Review of Zeiss 21 Distagon w/ Images Part 1

I had the chance to haul my 5D (1) to LIC this past Sunday at sunrise in the bitter cold...the lighting wasn't great (complete overcast) but I had my tripod with me and wanted to take some shots w/ my fairly new Distagon.

My findings in a nutshell...as expected, superb sharpness across the frame...amazing build quality which puts my L's to shame. There are two "weaknesses" (for lack of a better term) which are software correctable but for this post, I won't mess with that.

Wide open, I find the light falloff pretty abundant...covering about 2/3 of the image and strongest in the corners. Sometimes, I really like the look w/ the vignetting...sometimes, I don't. Also, as you can see from internet reviews, there is a mustache distortion which doesn't bother me but it's definitely there.

The following images do not have any sharpening applied...also, contrast was kept modest for the purpose of this comparison.

Light falloff / mustache distortion:
Wide open at f/2.8



At f/4 (falloff mostly gone)



At f/5.6 (falloff is gone)



This lens exhibits superb sharpness across the frame:
100% crop at corner area f/5.6



100% crop at corner area f/2.8 (light falloff has not been corrected)



100% crop at central area f/5.6



100% crop at central area f/2.8



--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

Another series of shots (no sharpening applied)...this image is one where I don't like the falloff:

Scene at f/2.8



Scene at f/5.6



100% crop at corner area f/5.6



100% crop at middle area f/5.6



--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

Image at f/2.8 w/ touch of sharpening added



100% corner crop (with touch of sharpening)



Other images (slight sharpening applied)
At f/2.8



At f/3.2



At f/2.8



--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

I am using PT Lens to correct for vignetting and distortion on my Zeiss 21. It is available as a stand alone, I am using within Breezebrowser RAW conversions: its a seamless process. Or you can use it as a plug in for PS or LR, 8 or 16 bit JPEG, TIFF or RAW. You can try it out 10 images for free. Its only $25 and does an excellent job addressing these issues.

http://www.outbackphoto.com/workflow/wf_43/essay.html#top

http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/

Mike K

Thanks again Mike - I have PTLens actually but for this excercise didn't run it. The mustache distortion actually does not bother me.

The falloff usually doesn't bother me either but it's an easy fix for when I don't want it.

--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

somebody please help me decide between:

Zeiss Distagon 21/2.8
Canon 24/1.4
Canon ts-e 24/3.5
Nikon 14-24 (adapted)

each one is an excellent piece of glass, and each one shines for different reasons (which are evident by just looking at the names: "Zeiss", "1.4", "ts", "14-24")

I can afford one. Two, if I decide to sell my 24-105.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12358410@N05/

it depend of what you shot.
The zeiss is wider than the other. It's sharp all across the frame.

The 24 m TSE2 is the sharpest 24 mm I ever seen, but it's also manual focus, Tilt and shift, and only 3,5

the 24 1,4 is not as good as the TSE but you win more than two stops. It's also an AF lens
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

however, with that said...if I had the funds for the 24 TS/E, I'd have jumped on that in a heartbeat b/c of the added functionality plus it's also sharp.

I bought mine at 1.55K USD...now that the price is at 1.7K USD, it would be tough to decide between Zeiss and the new 24L.

For my own uses, the added nuiance to use an adapted lens would boot the Nikon out for me though it looks like a killer zoom.

peppe said:

somebody please help me decide between:

Zeiss Distagon 21/2.8
Canon 24/1.4
Canon ts-e 24/3.5
Nikon 14-24 (adapted)

Click to expand...

--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

Out of those 4 choices, the 24 II L is the poorest IQ, but thats relative, its still good. The Nikkor 14-24 G requires the 16-9 adapter, which takes a bit to get and the resulting stop down metering and minimal aperture control slows you down more than the zoom speeds you up. Now a tilt/shift lens is no speed demon to use in the tilt mode either, but the results are unique, not possible with other WA lenses, and in shift mode one can still capture a wider pano without pulling out the pano rail.

that leaves the Zeiss 21 which seems to be the sharpest of the 4, by a small margin.

For the time being I am keeping the TSE 24 II and the Zeiss until I have much more experience with both. The TSE I am keeping for sure, and I will evaluate the redundancy of the Zeiss.

Mike K

If you are comparing these lenses wide open, then sure the 24IIL is probably the worst performer than the TS-e 24IIL and the Zeiss 21mm. But, you are comparing an f1.4 ultra bright lens to an f3.5 TS-e and a f2.8 lens. The 24IIL is gaining 2 stops over the Zeiss and a fair bit more over the TS-e.

