Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF

My usage

Since I decided to move from Canon EOS 5D to Canon EOS 1D Mark III I needed a new normal lens since I could no longer use my Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2.0 as my normal lens since it's field of view on 1.3x crop is same as 65mm lens on full frame, a little long for my taste. 35mm field of view in 1.3x crop is same as 46mm lens would be on fullframe, therefore this lens is my normal lens on 1.3x crop format.

Most important aspect of normal lens (to me) is that it produces neutral perspective. With this lens I use perspective as main element to create the 3d feeling to images I take with, and typically it also needs help from well controlled bokeh, not too blurry and not too sharp and not distractive.

Naturally this lens is also used to all kind of landscape photography. Then I need all the sharpness and microcontrast I can get out from the lens, and this lens delivers!

Image quality

2008-03-01: In order to give final verdict more photographs are needed to be taken. This section is under construction.

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.

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."

Handling and usage

Focusing from infinity to 0.44 meter is about 360 degrees rotation. Manual focus feeling is very tight and in some situations I would prefer to have less resistance when turning the manual focus ring. Manual focusing is very accurate and it's very easy to achieve accurate focus with live view. For Canon users the focus ring also turns into wrong direction; e.g. all the way to clockwise is infinity and not minimum focus distance

Aperture is can be selected 1/2 stop intervals. When using viewfinder and manually stopping down it's easy to calculate "clicks" from wide open to determine the aperture into which lens is stopped down. Only problem with setting aperture is that the lens barrel is quite wide (wider than aperture ring) and aperture ring is between lens barrel and camera and in some situations it wasn't easy to adjust aperture, specially with gloves.

Lens hood protects front lens element quite well physically, but not from sun and other light sources. This lens would definitely benefit from scalloped hood. Zeiss lens caps are not very good to operate and I have replaced them with Nikon lens caps with have better design.

Circular polarizer is easy to operate even when the hood is attached to the lens. However the hood does not protect the filter much from the sun and other light sources.

Build quality and basics

Build quality is as good as I could imagine, from different planet than Canon lenses. Lens hood has bajonet and lens hood is made of metal, not plastic. Lens hood fits very well to lens and can be reversed.

Lens dimensions with Nikon to EOS adapter and lens caps are: diameter 65mm, length 115mm, weight 565g. Dimensions when including hood: diameter 82mm, length 162mm and weight 590g. This lens isn't internal focusing and therefore extends when focused closer. Lens extends about 5mm when focused to minimum focus distance 0.3m. Lens uses filter size of 58mm.

Minimum aperture is f/22. Aperture has 9 blades and aperture remains very round even at f/22. Lens has 9 elements which are in 7 groups. Actual focal length is 35mm. Minimum focus distance is 0.3m, which results 1:5.4 (0.18x) magnification and full frame (36mm x 24mm) coverage of 196mm x 129mm.

Summary

Pros

+
+
+
+

Cons

-
-
-
-

See photos in my picturebank taken with this lens.

Links

Photography

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)

General

Weather

Ilmatieteen laitos
Foreca
Satelliittikuva skandinaviasta
Tiehallinto current weather

TV programs and channels

Nelonen
MTV3
Yle 1
Yle 2
Yle 24
Yle Teema
Yle teksti-TV
Telkku.com
subtv
Makuuni
Urheilukanava

Time schedules

VR
Tampereen reittiopas

News

Iltalehti
Aamulehti
Tietokone
Tietoviikko

Moottoriurheilu

AKK-motorsport kilpailukalenteri 2008
Ralli.net - kalenteri
Ralli.net - foorumi
Rallisprintin SM-sarja
FIN-enduro - kalenteri
OffroadPRO - kalenteri
Suomen Moottoriliitto - kalenteri
Superrallicross - kalenteri
Future Rallisprintsarja
Rallicrossi.net

Digital Darkroom

General

Software

Dave Coffin's RAW converter
Phase One - DSLR One
Breeze Systems (BreezeBrowser, Downloader...)
Digital Workflow - Converters link page
Pekka Saarinen's Linear Sharpen photoshop action
DCRAW - converted to Mac
DCRAW tutorial by Guillermo Luijk

