz6zQeowRYmzz4DFpRXANl_OvcSXVt2YKfIYGvX9i_hgHLn21xN_pj8TVjuMUQSnT9cVmIQyicQPz6-PxcKFLW4yzx4P57YLr_2GitvsuruWy6BlAMqMcX3yPJR-rnBiuQDtcXVLd_uw/s1600-h/flare.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcz6zQeowRYmzz4DFpRXANl_OvcSXVt2YKfIYGvX9i_hgHLn21xN_pj8TVjuMUQSnT9cVmIQyicQPz6-PxcKFLW4yzx4P57YLr_2GitvsuruWy6BlAMqMcX3yPJR-rnBiuQDtcXVLd_uw/s400/flare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490317113316034" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Chromatic Aberration/Purple Fringing</span><br /><br />CA, is it a problem?<br />- No.<br />Not even wide open?<br />- Not even wide open.<br /><br />Geez, I sound more and more as if Tokina is paying me to write this review, haha.. But really, wide open and during normal shots, I don't really notice any unsual amount of CA/purple fringing compared to my other lenses. Actually I think my Nikon 85mm f/1.4 has more CA wide open compared to this Tokina wide open. But then the Nikon is f/1.4 (I'm not sure, but maybe that's why the 85mm has more CA/purple fringing?)<br /><br />Anyway, with this lens, I only notice purple fringing when I shoot something that involves high contrast and only if I pixel-peep the picture at 100% view. Photoshop will be handy for removing CA on your RAW files if you really have to. But my secret trick to deal with CA is, if I noticed that I have a shot with excessive CA, I'd just Black&White the picture. So easy, haha..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetmTYtiu0F7ajSHwQRdqINUS5_QW90qOOYhqCuNYFSusT1WwpyZAIGoAMq3eKcZq07B1uFxqlKLj5PBRtA1CPqP0L0UVFw7lxEEF5Ua-Pw-KbnhcaWPhz_FQrmhUJ-XRd6DPRdfMbAtM/s1600-h/ca.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjetmTYtiu0F7ajSHwQRdqINUS5_QW90qOOYhqCuNYFSusT1WwpyZAIGoAMq3eKcZq07B1uFxqlKLj5PBRtA1CPqP0L0UVFw7lxEEF5Ua-Pw-KbnhcaWPhz_FQrmhUJ-XRd6DPRdfMbAtM/s400/ca.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490319327342946" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Vignetting</span><br /><br />Any noticeable vignetting with this lens? Not in normal pictures. The only time I can notice the slightly dark corners is when I am shooting a blank white wall. Luckily I don't shoot blank white walls that often.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">IN RELATION WITH YOUR CAMERA</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Metering</span><br /><br />Yes it does meter with D80, but with this lens I usually leave the exposure compensation setting at -.3EV or -.7EV, then it will usually give the correct exposure. i think this really depends on your camera as well. Maybe metering will be more accurate with higher end cameras like D300. I know my D80 tends to overexpose at times. So it is good to know how your camera usually behaves so that you can adjust the camera accordingly in relation to this lens.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Compatibility with Nikon's iTTL Flash System</span><br /><br />How well can this lens work with Nikon's flash system? Don't know. I don't own a flash. Never used the built-in flash either. Don't really like flash. I like fish though.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The DX Factor</span><br /><br />This lens is designed for Nikon DX, so if you use it with full frame Nikon/Canon, you can only use it at 16mm; but 16mm full frame is very wide, so you are not missing anything. But then with full frame, you will miss the opportunity to utilise the very smooth zoom mechanism.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">THE OTHER ASPECTS THAT I AM NOT SURE WHERE TO FIT THEM</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The Range</span><br /><br />11-16mm. A lot of people mentioned that this might as well be a prime lens with such limited range. I know on the paper, 11mm -16mm seems puny, but actually in real life performance, there is a big difference of field of view between 11mm and 16mm, and I am actually glad that this is an 11-16mm zoom lens not 11mm prime.<br /><br />I actually use the zoom quite a lot. You might say that you just need to walk a few steps to cover the zoom, but sometimes it is useful to have that 16mm reach especially if you want to take a one-person picture. At 11mm you will need to get awfully close to the person, but zoom it to 16mm instead, and it will ease up some personal space between you and your subject. Plus at 16mm the distortion level is very low, so it's more suitable for people's face (unless it's for your evil mother-in-law).