If you stop the 24IIL down to the same aperture value, you'll find that it's suprisingly sharp, and pretty much the equal of the other two lenses.

In real world use, they are all pretty much comparible at comparible apertures. The 24IIL is plently sharp enough on a 21mp camera, even wide open....so what's all the measurbating about?

Kind Regards,

Gareth Cooper
--
http://www.GMCPhotographics.com (weddings)
http://www.pbase.com/gazzajagman (other stuff)

'Science is what we dream of, technology is what we are stuck with' Douglas Adams

On DX the vignetting is really not obvious. But even from your sample shots, I don't actually find it distracting at all. It is there if you study the image but it's not the first thing that pops in my mind when I look at the picture. I guess maybe I am just more tolerant to vignetting...

By the way I don't know what I'm doing here, haha...

I usually don't mind the vignetting either...in fact, most of the time, I actually really like it (all the shots I took in that last sample posting on this thread).

In regards to what you are doing here...LOL, it is a discussion of tools so jump in anytime! I occasionally post in the Nikon forums too.

02125906 said:

On DX the vignetting is really not obvious. But even from your sample shots, I don't actually find it distracting at all. It is there if you study the image but it's not the first thing that pops in my mind when I look at the picture. I guess maybe I am just more tolerant to vignetting...

By the way I don't know what I'm doing here, haha...

Click to expand...

--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

Yeah, that's what I feel about vignetting too. And most of the time, the pictures we take are full of different objects, colours, and contrast, they make it less obvious. If you didn't tell me about vignetting on the 1st picture, I think I wouldn't even notice it.

By the way, I don't feel safe here, like walking in a wrong neighbourhood.
One small mistake I'd be jumped all over by all Canon users, haha..
But at least we share similar lens taste.

pso said:

I usually don't mind the vignetting either...in fact, most of the time, I actually really like it (all the shots I took in that last sample posting on this thread).

In regards to what you are doing here...LOL, it is a discussion of tools so jump in anytime! I occasionally post in the Nikon forums too.

02125906 said:

On DX the vignetting is really not obvious. But even from your sample shots, I don't actually find it distracting at all. It is there if you study the image but it's not the first thing that pops in my mind when I look at the picture. I guess maybe I am just more tolerant to vignetting...

By the way I don't know what I'm doing here, haha...

Click to expand...

--
Pak K So
'Enjoy your life, guy'

Click to expand...

Thank you in avance and sorry for my English.
Question.
If i buy PTlens, there is the 21mmZeiss in the lens database?
Thank you again.
http://www.alessandrocatuogno.com
--
Alessandro Catuogno

Alessandro Catuogno said:

If i buy PTlens, there is the 21mmZeiss in the lens database?
Alessandro Catuogno

Click to expand...

Yes,
Try it out for free, 10 images
Mike K

Yes; that's what I have done. I tried the PT lens. In the mac version there is two Zeiss : the contax, and the ZF.
It's better to use the ZF.
Perhaps I will recieve my lens tomorrow
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range

Powerdoc said:

it depend of what you shot.

Click to expand...

I'm not a pro (although I'd deserve to ), so I shoot everything I want, in every situation, just for the pleasure of the final image.

Now, I'm looking for an ultrawide, which 24mm is not. 21 would be just perfect, so +1 for Zeiss. OTOH, the Nikon zoom is 21 plus a lot more, so +2 for Nikon.

And then there's the incredible low-light capabilities of the 24/1.4 - just think at the early-night skies I could capture with it! And it's +1.5 for the 24/1.4

And of course, there's the TS-E. I shiver with pleasure just thinking at myself trying to use it on a Cornish cliff. That's +2 for the TS-E

Quality-wise - put together MTF graphs and general colour rendition - the Zeiss seems to be over the top (the top being the Nikon, AFAIGI). So + 1 for Zeiss.

So far:
Zeiss, Nikon, TS-E 2pts
1.4 1.5pt

Not enough. I need ONE clear winner, and possibly ONE clear runner-up.

(I would already own the TS-E, if it wasn't for the "Extended image circle tests" on this page: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_24_3p5_tse_c10/page3.asp

--
Alessandro Catuogno

by the way, scroll down this page: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1029&message=33423582 for a test of the Zeiss
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12358410@N05/

All these lenses are different and should not be compared. 24 mm is not 21.

In my opinion you can compare the zeiss, with other 20 mm : the canon, the sigma, the olympus ...
I am sure that the zeiss will be the clear winner.
--
I love the crop factor at the long end, I hate it in the wide range