The lens specs you posted is missing the number of aperture blades and if they are rounded or not
10. Mass: 530g
Kai-Loke
March 29, 2018 6:27 pm
Hello Nasim Thanks for wonderful review and example photos. I just got this lens, the ZF version, i.e. no CPU for use on a Nikon D800. I find that when focussing with the green rangefinder dot for close up objects, it is spot on, but when focussing at things further away e.g. more than 1.5 meters, the green dot is way out….it back focusses by a lot. And the green dot says on for a quite a bit despite turning the focus ring. Do you know why this might be? I find I’m having to stop down to f4 to get sufficient DOF to work round this, or use live view, which is not ideal. I know that as my version of the lens doesn’t have a CPU, I can’t do AF fine tune. But in any case, I realise that AF fine tune might be a problem because if I adjust the green dot for far focus accuracy it will likely mess up close focus accuracy. Do you have any suggestions?
No, that’s ZF.2. If it’s just ZF without the 2, that means no chip. The press release you linked to is very careful to include the 2 every time. Notice that the very first sentence says “upgrading” — from the original ZF line which had no CPUs.
I have several Nikon mount manual focus lenses and have run, with some of them, into the same issue. On my Nikon D750 I use live view for most of my shots. I have spent a lot of time trying to find a less cumbersome solution to shooting in live view but eventually I came to the conclusion that modern DSLR’s are not designed with manual focus in mind. I accept this reality and now I am waiting for Nikon to release a mirrorless full frame camera (rumored this year). I say this because using an adapter for my Fuji XT-10 in combination with focus peaking allows me to enjoy manual focus photography at its fullest! So to wrap things up a bit I can say that the solution for this problem is either by purchasing one of Sony FF mirrorless cameras or wait until Nikon releases the FF mirrorless system of their own. Hope this helps! Regards, Val
John Sarkar
May 12, 2017 2:34 am
Hi, Got it after reading your review. Loving every bit of it. A quick question. Can you explain why the texture of the photos is so stunning when shot with this lens. Have always been a prime fan. But this one is different. Very curious. Thanks, John.
Are Paulsrud
November 14, 2015 11:21 am
Hi,
Thanks a lot for a very good report of the Zeiss 35mm!
I have just one question; you state that it is weather sealed against moisture and dust, but I can´t find any proof of this in the specifications about the lens anywhere. With the new Milvus 35mm from Zeiss, Which I belive is the successor of the Distagon 35mm f/2 zf2 lens. For this lens Zeiss officially state that it is weather sealed.
I tend to use my gear in quite humid and rough environments and need kit to withstand it without falling apart. Would you still recommend the Distagon 35mm f/2 lens for this kind of purpose?
I had the Zeiss 35mm f2.0 zf.2 lens and sold it a while back. I now have a used Zeiss Milvus 35mm f2.0 zf.2 lens coming this week. I have the Milvus 50mm f2.0 zf.2 lens and its a dandy which is advertised as being water proof.
As was stated in the review the Zeiss has no rubber gasket on the mount and is not sealed against dust or moisture. This is the main reason I am paying a little more and buying the Milvus 35 f2.0 zf.2 due to the weather proofing and tremendous build qualities. I also use my lenses in showery and wintery weather so need a lens that can endure this.
Larry
Lancej
August 22, 2015 5:12 am
Nasim a great overview of this lens and in the end after much consideration I purchased it after reading your review. It is everything you say it is, the fit, build, handling , shots , etc. While the sigma is also an amazing lens once you hold the Zeiss in your hand you are sold. Now I find I go out of my way to find shots that fit my lens vs what lens would be ideal for this shot. I just do not want to take it off my camera .Really enjoying shooting in Manual focuses as you mentioned you take more time, not every shot of mine is tack sharp but once I am able to dial it in you really enjoy the results. Kind of like driving a standard or automatic car ,both get you there but one gets you there with more satisfying involvement . Thanks for the great review, and as always your personal and authentic pov is what separates yours from the others.
bill mag
March 9, 2015 1:38 am
I wonder if i should use it on my A7R or get the FE3528. anyone?