<br /><br />How about wider zoom coverage? Do I wish that this lens was an 11-24mm zoom instead? Maybe yes, maybe no. I am not a lens engineer but I think to add that extra 8mm, the lens would have to be designed differently? But what would be the trade-off? More expensive? More barrel distortion? Bigger size? Who knows, but I am happy with this zoom range. I actually use 11mm, 16mm, and everything else in between.<br /><br />By the way, the sample picture below shows the difference of field of view between 11mm and 16mm. It's a lot of difference isn't it? Heck, the 11mm is so wide, you can pretty much take a self-picture of yourself sitting down, taking a dump at the toilet (not that I practice nor recommend this though).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW9Td8SSDOrwlXrF4agBmVSDk35iOXEEZITRLfoWDd9gRo5-waNV48MqOQhpWHLp9d6McI8BZlLJhmz1m2rxH3kz26mmk6z1YOiT65-8l7C_WdaJHt_ED4wzVWzDD1AJPa0MqQZxAR6E/s1600-h/tokina-sample3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbW9Td8SSDOrwlXrF4agBmVSDk35iOXEEZITRLfoWDd9gRo5-waNV48MqOQhpWHLp9d6McI8BZlLJhmz1m2rxH3kz26mmk6z1YOiT65-8l7C_WdaJHt_ED4wzVWzDD1AJPa0MqQZxAR6E/s400/tokina-sample3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490321562296818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The 2.8 Factor</span><br /><br />Early in this review, I mentioned that the main reason I got this lens was because of the constant 2.8. I know you can handhold at much lower speed with ultra wide angle lenses, hence making f/4 even doable in low light. But for some people, an extra F-stop is a lot. It can be the deciding factor whether you will have a focused picture or a blurry picture, it can also give your ISO a breather, meaning with the extra stop gained, you can lower your ISO so that you can have cleaner and more detailed pictures.<br /><br />You most probably won't need the f/2.8 all the time, but when faced with a situation that really requires you to have a low light lens, you will be glad that your lens is a constant f/2.8 lens, not an f/4 or even worse, f/3.5-5.6 lens. :)<br /><br />the good thing about this lens is since it's only 11-16mm, I can still handhold it at 1/10th second and still produce a sharp image. With my 85mm, I'd be laughing if I could do a 1/40th and get a similar result of sharpness.<br /><br />Depth of field wise, it's not easy to isolate subject with this lens, but with f/2.8, at least I can still do it providing the object is close enough. So that's also another advantage of f/2.8 over f/4.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZfA4Zd6LPdb8YRzcVVs9JzD6wXtA-GS1B_3hPvplUy60mHQKVQjRkjFrqaEarYGXPYS0I4iw6R8IayACCnd6Gidu4rqE9TfY3_MskExxzt3nhqsBa8KjRF1Qygrc-tN_chiw5ijzmns/s1600-h/isolation.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ZfA4Zd6LPdb8YRzcVVs9JzD6wXtA-GS1B_3hPvplUy60mHQKVQjRkjFrqaEarYGXPYS0I4iw6R8IayACCnd6Gidu4rqE9TfY3_MskExxzt3nhqsBa8KjRF1Qygrc-tN_chiw5ijzmns/s400/isolation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490624426627922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">PS: If you wonder why I was such a tight-arse by not leaving any tips on that tray, that's because it was happy hour. I personally think giving tips during beer happy-hour kind of defeats the whole purpose of happy-hour, don't you agree?<br />And that bartender didn't say thank you. Writing thank you on change tray doesn't count.<br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The "Third Party" Issue</span><br /><br />I know a lot of people are very skeptical when it comes to third party lenses, and they usually associate such lenses with either poor build quality, poor optical performance, high rate of sample variations, low resell value, doesn't make you man enough, etc..<br />I can understand that because I personally prefer to stick with Nikon as well. But if you can get past that notion, those third party brands actually produced some great lenses too.