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Something from that lens.Dieppe
(no idea what the fireball is :bugeyes: )
View over Dieppe after the rain.
Thank you Barry!
Besides AF, what lens would be better IMO the VC 35/1.2 or the Fe 35/1.4?
I don't want to put you up with a (boring) lens test, but just out of your experience after you get to know the FE 35 better.
Yes very happy, many thanks Michiel...It would be interesting to see the C/Y 35mm Distagon reviewed with the FE version...You (And Chuck) may very well not be missing out on anything...It might be meWow, I did not expect such a thorough review so soon! But that's you, thorough! Thanks a lot! Good for everyone to read. Looks like you are really happy with it and that will surely result in more great images.
As you know I am a fan of the Zeiss look and I like my C/Y version a lot. This will probably be a bit/lot better and AF can come in handy sometimes BTW I don't mind big lenses except for streetshooting.
There are now so many new lenses for the E mount I did not buy, that I don't know were to start. Probably none for the time being because, I have been building up a small collection of Pentax 645 lenses for a future purchase of the PentaxZ and my funds need a break to build up some fresh dough :grin:
This helps for sure ! In draining, not only mine, but a lot of wallets around this forum.
Your first impressions mini review/comparison is worth a new thread on this lens, I think.
I don't intend to leave this thread nor am I going to sell my Sony stuff. I even might be buying the new Sony A9, or whatever sooner then the PentaxZ. That camera is merely for special projects.Good luck with the Pentax 645...I for one will be sorry to see you spend most your time over there...I will have to pick on someone else now :cussing:
Do stay in touch with the Sony A7 thread.
Thanks for this. My lens came last Friday but I haven't had time to try it out yet because I've been away for work this week. I plan on mounting it some time soon as I will be back home tomorrow afternoon.Hi Michiel, first of all thanks for the "THANK" and also ggibson (excellent image BTW)...Very most appreciated.
Well I have only owned the lens just 24 hours, so some may say that I just haven't spent long enough time with it to come up with any worthwhile decisive conclusion, that maybe I'm just overly excited with my new purchase (Which in truth I am)...Well I have done my testing now (I won't be uploading it here for all to see as I did the tests selfishly for myself) as far as "I'm concerned" the short answer without any hesitation is that the Distagon is going to be a longtime resident here in Cornwall as far as I can foresee ...I was going to reveal this after I sold the CV 35mm on ebay, it's a bit late now you have forced my hand...no doubt CV35 prices will plummet
Joking aside the CV35 f1.2 has it's own particular signature rendering that I quite like, similar to an old classic styled lens a bit low in contrast WO for my own particular taste, as I have said before.
Plenty of fans out there and rightly so but I freely admit I personally never really fell in love with it like others have done before me.
The Distagon IMO is in a different league altogether a much more up to date designed lens with what looks like almost micro-contrast going on when comparing it against the CV35 images WO i.e. Better resolving of fine detail in highlights and shadows, probably due to the Zeiss glass with T* coating and the sun being out yesterday evening
Distagon praises are...
Colour, colour, colour...Did I mention colour, the colours are just Zeiss wonderful..3D Pop fantastic!...(I'm now starting to sound like Steve Huff...But I find myself agreeing with him on this occasion)...The other 3 Sony lenses are not as good as the Distagon for colour, although I need to do a proper test to prove this to myself once the sun is back out.
It resolves brilliantly in the centre straight from F1.4 (3/4 of the frame is good to go)...Sharpness/Resolution in the centre gets better radiating out from the centre as you stop down similar to how the Leica 50mm Asph S'Lux does it IMHO.
It was the rendering of the Distagon that instantly sold itself to me as opposed to the probable more sensible choice of going with the lighter, smaller and possibly even sharper Loxia 35mm (I went with my heart and not my head I suppose with no regrets whatsoever...This is the look that I was after
I had previously owned the ZM 35mm Biogon super sharp (also Leica M 35mm pre asph Lux and pre asph Cron) so I was pretty familiar with it's good and bad points although I liked the lens a lot except for the corners WO on FF and was less happy than most it seems with the OoF rendering of the ZM 35mm Biogon and 35mm Loxia Biogon (on APS-C it would have been a keeper for sure)...Although Charlie (uhoh7) has already proven to me on FM looking at his work that the ZM 35mm Biogon is still a great lens on a modded A7 series camera...The mod makes the difference it seems.
The Distagon corners are gorgeous WO soft not smeared and improve in resolution as you close down...I like creamy, dreamy OoF and it's a perfect 10 out of 10 for me, not twitchy nervous in the least, it's the perfect accompaniment to the 55mm Sonnar rendering if that is what you like...I know I do.
Low distortion
Higher contrast WO than the CV 35mm (CV 35mm contrast improves dramatically on stopping down just one stop).
Vignetting is present as you expect WO but not in your face and tidy's up nicely even at f1.4 with no smearing at any focus distance points.
Photographing a white board and I can just see some slight colour shift corners going on close up, although nothing that bothers me and I can't see it in my everyday outdoors photography.
Exif data present...Weather sealed and dust proof if I remember correctly.
No OSS but on a IBIS A7 series camera it's no big thingy anyway IMO, as I'm guessing IBIS will be present on the future A7RII/A9 cameras.
AF...Which I know you are not that keen on is truly excellent fast and accurate...Even a die hard MF worker like yourself will be tempted to switch it on and maybe even leave it on if the situation warrants it!...Needs latest Firmware 1.2 to get the best from the 35mm Distagon according to Sony...Strangely I did notice a drop in my battery life, I don't think I imagined it, hard to say.
No problem from the thick sensor stack (no double imaging going on out towards the corners) which the ZM 35mm Distagon is showing up on a non modded A7 series camera.
The FE 35mm Distagon just like the Loxia shows that the 35mm end of the 16-35mm is not that great for landscape work...I would rather sensor crop at 28mm to achieve the 35mm AoV.
35mm FE Distagon Negs...
Size, weight, price and not dedicated MF like a Loxia, I suspect will always be a problem for many.
Flare can still creep in even with a lenshood (not sure about your hands doing a better job ...Haven't seen any fireballs either yet
CA can be noticeable depending on the scene...but can be dealt with and fades away quickly on stopping down.
To conclude.
I owe thanks to CharlesK, John, Jorge and Werner + Others here and also over at FM for help making my mind up...Great info and thanks for sharing guys.
I think Charles summed it up perfectly earlier on another thread..."I think we are coming to point where side by side comparisons are not as relevant now. The FE 35/1.4 is an amazing lens"...It's all subjective and it's just a matter of personal taste what look you are after at the end of the day.
Hope this helps Michiel, apologies for such a long answer Cheers Barry
EDIT...Michiel...Apologies for uploading straight after your image...I was unaware you had uploaded while I was typing this out for you.