DPR Forum
Welcome to the Friendly Aisles!
DPRF is a photography forum with people from all over the world freely sharing their knowledge and love of photography. Everybody is welcome, from beginners to the experienced professional. Whether it is Medium Format, fullframe, APS-C, MFT or smaller formats. Digital or film. DPRF is a forum for everybody and for every format.
Enjoy this modern, easy to use software. Look also at our Reviews & Gallery!
CY Lens Collection Question
- Thread starter tscollins
- Start date
D
djg
Oooohh! An Edelbrock carburator! That's sort of like film nowadays
.
Marc, I really like the 100mm 2.8 APO Elmarit. Here's a s&le 100% crop, handheld so don't expect too much
...
Flower
100% Crop
And here are a couple with the Vario-Elmar 21-35 at 21mm ... check out the Zeiss-esque flare control.
Backlit Tree-tops
Trees & Sky
Marc, I really like the 100mm 2.8 APO Elmarit. Here's a s&le 100% crop, handheld so don't expect too much
Flower
100% Crop
And here are a couple with the Vario-Elmar 21-35 at 21mm ... check out the Zeiss-esque flare control.
Backlit Tree-tops
Trees & Sky
D
djg
I actually didn't do any sharpening outside of ACR, which I set to 60 as default. It's a quandary. The images look great on print, not over-sharpened at all, but the web reduction can't handle the detail so they look over-sharpened. Also my choice of subject usually has much more fine detail than, say, portraits, which doesn't help
.
I've switched from the pro glossy paper to a rag-based paper that looks awesome in comparison. The darks and shadow detail just blow you away.
I've switched from the pro glossy paper to a rag-based paper that looks awesome in comparison. The darks and shadow detail just blow you away.
albert4321
Well-Known Member
Marc, or anyone, Can you confirm if we need to shave the fin for the C/Y 85 1.2 to fit the EOS-1 body?
P
pham_minh_son
These are my favorite Contax Carl Zeiss T* lens:
1) Planar 85mm F1.2 60th/50th Anniversary
2) Distagon 21mm F2.8
3) Planar 55mm F1.2
4) Aposonnar 200mm F2.0
5) Distagon 15mm F3.5
6) Vario-Sonnar 70-210mm F3.5
7) Planar 100mm F2.0
8) Makro-Planar 100mm F2.8
9) Distagon 28mm F2.0 (aka Hollywood 28)
10) S-Planar 60mm F2.8
11) Planar 135mm F2.0
12) Distagon 28mm F2.8
13) Planar 50mm F1.4 (the special one)
14) Planar 50mm F1.7
15) Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm F3.4
-Son
1) Planar 85mm F1.2 60th/50th Anniversary
2) Distagon 21mm F2.8
3) Planar 55mm F1.2
4) Aposonnar 200mm F2.0
5) Distagon 15mm F3.5
6) Vario-Sonnar 70-210mm F3.5
7) Planar 100mm F2.0
8) Makro-Planar 100mm F2.8
9) Distagon 28mm F2.0 (aka Hollywood 28)
10) S-Planar 60mm F2.8
11) Planar 135mm F2.0
12) Distagon 28mm F2.8
13) Planar 50mm F1.4 (the special one)
14) Planar 50mm F1.7
15) Vario-Sonnar 35-70mm F3.4
-Son
P
pham_minh_son
The top 15 Contax Carl Zeiss I listed are among very special lens that have great application as optical tools.
-Son
-Son
woodyspedden
Member
Here is a recent shot using the 85 1.2 50 Jahre wide open. Note the nose is out of focus while the single hair on the left side of the face is acutely sharp. You can really do creative imaging with this lens and now that I have it I can't imagine being without it. Fabulous portrait lens as you can imagine. The horse was moving and the shot was hand held so there is a minute amount of camera shake.
Woody Spedden
Woody Spedden
Talk about splitting hairs... C'mon guys. We're talkin' Zeiss here. It's all good. Some may be slightly better, but not without sacrifice.
First off, Leicaphiles will NEVER admit when their lenses are beaten; NEVER.
