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Zeiss ZM Biogon-C 21mm f/4.5 (current)


dante

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With lens detection off, the optical vignetting differences between those two lenses should be minor. It exists but isn't very noticeable if the Zeiss is coded and then both lenses are used with detection on.

 

The fact that the Elmarit ASPH and ZM 21/4.5 vignette more than some other 21s is related to their compact sizes and not to costs. The Zeiss 21/2.8 costs less than the Elmarit ASPH and vignettes less.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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My CV 21mm skopar seems to be a good copy, with excellent corner sharpness.
...The fact that the Elmarit ASPH... vignette(s) more than some other 21s is related to (its) compact sizes and not to costs...

I'm confused guys. Should i understand that the tiny Skopar does not vignette but the much larger Elmarit does on the M8?

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I'm confused guys. Should i understand that the tiny Skopar does not vignette but the much larger Elmarit does on the M8?

 

I certainly did not say that. The Skopar vignettes, of course, but is well-corrected by the M8 firmware when coded. All the little 21s vignette to some degree on the M8.

 

Why did you combine a corner sharpness post with my vignetting post?

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

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Hi Sean well i would not say that the Elmarit is little personally (how many 21's are bigger actually?) but anyway does is vignette more or less than the Skopar on the M8 in your opinion?

Edit: Sorry haven't read the end of your post. I'm just curious of vignetting. If you wanted to say that the Skopar vignettes more that the Elmarit but remains sharp in the corners it's OK for me, i just try to understand.

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  • 1 year later...

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You want a balance. If you are shooting test charts the more contrast the better the result. But if you had to shoot a real 3D scene say where the model was wearing a dress with black brocade and white lace and the client wanted very dramatic lighting but wanted to see all the fine detail in the black and white fabrics? In the studio you can match the lighting ratios to the dynamic range of your sensor. You will get the full greyscale from highlight to shadow with no clipping if you set up the lighting contrast to not more then say 6 stops max white to black. You could then selectively punch up the contrast as much as you wanted in post.

 

But what if you had to shoot outside in full sun -lots of deep shadows and bright sunlit highlights with no flash, diffusers or reflectors (which is how most documentary and street photographers shoot) you must find a way to compress those 10+ stops down to a range that can be recorded by the sensor. You can't control the lighting and you can't record more range then the sensor is capable of - so that leaves the lens -you want enough contrast but not to much. The ideal solution is a sensor with more dynamic range but until that happens you work with what you have. In the conditions I describe the Zeiss will deliver results that are unusable and even the Leica 28/2 will be at the edge. You might have to resort to an old Canon 28 for the best result trading some detail in the midtones to hold detail at the extremes.

 

This is why I think the balance in the 28/2 is about perfect -it is by no means a 'low contrast' lens. It is in many respects most like a Zeiss ZM with not quite so much contrast. My ideal lens would be a lens with the price and image signature of the Zeiss ZM's (resolution across the frame, OOF drawing, tonal transitions) but with the contrast of a preASPH Leica.

 

Ahhh, the beauty of B&W. I get the flare resistance of the ZMs, the tonal scale, the OOF and can drop film speed a little and reduce development for managable contrast. I agree that they would be a nightmare on digital in contrasty light...

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