Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/28

My usage

I mainly use this lens for landscapes and cityscapes. Sometimes I use this as a normal wide angle lens in situations, in which corner sharpness isn't important.

Image quality

Sharpness and contrast

As can be seen from MTF graphs this lens is wicked sharp from center even wide open. However corners eventually catch up at f/8 and f/11. In addition to sharpness the micro contrast is excellent. When lens is used optimally pictures have very high acutance (apparent sharpness).

At close range performance decreases, but in practice that has not been huge problem since lens performance starts to decrease from 1 meter and it's not hopeless even in minimum focus distance.

According to Zeiss (underline parts different than in Canon's MTFs): "The Modulation Transfer (MTF) as a function of image height (u) and slit orientation (sagittal, tangential) has been measured with white light at spatial frequencies of R = 10, 20 and 40 cycles/mm."

Highlight flare/reflection

Even people say that Carl Zeiss T* coating is the best coating available I have had some issues with flare when photographing nighttime cityscapes. Below is example of this flare/reflection problem. This might be caused by reflections between lens' back element and sensor? However during daytime I have not seen problems even sun is shining directly to the lens. Even in those situations veiling flare isn't problem.

Whole image, from which below are crops which show the problems in more detailed way.


As you can see the highlights cause lens to flare and cause some sort of reflected highlight on opposite side of the image (compared to center point of the image).

Build quality and basics

Lens body is made of metal and there is no wobbling or anything else strange. Build quality is excellent.

Lens is very compact: Length 79mm (with C/Y adapter and lens caps, bare lens), diameter 62mm and distance from EOS mount with adapter is 52mm (how much lens extends from camera). Weight with C/Y adapter and lens caps is 311g, and the lens itself weights 276g. Lenses minimum focusing distance is 0.25m. Lenses minimum aperture is f/22. Lens has 6 aperture blades, and therefore aperture doesn't stay round when closed down.

Lens has 7 elements which are in 7 groups. Actual focal length is 28.5mm. Minimum focus distance is 0.25, which results 0.11x maximum magnification and full frame (36mm x 24mm) coverage of 316mm x 211mm. Magnification is calculated based on focal length and minimum focus distance.

Handling

Manual focus feeling is very good, there is just about correct amount of resistance. Focusing from minimum distance to maximum distance takes about 140 degrees.

Lens also has proper depth of field scale. However on digital cameras I would recommend atleast one stop higher value since the circle of confusion is smaller these days when digital SLRs enable much larger print sizes than film cameras.

Summary

Pros

+ When closed down (f/8 and f/11) world class sharpness and accutance
+ Very compact size
+ Excellent build quality, while maintaining small weight

Cons

- Performance on close-ups (no floating element): sharpness decreases and some barrel distortion appears

See photos in my picturebank taken with this lens.

See how lens performs with 12mm extender:
Cactus with 12mm extension tubes - 1 of 2
Cactus with 12mm extension tubes - 2 of 2

Photography links (Link to parent category)

Manufacturers

Canon
Pentax
Nikon
Sigma
Canon - brochures

eStores

AC- FOTO (Germany)
TechnikDirekt (Germany)
New York Camera (Germany)

Finnish Stores

Kuva Lenita (Raahe)
MR-kamera, käytetyt laitteet (Helsinki)
Rajala Camera Pro Shop (Tampere, Helsinki)
Kallioniemi / Superkuva (Tampere)

General

Photo.net
Fred Miranda
Luminous Landscape
Naturfotograf
Digicamera.net (in Finnish)
Steves digicameras
Thom Hogan
Dpreview - Canon SLR talk
Dpreview - Canon SLR Lens talk
Rob Galbraith - D30/D60/10D forum
Rob Galbraith
Pekka Saarinen
Belgium digital
Lone Star Digital
Matti Valve lähikuvaustietoa (in Finnish)
Dpreview
Blog from Eskelinen-Haili-Helenius
Juza Nature Photography

Galleries

Landscape

Humans

Nature

Pekka Saarinen

Techniques

The Canon Digital Learning Center
Calculators

Depth of field (DOF) calculators

DOFMaster - Online Depth of Field Calculator

Other calculators

FOV Calculator

Flash

Strobist (blog): Lightning 101

Cambridge in colour - Hyperfocal distance
Cambridge in colour - Depth of field
Cambridge in colour - Diffraction
Cambridge in colour - Night photography

Nature

Metsähallitus
Pirkanmaan virkistysalueyhdistys r.y.
Birgitan polun kartta
Luontotupa - Kuvia Suomesta!