Granted, I have wished for faster prime lenses on my G series, but we're also talking about diatonic design philosophies. Zeiss and Leica are completely different schools of thought. Zeiss is about performance across the board. Leica strives to push the envelope of lens capabilities like huge apertures, again with some sacrifices like flare and, let's face it, super shallow DOF (out of focus) is not always useful or necessary. It may be dramatic, but F1.4 is plenty shallow and infinitely more hand-holdable. What's the point of a lens that's so large you need to use a tripod or support to get sharp images? You might as well shoot medium or large format if that's what you're really after. Talk about pleasant bokeh or DOF. This is'nt so much related to the lens maker as much as it is the circles of confusion a larger format lens creates. My Planar 2.8 for the Hassy is far more pleasing wide open than just about any 35mm super fast prime. Those lenses are trying to emulate the medium format look and they do well, but the devil is in the details. Resolution is }only 3.5 times greater due to the film/sensor plane and the circles of confusion created by those larger lenses.
To answer the question as to which five I would pack in my bag I would have to say that if money were no object, the 21mm Distagon is one of the most corrected lenses ever made, but you get insanely sharp images with the 25 2.8 or 18 2.8. And if you're after sharp you'd probably stop down anyway, so speed isn't the issue here. Of course if you are doing architecural work, the 18 may well prove to be more useful overall. With such sharp images one could always crop in for a tighter shot. Next, the 28 2.0 is a stellar photojournalistic lens, but heavy. After that, the 50 1.4, the 85 1.4, and the 135 2.0. I'm going to cheat here, but throw in a Zeiss mutar 1.4x and 2x and you've got a few more lenses that are still relatively fast and every bit Zeiss quality. Much lighter too than lugging around any zooms.
Don't buy into this Leica jargon like "micro-contrast" either. We're talking about light transmission through optical elements. T* coating is still the absolute maximum transmission of light from one end to the other. Believe me, all the details are still there, and then some, in Zeiss T* Optics.
Alas, printing is an artform inofitself. A master printer can make a Michelangelo out of a Lomo and most any lab can ruin the best of a len's capabilities.
First off, Leicaphiles will NEVER admit when their lenses are beaten; NEVER.
Granted, I have wished for faster prime lenses on my G series, but we're also talking about diatonic design philosophies. Zeiss and Leica are completely different schools of thought. Zeiss is about performance across the board. Leica strives to push the envelope of lens capabilities like huge apertures, again with some sacrifices like flare and, let's face it, super shallow DOF (out of focus) is not always useful or necessary. It may be dramatic, but F1.4 is plenty shallow and infinitely more hand-holdable. What's the point of a lens that's so large you need to use a tripod or support to get sharp images? You might as well shoot medium or large format if that's what you're really after. Talk about pleasant bokeh or DOF. This is'nt so much related to the lens maker as much as it is the circles of confusion a larger format lens creates. My Planar 2.8 for the Hassy is far more pleasing wide open than just about any 35mm super fast prime. Those lenses are trying to emulate the medium format look and they do well, but the devil is in the details. Resolution is }only 3.5 times greater due to the film/sensor plane and the circles of confusion created by those larger lenses.
To answer the question as to which five I would pack in my bag I would have to say that if money were no object, the 21mm Distagon is one of the most corrected lenses ever made, but you get insanely sharp images with the 25 2.8 or 18 2.8. And if you're after sharp you'd probably stop down anyway, so speed isn't the issue here. Of course if you are doing architecural work, the 18 may well prove to be more useful overall. With such sharp images one could always crop in for a tighter shot. Next, the 28 2.0 is a stellar photojournalistic lens, but heavy. After that, the 50 1.4, the 85 1.4, and the 135 2.0. I'm going to cheat here, but throw in a Zeiss mutar 1.4x and 2x and you've got a few more lenses that are still relatively fast and every bit Zeiss quality. Much lighter too than lugging around any zooms.
Don't buy into this Leica jargon like "micro-contrast" either. We're talking about light transmission through optical elements. T* coating is still the absolute maximum transmission of light from one end to the other. Believe me, all the details are still there, and then some, in Zeiss T* Optics.
Alas, printing is an artform inofitself. A master printer can make a Michelangelo out of a Lomo and most any lab can ruin the best of a len's capabilities.