I’ve got an A7R and plan to buy this nikon fit lens (using a NEX/NIK adaptor on my Sony camera).
Scott Murphy
January 26, 2015 7:27 am
The bottom line question is, is the IQ of this lens compared to other similar lenses worth the astronomical price? Don’t get me wrong, I love Zeiss lenses and have 5 for my Hasselblad. But ask yourself, what is my ROI on a lens this terribly expensive? And for a manual focus lens, one of my greatest criticisms of Zeiss lenses is that even though their focusing is very smooth, the focusing rings are very stiff compared to my MF Nikkors. Try focusing a Zeiss lens with just one finger, good luck with that one.
Yannis
January 7, 2015 9:31 am
Well Nasim.. I will have only one question:
Your images are just stunning as usual! But I would really like to know where did you take the two photos shown on the Summary Page? I love them !
Yannis, thank you for your feedback! Those photos were taken in San Juan Mountains of Colorado. I conduct a workshop each year in the fall there, so you are welcome to join this year. Will post details on the workshop in a few months.
Yannis, we have had a few people from overseas join workshops before – not as difficult as you think, but it is one heck of an experience! If you do decide to come, let me know and I will give you a list of other locations worth visiting in the area. Even if you don’t join us for the workshop, there is plenty to see around here :)
Paco Ignacio
January 6, 2015 7:09 pm
You should try the Distagon 28mm 2.0; it’s even better than this one!
I bet it is! Will definitely put it in my list of lenses to test later this year!
FredBear
January 6, 2015 10:47 am
Thanks Nasim! You promised you’d do this (last month?) and you did. Kudos. Nice to see someone in the photographic web world saying something and doing it in a reasonable length of time – in your case ‘post haste’ :-)
With Zeiss everyone talks about ‘micro contrast’, ‘drawing style’ etc. How would you compare the Sigma to the Zeiss in those aspects? The Sigma seems to be the sharper lens but that’s not everything. Bokeh would be a consideration too.
Compliments of the New Year to you, yours and associates.
Microcontrast is not always better on Zeiss lenses, but the drawing style / 3D look / beautiful colors usually are. It is hard to say where the depth comes from, but I think it has to do with the combination of optical design that has a bit of natural vignetting. Zeiss lenses have German glass in them, even though most Zeiss lenses are assembled by Cosina in Japan. That German glass is color neutral and is made by the same company that makes optical glass for Leica, Schneider and many others. Others cannot really compete with Germany’s history of glass molding, it is nearly perfect. That alone is what makes Zeiss lenses so special…
Thanks for your reply. Appreciated. I was aware that the Zeiss lenses were ‘made’ by Cosina, Japan but hadn’t realised it was German glass from the same company that makes glass for some of the other big names. Good point- makes sense – thanks for the information!
The lens specs you posted is missing the number of aperture blades and if they are rounded or not
10. Mass: 530g
Hello Nasim
Thanks for wonderful review and example photos. I just got this lens, the ZF version, i.e. no CPU for use on a Nikon D800. I find that when focussing with the green rangefinder dot for close up objects, it is spot on, but when focussing at things further away e.g. more than 1.5 meters, the green dot is way out….it back focusses by a lot. And the green dot says on for a quite a bit despite turning the focus ring. Do you know why this might be? I find I’m having to stop down to f4 to get sufficient DOF to work round this, or use live view, which is not ideal. I know that as my version of the lens doesn’t have a CPU, I can’t do AF fine tune. But in any case, I realise that AF fine tune might be a problem because if I adjust the green dot for far focus accuracy it will likely mess up close focus accuracy. Do you have any suggestions?
Kai
ZF lens are supposed to have CPU. I don’t own one but I have read about it.
www.dpreview.com/artic…rlzeisszf2
No, that’s ZF.2. If it’s just ZF without the 2, that means no chip.
The press release you linked to is very careful to include the 2 every time. Notice that the very first sentence says “upgrading” — from the original ZF line which had no CPUs.
Kai-Loke,
I have several Nikon mount manual focus lenses and have run, with some of them, into the same issue.
