Landscape prime 85 to 100mm

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85 f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or diffraction above f13.

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Ben

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

Click to expand...

The TS-E90mm is very nice optically, marginally better than the 100mm macro lens, but the diffraction effects will be there with whatever lens you choose.

If you are primarily going to use the lens for landscape work, then changing the tilt/shift orientation once shouldn’t be a problem. I have been hoping for a new TS-E90mm for some time – not having to unscrew the thing every time to change the axis would be very nice.

Brian A.

diffraction is an issue on almost any lens at any f stop less then taht as far as i know .. i have the 70-200 nd love it

comeon said:

diffraction is an issue on almost any lens at any f stop less then
taht as far as i know .. i have the 70-200 nd love it
--

Click to expand...

Right about diffraction, but tilting allows better control of the focal plane and could get similar DOF at faster apertures than a normal lens.

Also, I note I can usually get better DOF at lower apertures with a prime than a zoom because the prime tends to have better corners.

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Ben

I only have experience with the 85mm f/1.8. It makes an excellent landscape lens stopped down. It is among the sharpest such lenses available.

Dan

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

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G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
IM: gdanmitchell

Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.

gdanmitchell said:

I only have experience with the 85mm f/1.8. It makes an excellent
landscape lens stopped down. It is among the sharpest such lenses
available.

Dan

Click to expand...

Thanks Dan, how is this lens for flare? I could see this focal length as a natural for compressed sunsets.

gdanmitchell said:

gdanmitchell said:

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Ben

Click to expand...

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G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
IM: gdanmitchell
Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change,
eyeballs, bag of nuts.

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Ben

Ben_Egbert said:

gdanmitchell said:

I only have experience with the 85mm f/1.8. It makes an excellent
landscape lens stopped down. It is among the sharpest such lenses
available.

Dan

Click to expand...

Thanks Dan, how is this lens for flare? I could see this focal length
as a natural for compressed sunsets.

Click to expand...

I haven't noticed any issues with it, though flare is generally less of an issue on a longer lens for a variety of reasons. I don't recall using it to shoot into the sun, so maybe I have not tested it in the way that concerns you.

Dan

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---
G Dan Mitchell - SF Bay Area, California, USA
Blog & Gallery: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/
IM: gdanmitchell

Gear List: Cup, spoon, chewing gum, old shoe laces, spare change, eyeballs, bag of nuts.

Zeiss ZE 85mm f:1.4 is a fabulous landscape lens IMHO. I owned the Canon f:1.8 and switched. I now own the 2 Zeiss ZEs (50mm and 85mm), and 2 of the most highly regarded Canon primes: 35L and 135L, and prefer the Zeiss rendering for landscape.

That being said, as the ZE 85 is very substantially more expensive than the Canon f1.8, the Zeiss' superiority does not mean that the Canon is an inferior/non competitive unit

Ben, you know me and my odd alternatives.

I use and love the results I get with my Contax Zeiss 100/2.0 in shooting landscapes. It is easily one of the sharpest, if not the sharpest, lens I own. Flare has not been an issue for me as I use it with a cheap aftermarket rubber hood.
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Long live the HMS Beagle
Critiques always welcome!

The 85 f1.8 is a very good sharp lens for compressed landscapes, though it does suffer a bit from purple fringing with high contrast subjects, such as when shooting into the light. Have a look at the water fountain picture here:

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/164-canon-ef-85mm-f18-usm-test-report--review?start=2

That said, these can be corrected in PP. In all, it's as sharp as my L primes and has fast snappy AF. The only way it is inferior to an L is in build; it's not magnezium alloy but it's perfectly fine. Maybe the lens coatings are different too, but that would be nit-picking.

Michael

jamesdak said:

Ben, you know me and my odd alternatives.

I use and love the results I get with my Contax Zeiss 100/2.0 in
shooting landscapes. It is easily one of the sharpest, if not the
sharpest, lens I own. Flare has not been an issue for me as I use it
with a cheap aftermarket rubber hood.
--

Click to expand...