Equipment

Canon EOS D30

DLC photography - D30 tips
DLC photography - Chuck Westfall's tips
Fred Miranda - D30 FAQ
Reviews

Dpreview
Luminous Landscape 1
Luminous Landscape 2
Rob Galbraith 1
Rob Galbraith 2
Steve's digicams
Photo.net
Digital Outback Photo
Imaging Resource

Flash photography with Canon EOS cameras
Canon EOS FAQ

Pentax

Bojidar Dimitrov's K-Mount Equipment Page
PDML - Pentax-Discuss Mailing List

Lenses

Van Walree Photography - Optics (many good articles)
Canon TS-E lenses

Tilt and shift lenses (regarding all TS-E lenses)
TS-E 45/2.8 on the-digital-picrure.com
TS-E 24/3.5 on the-digital-picrure.com
TS-E 90/2.8 on the-digital-picrure.com
Sports with TS-E lenses by Vincent Laforet for the NY Times
Fred Miranda - how to correct CA when shift used
Cambridge in colour - Shift
Cambridge in colour - Tilt

Carl Zeiss lenses

digLloyd Zeiss ZF lenses
Zeiss.com - Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/2.0
Zeiss.com - Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 100mm f/2.0
16-9.net - Test of 28mm lenses including CZ 28/2.8
Pebble Place - Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2/100
Pebble Place - Carl Zeiss Macro-Sonnar T* 2.8/100 N
SLR Lens Review - Contax Sonnar T* 2.8/135mm C/Y
SLR Lens Review - Contax Sonnar T* 2.8/85mm C/Y
SLR Lens Review - Contax Planar T* 1.7/50mm C/Y
Pebble Place - Contax Sonnar T* 2.8/135mm C/Y
Some example pictures of Zeiss lenses
pinciuc.com - samples from various lenses

Nikon PC-Nikkor lenses

16-9.net - Test of 35mm shift lenses
mir.com.my - PC-Nikkor 28mm f/3.5
mir.com.my - PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8

Adapters

Pebble Place - C/Y adapters

Cambridge in colour - Understanding camera lenses
Photo.net - Lens tutorial

Canon EOS 20D

Dpreview 20D review
Luminous Landscape part 1
Luminous Landscape part 2
Luminous Landscape field test
Photo.net review

Canon EOS 1D Mark III

The-Digital-Picture.com
Imaging Resource
Ken Rockwell
Rob Galbraith
Photography-on-the.net

Theory

Digital Outback photo - "Image Sensor Size and Field of View" (good chart of common sensor sizes)
Digital Outback photo - "Pixel size"
Photo.net Effects of the physical size of digican sensors on performance by Bob Atkins
Focal length compression explained

Nature

Finland

Retkikartta
Luontoon.fi
Kansalaisen Karttapaikka

Coppice forest near Tampere / Lehdot Tampereen lähellä

Pälkäne, Äimälän lehtoalue
Akaa, Alhonlahden rantalehto
Hämeenkyrö, Vastajärvenojanlehto
Hämeenkyrö, Sasin purolehdot
Kangasala, Hepomäki-Kalkunvuori
Pälkäne, Hausalon lehmuslehto
Pälkäne, Sarkasen harjulehto
Tampere, Iso-Kuhmon lehto
Ylöjärvi, Valkeenkiven lehto
Tampere, Myllypuro 1
Tampere, Myllypuro 2
Pirkanmaan lehdot (miljo.fi)
Valkeakoski, Pappilan tervaleppäkorpi
Valkeakoski, Sydänniemen pähkinälehto
Valkeakoski, Mälkiäisen lehto
Valkeakoski, Vainoniemen lehto
Valkeakoski, Tunturivuoren lehto

Cliffs near Tampere / Kalliota Tampereen lähellä

Orivesi, Eräpyhä
Orivesi, Vuorijärvi
Tampere, polku Kintulammilta Pulesjärven suojelualueelle
Nokia, Huuhkajanvuori ja Kaakkurijärvet
Valkeakoski, Jylhänniemi ja Lapinraunio
Urjala, Kormuntinvuori
Nokia, Peltokankaanvuori
Orivesi, Sonsarinvuori-Raiskionvuori
Orivesi, Huppionvuori
Orivesi, HArjunvuori
Tampere, Neevuori
Tampere, Ahvenvuori-Helaavuoru-Syvälahdenvuoret
Tampere, Peräjärvi - Mustalaisvuori

Pirkanmaa

Luonnonsuojelu Valkeakosken alueella
Luonnonsuojelu - Kangasala
Luonnonsuojelu - Tampere
Luonnonsuojelu - Ylöjärvi
Luontokohteita - Nokia
Pälkäneen suojeluohjelma- ja Natura-alueet
Luonnonsuojelualueet - Orivesi
Luonnonsuojelu Lempäälässä
Pirkanmaan Virkistysalueyhdistys

Panoramic photography

Panotools Wiki (also lot of information which is not Panotools specific)
Panoramic heads

Nodal Ninja
Really Right Stuff
Virtual Reality Photography
360rage - Panorama hardware and heads

Cambridge in colour - Digital panoramas: part 1
Cambridge in colour - Digital panoramas: part 2
Cambridge in colour - Digital panoramas: Projections
Panoguide: the guide to panoramas and panoramic photography
Software

CubicConverter (QTVR)
PTgui
AutoPano Pro
Panoramafactory
PTmac
Hugin

Panomundo QVTR howto

Infrared

Ever wondered about IR photography (Infra Red)

Pictures of lens

Extending while focusing

Distagon 28mm extends while focused close.

On the left side: Focused to infinity
On the right side: Focused to minimum focus distance

Depth of field scale

Distagon 28mm has pretty good depth of field scale. However on digital cameras I would recommend one stop higher value since the circle of confusion is smaller these days when digital SLRs enable much larger print sizes than film cameras.

Depth of field scale