Desentered Zeiss 24-70

[chals]

It seems to me that my CZ 24-70 is desentered. I took a test and pasted the corners next to each other. The aperture is F8, at 5.6 is it worse, a little better at 11.

Should I send this lens back for repair? It is my second copy, bought it in june.

http://chals.zenfolio.com/p259693981/h1ee1edb7#h1ee1edb7

 

[surfotog]

Send it back. Zeiss customer service is superb. The Zeiss USA rep is Richard Schleuning. Contact him at [email protected]. He is very responsive and helpful.When I shot Nikon, I had problems with a refurbished ZF 100/2 macro. The lens was out of warranty, yet Richard replaced it with a brand new ( not refurbished) lens.

 

[chals]

I dont think there is a Zeiss rep here in Norway, I have to return it to the store. If I could get some more opinions on the desentering effect I would be most thankful.
How bad is it?

 

[surfotog]

If you don't have a Zeiss rep in Norway, contact Zeiss directly through their website and tell them the problem. You should recieve a prompt reply. Zeiss seems to have excellent customer service at all levels. They have always responded prompty to my inquiries. If you are on your second lens, they will want to hear about it. You may just get a new lens.

 

[picman]

If you don't have a Zeiss rep in Norway, contact Zeiss directly through their website and tell them the problem. You should recieve a prompt reply. Zeiss seems to have excellent customer service at all levels. They have always responded prompty to my inquiries. If you are on your second lens, they will want to hear about it. You may just get a new lens.

It is worth a try but I think you may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Sony Zeiss lenses are neither distributed nor serviced by Zeiss. I think they will tell you to take it in to Sony.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[edwardkaraa]

My first copy of the 16-35 was decentered and it was exchanged by Sony promptly. Decentered lenses have to be returned to the factory in Japan to be fixed. zeiss has nothing to do with it.

 

[edwardkaraa]

I just looked at the photo in the provided link. In my humble opinion, you cannot judge lens symmetry at this distance. It could be decentering, or it could also be that right and left objects are not exactly at the same distance to the sensor plane. The only way to check, and this is what I did with my 16-35, is to take a photo wide open at infinity and compare right/left side. The photo should be ideally a cityscape because you can easily check sharpness with buildings and man made structures.

 

[chals]

I just looked at the photo in the provided link. In my humble opinion, you cannot judge lens symmetry at this distance. It could be decentering, or it could also be that right and left objects are not exactly at the same distance to the sensor plane. The only way to check, and this is what I did with my 16-35, is to take a photo wide open at infinity and compare right/left side. The photo should be ideally a cityscape because you can easily check sharpness with buildings and man made structures.

I did the same test with my 28-135 and it was supersharp in the same right corner at the same f-stops where the 24-70 was very unsharp.

The test also revealed that the 28-135 was a little sharper on the right side. Compared to the differences showed with the 24-70 it was nothing to worry
about.

I think this is an indication that the test is OK, and shows the problem with the lens precisely enough.
I took 25 pictures or something, some of them was focused manually at the rightmost coffee-box, and they turned out to be the sharpest both at the right and the left side.

I took some pictures this summer including distant buildings, same there, fussy on the right side.

So, if you can talk yourself into that the test is good enough, how bad would you rate the defect?



I wonder how many months it will take this lens to go from Norway to Japan and back again.

 

[edwardkaraa]

In this case, Sony should exchange it for you, especially if you provide them with some photos showing the defect as I did. Repairing the lens for decentering should not be an option if you bought the lens new under warranty.

 

[dhsimmonds]

I agree with Edward. Certainly in the UK, under the "sale of goods act" you can return the goods (any goods) as being "unfit for purpose" within a limited period of time which for camera goods is usually 12 months. This is subject to the usual caveats of misuse etc, ie dropping!

I would make your first port of call the dealer who sold you the lens and give him the responsibility of ensuring your satisfaction. Even if you purchased via an internet dealer, I usually find them very helpful and anxious to please.

 

[Braeside]

I returned my first 24-70 CZ (was blurred at one side) to my dealer and he exchanged it for another new copy which is superb. The dealer in the UK I used was RGB-tech.

BTW my 135/1.8 CZ is away for repair of the loose front ring at present (handled by LCE from where I bought it, used but still very new).

I hope you can get yours exchanged also.

 

[Braeside]

Well, my Sony Zeiss 135 lens is back from Sony UK (via LCE the dealer I purchased from) and seems fine, the front ring is now tight. Took 3 weeks, but much of that time was because Sony's dealer website appeared to have no method of returning a Sony Zeiss lens (only Sony lenses). That has now been fixed I understand.

Many thanks to Mike Baxter at London Camera Exchange in Worcester for his help and patience.

 

[chals]

The lens is now on its way to Hungary I was told by Sony today. I had a 50mm Macro earlier, it too went to Hungary and get lost there. After 8-9 weeks I got my money back. Hope it works out better this time.

 

[Braeside]

Hope you get the lens back soon. Unbelievable that they lost the last lens.

 

[Steen]

chals, are the two coffee-box corners from the very same capture ?
The reason I'm asking is that the right corner doesn't just look blurred and fuzzy. I see double lines, as if the capture was shaken ?

 

[chals]

chals, are the two coffee-box corners from the very same capture ?
The reason I'm asking is that the right corner doesn't just look blurred and fuzzy. I see double lines, as if the capture was shaken ?

Yes, the boxes are from the same picture. I also took pictures from the same position with the 28-135 zoom at the same focal length. Pictures from that lens was very sharp at the right corner ( the Zeiss is blurred), the left corner was almost equally sharp.

I took some pictures at 5.6 as well, the double lines was much more pronounced and the text barely readable.

All pictures was taken with a tripod and mirror up 2 seconds in advance of the exposure.

 

[edwardkaraa]

chals, are the two coffee-box corners from the very same capture ?
The reason I'm asking is that the right corner doesn't just look blurred and fuzzy. I see double lines, as if the capture was shaken ?

I find these double lines so typical of a decentered element. My 16-35 suffering from the same desease had them as well. The image does not look like a normal OOF shot in the decentered area.

 

[chals]

I got the lens back from Hungary some days ago. I took about one month. They had fixed some mechanical failure that I was not aware of, and adjusted lens elements. The lens is now nearly equally sharp in all corners. Very good.

Cleary the QC is not what it should be, this was the second 24-70 I had. I have had less trouble when bying 25 years old Minolta lenses from the internet.