I have an adapted Zeiss 50f1.4 and it is tied with my 35 f1.4 as my favorite landscape lens. I like it so well I am thinking about selling it and getting the ZE version to avoid the adaptor issues.

So I guess I would prefer to avoid an adaptor, hence my inclusion of the Zeiss ZE85.

The flare issue would be when pointing directly into a setting sun. My 35 f1.4 handles this perfectly without filters, a hood is useless in this situation. Had some issues with my Zeiss 50f1.4 last time I tried it, but probably caused by filters. Need to try it without filters.

Example, here. This is the best with lots of cloning. Still getting flare after the sun had set. This one had some stacked ND grads which were probably the culprit.



35f1.4 example, no filters. Just let the foreground go black. This is a good reason to use a longer lens and reduce the foreground.

Not direct sun here because of cloud cover, but it is much brighter than some of my sea shots after the sun was over the horizon and still flaring.



Neither of these tell why I want a prime however. The reason is when I was at Canyonlands trying to get some compressed landscapes and was unable to solve the DOF problem.

I had many cases where I needed DOF from around 30-50 feet to infinity. My 70-200 does not seem to be able to get there even with hyper focal. It does not like being stopped down below f13.

jamesdak said:

Long live the HMS Beagle
Critiques always welcome!

Click to expand...

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Ben

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

Hmm, what about macro lenses? It seems for landscape you don't use your lenses wide open, so f2.8. as starting aperture would be ok.
Canon 100mm f2.8, Tamron 90mm, and others. Macro lenses tend to be very sharp.

Anyway, as you say, the TSE is perhaps what you are looking for, as you can achieve get foreground and background sharp.

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photonius said:

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

Hmm, what about macro lenses? It seems for landscape you don't use
your lenses wide open, so f2.8. as starting aperture would be ok.
Canon 100mm f2.8, Tamron 90mm, and others. Macro lenses tend to be
very sharp.

Click to expand...

I considered a macro, just waiting for somebody to suggest one.

photonius said:

Anyway, as you say, the TSE is perhaps what you are looking for, as
you can achieve get foreground and background sharp.

Click to expand...

This is true, and the only thing holding me back is my fear that I could not focus a tilt lens. I seem to be hopelessly unable to manual focus. I can use a manual focus lens with the AF confirm, but that won't work on a tilt lens.

photonius said:

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Click to expand...

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Ben

Should we even try to ansswer a question that mentions lots of expensive stuff and yet is so carelessly written that we have no format info?

Asking about telephoto lenses for landscapes just cries out for more info too.

Are we required to guess?

Should peple posting messages be requirted to at last try and ask a good qestion?

BAK

Sure if we have something usefull to add.

Telephoto for landscape means compressed landscapes normally. It' also means that it does not need to be fast but should have good performance when stopped down. It means AF performance is not that important since hyperfocal focusing will probably be used or the focus at least manually tweaked. And it means high quality resolution edge to edge to show all the details.

Sort of a given if you shoot landscapes and easily understood by landscapers reading the OP IMHO.
--
Long live the HMS Beagle
Critiques always welcome!

Just a thought...

Would a macro lens be something to consider? Most are 2.8, but since you are focused on landscape, that should be fine. Macros from what I have seen tend to be as good from edge to edge as anything else, even wide open, and that I think is pretty important for landscapes. And you have the added bonus of macro ability should you want/need it. Canon 100/2.8, Sigma 105/2.8, and maybe a couple of others to think about.

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Click to expand...

I can only say that I would not buy the 85/1.2 if you want it primarily for landscape. Under certain angles it suffers from flare. I am using 135.2 for compressed landscapes. I guess 100/2.8 macro or TS-E 90 would be excellent choices, too.

Ben_Egbert said:

photonius said:

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

Hmm, what about macro lenses? It seems for landscape you don't use
your lenses wide open, so f2.8. as starting aperture would be ok.
Canon 100mm f2.8, Tamron 90mm, and others. Macro lenses tend to be
very sharp.

Click to expand...