<br /><br />Nikon and Canon snobs may think that their proprietary lenses are much superior, but this Tokina is not your regular third party lens. As a matter of fact, it's actually one hell of a lens. It is compact, ultra wide, and it has a constant f/2.8. And no, there is no sacrifice in optical performance in order to create this unique lens.<br />Also, unlike many third party lenses, this lens actually has similar, if not superior build quality than some of Nikon's pro lenses. Sometime I wonder how much buzz this lens would create had it been a release from Nikon or Canon instead of Tokina.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">The Price</span><br /><br />So basically, what we got on offer is an ultra wide angle lens at constant f/2.8 with excellent optics and pro build quality. If I didn't know the price and you asked me how much I think this lens would cost, I would confidently say it wouldn't be any lower than $1,000 for sure.<br /><br />To think that people in the U.S. can actually get this lens for $576, that is one bloody steal, especially if you consider that in order to get Nikon's freak of nature lens (14-24mm f/2.8), you have to pay almost three times the price of the Tokina.<br />I know that the top of the range Nikon has superior optics, but honestly, how much difference will you notice in real life, especially after you factor in possible human errors such as camera shake, exposure imperfection, etc.. and after you post-process the image?<br /><br />I think even if I had the money to spend on that Nikon 14-24mm, I'd rather get the Tokina and use the remaining to buy a Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AF or something equivalent to that instead. Even then, after buying those two, I would still have enough change to get a new, decent tripod or more memory cards, or more burritos - whatever floats your boat. Honestly, even if they increased the price of the Tokina for a couple hundred more, I would still get it because for what it can do, it's really worth every single dollar you paid for it (or every single day of doing the laundry and ironing in oder to make your wife let you buy the lens).<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTERTHOUGHT</span><br /></div><br /><br />So, finally, As a whole, what do I think of this lens? I must say that this is easily one of my favourite lenses (as if I have that many, haha...). Compared to the 85mm, I think this lens is completely the opposite of the 85mm. I would consider the 85mm as a classy, attentive lens; whereas the Tokina is more like a very dynamic, involving lens.<br /><br />Is this lens for everyone? Well, if you already have a very, very good 17mm zoom lens and you rarely use the 17mm end, maybe this lens is not really necessary. But if you actually use the 17mm and you think that it is wide enough, make sure that you are aware how much wider 11mm is, because once you get used to it, you will never feel that your 17mm is wide anymore.<br /><br />Since this lens is not a fish-eye, I can confidently say that this lens can actually benefit a wide range of photographers. It is not that specific-purpose as many people think it is and it's not a one-dimensional lens. You can actually even use this lens as your walk around, street lens.<br /><br />For example, you can use the 11mm to capture a row of items or shops, taking pictures of big objects that are difficult to cover with normal lens, taking picture of your friend eating in front of you, or when you are sitting in a cramped area (eg. plane, bus, train) you can use this to take picture of your friend sitting next to you, etc...<br /><br />The 16mm can be useful for taking closeup shots of what you eat (you can get as close as 30cm from the subject). And providing you can get close, you can use this lens to take picture of an individual person like how you do with a 50mm lens. It won't give you funny-face result as long as you know how to take it.<br /><br />So if you are asking yourself: "should I get this lens?"<br /><br />I think you'd better ask your wife first, because your decision worths squat without her approval.