Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 3.4/35-70 C/Y

My usage

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Image quality

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Sharpness and Contrast

Based on photos I have taken I have no reason to doubt that the measured MTF charts would not be as Zeiss has them measured. Specially around 50mm the performance is surpricing me every time when doing "pixel peeping" at 100% crops. Micro-contrast is very high at any focal length af f/5.6 or smaller. Also it seems that lens takes small apertures pretty well. With Canon EOS 5D mkII f/11 is fully usable and f/16 is usable but some contrast is lost.

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."

Bokeh

Wide open - subjective

Closed down - subjective

highlight shapes - in corners "cateye" or not

highlight shapes - is the highlight circle having strong edges or soft edges

Lens flare

Backlight

Nightphotos on city => strong lights

Vignetting and distortion

...

Microcontrast

Textures etc.

Handling and usage

Focusing from infinity to 1 meter is about XXX degrees rotation. XXX subjective description of manual focus resistance XXX. XXX Manual focusing is very accurate and it's very easy to achieve accurate focus with live view.

Aperture can be selected 1 stop intervals. When using viewfinder and manually stopping down it's easy to calculate "clicks" from wide open to determinen the aperture into which lens is stopped down. XXX subjective feeling of aperture adjustment if any XXX XXX subjective description of focus ring width and usage with gloves if relevant XXX

XXX subjective description of lens hood if applicable - physical and flare protection XXX XXX subjective description of lens cap when lens hood is used XXX

XXX Polarized usage with hood if applicable XXX XXX Lens hood effectiveness with filters XXX

Build quality and basics

Build quality is as good as I could imagine, from different planet than Canon lenses.

Lens dimensions with C/Y to EOS adapter and lens caps are: diameter 70mm, length 80.5mm, weight 475+XXXg. This lens isn't internal focusing and therefore extends when focused closer. Lens extends about XXXmm when focused to minimum focus distance 0.7m. There is additional macro mode, which can be used in wide end of the focal range.

Lens uses filter size of 67mm, which is same as in Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 2/100 ZF. filter thread revolves when lens is focused and therefore lens has to be first focused and then polarizer/ND-grad filter adjusted.

Minimum aperture is f/22. Largest aperture is f/3.4 and there is step for f/4 even it's not marked to the lens barrel. Aperture has 8 blades and aperture remains pretty round at f/5.6 but after that it's clearly octaconal.

Lens has 10 elements which are in 10 groups. Actual focal length range is 35.7-69.0mm. Minimum focus distance is 0.7m, which results 0.05-0.10x maximum magnification and full frame (36mm x 24mm) coverage is between 706mm x 471mm and 365mm x 243mm. Magnification is calculated based on focal length and minimum focus distance.

Macro mode

When lens focal length is set to 35mm lens can be set to macro mode. This is done by turning focus ring to clockwise to macro range, which is marked with red color. In the macro mode maximum magnification is 0.##x

Summary

Pros

+ excellent sharpness, contrast and microcontrast over all focal lengths and apertures
+ excellent colors
+ excellent flare resistance
+ macro mode

Cons

- when lens is focused filter thread rotates
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-
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See photos in my picturebank taken with this lens.

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 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 3.4/35-70 C/Y

Lens extends when focused

Distance from EOS lens mount (including adapter) to end of the hood is XXXmm at infinity and XXXmm at minimum focusing distance, and XXXmmm when in macro mode.

Front/side projection

Made in Germany.