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Something is going on with Zeiss

Hey Dirk I'm halfway across that bridge but would love to turn back....but, I 'm not holding my breath. God speed Contax......
 
Great medium format announcemet from Zeiss - for Sinar ... ouch! Can you spell Good-Bye Contax? Dirk, if Kyocera has ANY new Contax plans in the near future, they better let it out now, because even staunch Contax supporters like me will be baling after this rash of non-Contax announcements by Zeiss. It's quite obvious Zeiss will not be doing any new development for the Contax lines. Or am I missing something? And check out that Mamiya 22 Megapixel medium format body - looks well thought-out.

Yes Dirk, it's a sad day when all the interesting talk in the Contax forum is about the competition. Let's go, Contax, please do something, other than cute novelty cameras.
 
There are the MTF graphs for the new ZM lenes from www.zeissikon.com. 50 mm 2 planar ZM is very good,it is as good as G45 2. 35 2 ZM is unbeatable, I will sale my G35 2 and C-Y 35 2.8 for this one. G 28 2.8 is interestingly better than ZM 28 2.8. Although Zeiss in the site claimed that the ZM 21 2.8 is better than all other SLR lenses, the C-Y 21 2.8 is difficult to beat. The optical resolution of these 21s are almost the same. ZM 21 provides less distorted images,but C-Y 21 can focus closer. ZM 25 is far better than C-Y 25. For the new system,I will go for the 50,35,25 and 21. For my G,I will keep the G 28 2.8 and 45 2.
I expect ZM 85 to be very good, better than their counterparts in the G and C-Y except C-Y 85 1.2. I am not sure how good is ZM 15,it is not easy to make a good lens in this focal length.
 
I received an e-mail from Mr Kornelius Muller(with 2 dots above the u), Carl Zeiss AG Oberkochen. I asked him the reason for claiming the superiority of Biogon 21 ZM to Distagon 21 C-Y when the MTF curves for these lenses are the same. The answer for this question is Zeiss only publish the curves up to 40 lp/mm,the lens performance for extremely fine detail,which would be characterised by 100 lp/min or even far beyond,will show the superiority of the new Biogon 2.8/21 ZM.
Well,it's time for me to save up for the new lens series.
 
> Hi Chi, How can you use the Biogon 2.8/21 ZM instead of the C/Y > Distagon as they have different mounts? did you mean that you would > by the Zeiss Ikon camera too? Or can the new lens be used with the C/Y > bodies? If so, I could use one with my Canon 1DII.

Asher >
 
Hi Chi,

it is sure that the new Zeiss lenses will be very good - as all Zeiss lenses are. But I want to manage expectations here. There is a difference between measurable results in inage quality if you use the most adequate setup to achieve this and the reality how most users are shooting.

I do think that after a certain image quality, you will not see a big difference between the best of the new N-lenses and these new Zeiss Ikon lenses - if you compare FFL.

Look here for more information:

http://www.contaxinfo.com/cgi-bin/discus/board-auth.cgi?file=/359/367.html

Zeiss wrote about that already in the past (incl. my old comments inbetween):

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But there is even more, which can destroy your “resolution dreams”. It is you! If you are shooting handheld instead of using a tripod you are the biggest limiting factor. Camera lens news #2:

“…even a seasoned photographer with a very “calm” camera will hardly find resolutions higher than 40 lp/mm in his photographs unless he uses an adequate tripod….”

And what Zeiss means with an adequate tripod, they mention in CLN #4. :

“…photo tripods usually prove insufficient for real high performance photography. You may wish to use a carbon fibre television tripod instead. With a fluid head featuring adjustable d&ing devices….”

I do not know whether you want to carry a television tripod with you around, nor whether you have the money for it. This all sound extreme. I think the use of an average good tripod helps also already, but the target here is to show, what you have to do to really exploit the maximum potential of Carl Zeiss lenses.

The next thing would be an obvious one. Once you are using a tripod, you should also use a mirror lock up. Otherwise carry on and shoot handheld
wink.gif
…


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hope that helps...
 
Personally, I think that all those conversations about MTFs, resolutins and bar targets are irrelevant for practical photography with several very small exceptions. It is much more important how the image feels and looks at any magnification, rather then how many more lines the lens can resolve in the centre of the image than in the corners.
 
Hi Asher,
The answer to your first question is to use ZM 21 2.8 + rangefinder body instead of D 21 2.8 + SLR. The new lens cannot be used on an SLR because in SLR the lens is too far from the film with the mirror in between. The new lens is a Biogon,it means it is placed in a very short distance from the film,so you can only use Biogon in rangefinders,where the lens can be placed very near the film. Cheers Chi
 
Hi Dirk,
Mr Muller(with 2 dots above the u) mentioned about the new Biogon T* 21/2.8 ZM that Landscape or cityscape photos with rich fine detail,enlarged to calendar size prints,will easily prove the superiority of the new lens.
When using the new lens with a new order of resolution, I agree with you that the use and choice of instruments, in order to hold the camera steady, is very important. I would carry a rangefinder,a set of ZM lenses,HD film and a carbon fiber photo tripod. In this way I should be able to take the pic,enlarge it to calender size and be happy. Television tripod is a bit too much.
At this preZM stage, I am happy with my 21 distagon,G 45 2 planar and 100 2 planar. I am not happy at all with Distalgon 25 2.8, Distagon 35 2.8 and G35 2,so I will get the ZM 35 and ZM 25,so I am very pleased with the anouncement of ZM system. For 85, 85 1.4 C-Y is good but I wish to have something better,I will get the ZM 85 2 rather than 85 1.2 C-Y. N 85 1.4 is a bit big. Chi
 
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