<br /><br />But seriously, if you really like what it offers, by all means go and get it and don't let the brand-snob in you prevent your purchase. By supporting smaller player like Tokina in daring to be different from the competition, I hope at least we can encourage and let Tokina and other companies know that a nicely build, great-performing lenses are always welcomed even though they are not from major brand names.<br />Kudos to Tokina for bravely bringing this unique, high performance product to the market without compromising the quality.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">THE "WHAT I LIKE & WHAT I DON'T LIKE"</span><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">What I like:</span><br /><br />- Excellent build quality, the kind you usually find only from pro lenses<br />- Very comfortable to use: zoom and focus ring move smoothly<br />- Compact size and does not attract that much attention (unless you yourself are good looking to begin with)<br />- No moving, rotating part<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">- Excellent optical performance accross ALL aspects (sharpness, contrast, distortion - the list goes on....)<br /></div>- Underpriced<br />- Still made in Japan (I don't mean that Made in China/Thailand is crap, but honestly, if you had the choice of the same product but one is Made in Japan and the other is Made in China/Thailand, you'd pick Japan too, wouldn't you?)<br />- Pictures taken have this 'photojournalist' feel to them.<br />- Constant f/2.8<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">What I don't like:</span><br /><br />- Filter thread is not metal<br />- Lens hood feels cheap<br />- Extreme corners wide open are not as sharp as centre sharpness - but then again, the only lens that I know can perform better than this is the super expensive Nikon 14-24mm.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">___________________________________________________<br /></div><br /><br />To end this review, below are some finalised pictures that I took using the Tokina 11-16mm. I hope that you enjoyed reading my review as much as I am writing it (no actually there's a lot of hassle writing it and so time consuming, haha..) Please feel free to share your thoughts about the lens if you want to and thank you for reading.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Sample Pictures Taken From Tokina 116 At-X Pro DX</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-5nFhcX_Zz_AFwTuTSiuP9ioVn1bJlVvQAYgDPeYWY0dqwNIdr88XCx-eeqNtUZp-9QmxEnVQcZVxxL4hM0q075jSRo5Yf6_A87dTzLfhEopuUEpQT4eMF8avmqwsgTEAGcvkSRGPMo/s1600-h/Bamboo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-5nFhcX_Zz_AFwTuTSiuP9ioVn1bJlVvQAYgDPeYWY0dqwNIdr88XCx-eeqNtUZp-9QmxEnVQcZVxxL4hM0q075jSRo5Yf6_A87dTzLfhEopuUEpQT4eMF8avmqwsgTEAGcvkSRGPMo/s400/Bamboo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490626938831714" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YDzR8ciTcQ-7OtIsaTfu_vcX3OflOtNg8i46w3PODg2u1AECbrEkK4sHPmRWRKGpMR1-pHfgkx60nUhzhp7TVUj9ee5RM2xvx_VXjrpLBi5pysSORs34C2-v88KANLBZ8Ms6l7j3-FY/s1600-h/oyster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-YDzR8ciTcQ-7OtIsaTfu_vcX3OflOtNg8i46w3PODg2u1AECbrEkK4sHPmRWRKGpMR1-pHfgkx60nUhzhp7TVUj9ee5RM2xvx_VXjrpLBi5pysSORs34C2-v88KANLBZ8Ms6l7j3-FY/s400/oyster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490625055838962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjesX-YKjCS3Rht-7ygDv6drfiQDl5275cY4JibbeW8J6_YSiR2hyN9k_t_vzxi_3HIgiDzcGbU3K98HpFA_jXobB8a3oxMQ8CEiujRpLfHmi8vC-TYZ9ZxC4xelDbtSTvNSNffX4xBs/s1600-h/Fish.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjesX-YKjCS3Rht-7ygDv6drfiQDl5275cY4JibbeW8J6_YSiR2hyN9k_t_vzxi_3HIgiDzcGbU3K98HpFA_jXobB8a3oxMQ8CEiujRpLfHmi8vC-TYZ9ZxC4xelDbtSTvNSNffX4xBs/s400/Fish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490632025703778" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUFN22xrKpkiBwqlzQReRLmts51h3ycrnfAhYkgxwttVe_np3wUXTr4gPKp6LMZallmUPDOPbMVlvhGGGqcDJa22Y__QfjDL2PZCsCFXnHtoZeA7uG5da8QT7PQ8q4KIX25_3GdkGIj0/s1600-h/BUS-1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmUFN22xrKpkiBwqlzQReRLmts51h3ycrnfAhYkgxwttVe_np3wUXTr4gPKp6LMZallmUPDOPbMVlvhGGGqcDJa22Y__QfjDL2PZCsCFXnHtoZeA7uG5da8QT7PQ8q4KIX25_3GdkGIj0/s400/BUS-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239490630016980530" border="0" /></a>Albiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12319159901583891752noreply@blogger.com18