I considered a macro, just waiting for somebody to suggest one.

Click to expand...

well, I guess the canon 100mm f2.8 is what would suit you.

most macros are pretty good, but canon has fast USM. While fast AF is not so critical for landscape, you rely on good AF, so I think the Canon wins there over all the 3rd party lenses.

Having said that, according to the tests, the 70-200 f2.8 is should be excellent at f8 f11 and the macro may not give you much more.

Ben_Egbert said:

Ben_Egbert said:

Anyway, as you say, the TSE is perhaps what you are looking for, as
you can achieve get foreground and background sharp.

Click to expand...

This is true, and the only thing holding me back is my fear that I
could not focus a tilt lens. I seem to be hopelessly unable to manual
focus. I can use a manual focus lens with the AF confirm, but that
won't work on a tilt lens.

Click to expand...

yes, I recall, quite right, I think it would be a problem for you, especially since you want to monitor the effect of tilt on the camera screen/viewfinder.

Ben_Egbert said:

Ben_Egbert said:

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Click to expand...

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Ben

Click to expand...

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photonius said:

Ben_Egbert said:

photonius said:

Ben_Egbert said:

The choices seem to be the 2 Canon 85's, the TSE90 and the Zeiss ZE85
f1.4

Any specific experiences? The 90TSE is interesting to me because the
specific problem with my current 70-200f2.8 is lack of DOF and/or
diffraction above f13.

--
http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

Hmm, what about macro lenses? It seems for landscape you don't use
your lenses wide open, so f2.8. as starting aperture would be ok.
Canon 100mm f2.8, Tamron 90mm, and others. Macro lenses tend to be
very sharp.

Click to expand...

I considered a macro, just waiting for somebody to suggest one.

Click to expand...

well, I guess the canon 100mm f2.8 is what would suit you.
most macros are pretty good, but canon has fast USM. While fast AF is
not so critical for landscape, you rely on good AF, so I think the
Canon wins there over all the 3rd party lenses.

Having said that, according to the tests, the 70-200 f2.8 is should
be excellent at f8 f11 and the macro may not give you much more.

Click to expand...

The 70-200 is a good lens, but it os DOF limited. Had the same issue with my wide zooms, but the primes can get good dof at a lower aperture because you are not fighting corner softness. The 70-200 is not bad in corners, but the very large apertures required for DOF seem to soften it faster. For example, my 35 and 50 are both very good at f16, but the 70-200 starts showing noticeable degradation above f13.

The 90 TSE is probably the correct answer. I am getting a 24 as my next lens, either 24 f1.4mk2 or the TSE. If I get the TSE, then I will need to learn manual focus.

photonius said:

photonius said:

photonius said:

Anyway, as you say, the TSE is perhaps what you are looking for, as
you can achieve get foreground and background sharp.

Click to expand...

This is true, and the only thing holding me back is my fear that I
could not focus a tilt lens. I seem to be hopelessly unable to manual
focus. I can use a manual focus lens with the AF confirm, but that
won't work on a tilt lens.

Click to expand...

yes, I recall, quite right, I think it would be a problem for you,
especially since you want to monitor the effect of tilt on the camera
screen/viewfinder.

photonius said:

photonius said:

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Life is short, time to zoom in ©

Click to expand...

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http://www.pbase.com/roserus/root

Ben

Click to expand...

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Life is short, time to zoom in ©

Click to expand...

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Ben

jamesdak said:

Sure if we have something usefull to add.

Telephoto for landscape means compressed landscapes normally. It'
also means that it does not need to be fast but should have good
performance when stopped down. It means AF performance is not that
important since hyperfocal focusing will probably be used or the
focus at least manually tweaked. And it means high quality
resolution edge to edge to show all the details.

Sort of a given if you shoot landscapes and easily understood by
landscapers reading the OP IMHO.

Click to expand...

Thanks, you answered it, and my specific issue was also given, that is how to get maximum effective DOF.

jamesdak said:

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Long live the HMS Beagle
Critiques always welcome!

Click to expand...

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Ben