Technique

Panoramas

Panorama Tools

Panorama Tools (Mirror)
Panorama Tools
Panorama Tools (Mirror)
PTGui
ePaperpress insructions for Panorama Tools
ePaperpress insructions for Panorama Tools
Caldwell photographic - Correction distorsion and color fringing
Correction distorsion and color fringing
Caldwell photographic
Max Lyons - PTAssembler tutorial
Big Ben's Panorama tutorial
John Houghton PTGui tutorial
panoguide.com

Taking panorama pictures

DIY Pan/Tilt-head
Home Built Panorama Head
Jasper-Engineering: Pano head
Big Ben's panorama tutorial
10D tutorial (8mm Sigma lens)
Kaidan - Kiwi-VL panorama head
Panoguide - Setting up to shoot panorama

Canon D30 and 15mm fisheye
Photo.net - Fisheye to rectlinear conversion
Luminous Landscape - Imagealign

AIM-DTP
Sharpening

Outback photo - Edge Sharpening
Luminous Landscape - High pass sharpenign

Exposure / Dynamic range

Luminous Landscape - Blended exposures
Luminous Landscape - Digital split neutral density filter
Luminous Landscape - Local Contrast Enchancement
Luminous Landscape - Hybrid conversion
AIM: The Linear RAW Workflow

Color

Luminous Landscape - Making better Black & White photos

Luminous Landscape - Instant PhotoShop
AIM-DTP - Color Dither Gamma (how to adjust gamma for monitor)
High Dynamic Range (HDR)

Naturescape's HDR tutorial

Apple

Forums

Mac Forums
Hopeinen Omena (in Finnish)

Aperture

AUPN Aperture Users Professional Network

Audio & Video

Music

Finnish

Metal

Rock & Pop

Spinefarm

Not Finnish

Metal

Rock & Pop

Equipment

Manufacturers

DIY (Do It Yourself)

HTPC

Digital TV

Nebulus DigiTV

PCI version
USB version
Nebulus
Good info from forums and related pages

DVD plaza - Nebula yleisthread (erittäin pitkä juttu)
DVD plaza - poltto DVD:lle
DVD plaza - poltto DVD:lle (ohjelmat ja vaiheet selkeesti mainittu)
julaakso - Digipakkaus ohjeet
DVD plaza - Ylen tekstit irti?

Software

Offeryn - PVAStrumento
Elecard - Player and decoder (Shareware)
Pegasys Inc - TMPGEnc DVD Author, TMPGEnc Plus, TMPGEnc
Inmatrix - Zoomplayer
ProjectX (Java)

Car audio

Powerset
Audison
Xetec
SPL Dynamics
AutoSound Technical Magazine
JL Audio
Hifistudio 17
KS Illusions
CDT Audio
Augustin imports
Diamond Audio
Harman International, Finland
JBL
Infinity
Hertz (South Africa dealer pages since manufacturer has years old info..)

Computer

Programming

Graphics

Finnish hardware stores

Verkkokauppa
Bulldog
LJH
MBnet hintaseuranta

Web (HTML, PHP etc.)

HTML help
HTML help - HTML 4.0 elements
HTML help - CSS
HTML help - HTML Validator
PHP.net
PHP.net - PHP manual
MySQL
MySQL manual

Hardware testing etc.

Muropaketti
Tom's Hardware Guide
Anandtech

DVD burning

MPEGit (Finnish)
Doom9.net
DVDRhelp.com
Nec ND-1300 - Bulldog.fi
NEC skandinavia
NEC UK
DVD-netti
NEC firmaware at NECD.de

About me

Eura

Euran kunta

Metso Minerals
Pintos
Cars

Saab 900 OG (my former equipment for moving long distances inside Finland)

900 Klubben (Swedish)
900 Aero
Saab Net

Saab 9000 (my current equipment for moving long distances inside Finland)

Saab9000.com
Saab 9000 at Wikipedia

Tampere

City of Tampere

Pictures of Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF

Lens extends when focused

Distance from EOS lens mount (including adapter) to end of the hood is 91mm at infinity and 96mm at minimum focus distance.

Front/side projection

Made in Japan, unfortunately...

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZF with Canon EOS 1D Mark III

2/35 balances well with 1D Mark III