Points well made Joseph.
Certain lenses are designed to produce certain signatures. Certain photographic needs are addressed by certain lens systems.
The notion that Canon lenses are poor manual focus units is actually a testimony to their AF ability. That was the objective going in with the EOS system ... speed. For many years they left Nikon and everyone else in their dust. Their larger lens mount also turned out to be a wise move as digital came on line.
I had great hopes to replace Canon with the N system. The very first wedding I tried with the N gear proved it to be totally inadequate for the need. The AF was way to slow and near impossible in the low light of a reception for moving subjects. My Canon IDsMKII with fast L primes can grab focus on a running black cat in a coal mine at midnight ... everything else is secondary to that need. The Contax system then became a luxury indulgence ... and eventually an orphan in my gear closet.
My mentor is a big named photographer in New York. He's the one that got me deeply involved in Contax C/Y glass ... he had prime ex&les of the best Zeiss had to offer including the 55/1.2, 21/2.8, 28/2 85/1.2, 200/2, and even a rare fast Zeiss Mirror the size of a VW car. But he has many other lenses from Leica (M and R) and even Canon (200/1.8) for their unique look and feel. He told me that the older Leitz 60/2.8 Macro was the best macro ever produced by anyone ever. It's was actually to expensive to continue making ... just like the impossibly priced R 35-70/2.8 that even at it astronomical price was a money loser for Leica. He also is of the opinion that the Leica 180/2 APO is the best of that focal length ever made by anyone. So, in that case Zeiss can't replace Leica.
Actually, prejudice for and against certain systems is a limiting factor. If you need AF like I do, I can't afford to cripple myself with a prejudice for Zeiss glass ... or Leica R for that matter.
Even in the world of Medium Format, I prefer Zeiss, but use Fujiblad glass more often. While I have the CF adapter to use all my Hasselblad CFE and CFi lenses while retaining full auto aperture functions, the difference isn't great enough to throw away the swift AF ability and data bus TTL lens info of the H camera system. Getting the shot takes precedence over differences in lens signatures ... although with lenses like the HC100/2.2 and 300/4.5 the difference is very hard to see in actual practice.
Now setting aside sentimental musings about C/Y glass, if Zeiss launched a finely made range of AF SLR glass and someone just happened to make a 20 meg full frame Contax digital camera to take them ... all my Canon stuff would be gone in a New York heart beat. I'd keep all my Leica R gear for those times I want a trip into the past and experience fine manual focus gears.
In the meantime I have real needs ... like a modern camera that I can swiftly control to get the money making shots with precise focus, balanced lighting and color signitures that are pleasing to the eye. Like this split second opportunity titled "The Gift" ... from a 5D and 24-105/4 zoom ... both of which I hate.
Certain lenses are designed to produce certain signatures. Certain photographic needs are addressed by certain lens systems.
The notion that Canon lenses are poor manual focus units is actually a testimony to their AF ability. That was the objective going in with the EOS system ... speed. For many years they left Nikon and everyone else in their dust. Their larger lens mount also turned out to be a wise move as digital came on line.
I had great hopes to replace Canon with the N system. The very first wedding I tried with the N gear proved it to be totally inadequate for the need. The AF was way to slow and near impossible in the low light of a reception for moving subjects. My Canon IDsMKII with fast L primes can grab focus on a running black cat in a coal mine at midnight ... everything else is secondary to that need. The Contax system then became a luxury indulgence ... and eventually an orphan in my gear closet.
My mentor is a big named photographer in New York. He's the one that got me deeply involved in Contax C/Y glass ... he had prime ex&les of the best Zeiss had to offer including the 55/1.2, 21/2.8, 28/2 85/1.2, 200/2, and even a rare fast Zeiss Mirror the size of a VW car. But he has many other lenses from Leica (M and R) and even Canon (200/1.8) for their unique look and feel. He told me that the older Leitz 60/2.8 Macro was the best macro ever produced by anyone ever. It's was actually to expensive to continue making ... just like the impossibly priced R 35-70/2.8 that even at it astronomical price was a money loser for Leica. He also is of the opinion that the Leica 180/2 APO is the best of that focal length ever made by anyone. So, in that case Zeiss can't replace Leica.
Actually, prejudice for and against certain systems is a limiting factor. If you need AF like I do, I can't afford to cripple myself with a prejudice for Zeiss glass ... or Leica R for that matter.
Even in the world of Medium Format, I prefer Zeiss, but use Fujiblad glass more often. While I have the CF adapter to use all my Hasselblad CFE and CFi lenses while retaining full auto aperture functions, the difference isn't great enough to throw away the swift AF ability and data bus TTL lens info of the H camera system. Getting the shot takes precedence over differences in lens signatures ... although with lenses like the HC100/2.2 and 300/4.5 the difference is very hard to see in actual practice.
Now setting aside sentimental musings about C/Y glass, if Zeiss launched a finely made range of AF SLR glass and someone just happened to make a 20 meg full frame Contax digital camera to take them ... all my Canon stuff would be gone in a New York heart beat. I'd keep all my Leica R gear for those times I want a trip into the past and experience fine manual focus gears.
In the meantime I have real needs ... like a modern camera that I can swiftly control to get the money making shots with precise focus, balanced lighting and color signitures that are pleasing to the eye. Like this split second opportunity titled "The Gift" ... from a 5D and 24-105/4 zoom ... both of which I hate.