On my Nikon D750 I use live view for most of my shots. I have spent a lot of time trying to find a less cumbersome solution to shooting in live view but eventually I came to the conclusion that modern DSLR’s are not designed with manual focus in mind. I accept this reality and now I am waiting for Nikon to release a mirrorless full frame camera (rumored this year).
I say this because using an adapter for my Fuji XT-10 in combination with focus peaking allows me to enjoy manual focus photography at its fullest!
So to wrap things up a bit I can say that the solution for this problem is either by purchasing one of Sony FF mirrorless cameras or wait until Nikon releases the FF mirrorless system of their own.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Val
Hi, Got it after reading your review. Loving every bit of it. A quick question. Can you explain why the texture of the photos is so stunning when shot with this lens. Have always been a prime fan. But this one is different. Very curious. Thanks, John.
Hi,
Thanks a lot for a very good report of the Zeiss 35mm!
I have just one question; you state that it is weather sealed against moisture and dust, but I can´t find any proof of this in the specifications about the lens anywhere. With the new Milvus 35mm from Zeiss, Which I belive is the successor of the Distagon 35mm f/2 zf2 lens. For this lens Zeiss officially state that it is weather sealed.
I tend to use my gear in quite humid and rough environments and need kit to withstand it without falling apart. Would you still recommend the Distagon 35mm f/2 lens for this kind of purpose?
Thanks in advance!
Are
I had the Zeiss 35mm f2.0 zf.2 lens and sold it a while back. I now have a used Zeiss Milvus 35mm f2.0 zf.2 lens coming this week. I have the Milvus 50mm f2.0 zf.2 lens and its a dandy which is advertised as being water proof.
As was stated in the review the Zeiss has no rubber gasket on the mount and is not sealed against dust or moisture. This is the main reason I am paying a little more and buying the Milvus 35 f2.0 zf.2 due to the weather proofing and tremendous build qualities. I also use my lenses in showery and wintery weather so need a lens that can endure this.
Larry
Nasim a great overview of this lens and in the end after much consideration I purchased it after reading your review. It is everything you say it is, the fit, build, handling , shots , etc. While the sigma is also an amazing lens once you hold the Zeiss in your hand you are sold. Now I find I go out of my way to find shots that fit my lens vs what lens would be ideal for this shot. I just do not want to take it off my camera .Really enjoying shooting in Manual focuses as you mentioned you take more time, not every shot of mine is tack sharp but once I am able to dial it in you really enjoy the results. Kind of like driving a standard or automatic car ,both get you there but one gets you there with more satisfying involvement .
Thanks for the great review, and as always your personal and authentic pov is what separates yours from the others.
I wonder if i should use it on my A7R or get the FE3528. anyone?
I’ve got an A7R and plan to buy this nikon fit lens (using a NEX/NIK adaptor on my Sony camera).
The bottom line question is, is the IQ of this lens compared to other similar lenses worth the astronomical price? Don’t get me wrong, I love Zeiss lenses and have 5 for my Hasselblad. But ask yourself, what is my ROI on a lens this terribly expensive? And for a manual focus lens, one of my greatest criticisms of Zeiss lenses is that even though their focusing is very smooth, the focusing rings are very stiff compared to my MF Nikkors. Try focusing a Zeiss lens with just one finger, good luck with that one.
Well Nasim.. I will have only one question:
Your images are just stunning as usual! But I would really like to know where did you take the two photos shown on the Summary Page?
I love them !
Yannis, thank you for your feedback! Those photos were taken in San Juan Mountains of Colorado. I conduct a workshop each year in the fall there, so you are welcome to join this year. Will post details on the workshop in a few months.
Thanks you for the reply !
I would love to go to one of your workshop , but , coming from Paris (not in Texas), it might be difficult :)
Yannis, we have had a few people from overseas join workshops before – not as difficult as you think, but it is one heck of an experience! If you do decide to come, let me know and I will give you a list of other locations worth visiting in the area. Even if you don’t join us for the workshop, there is plenty to see around here :)
You should try the Distagon 28mm 2.0; it’s even better than this one!
I bet it is! Will definitely put it in my list of lenses to test later this year!
Thanks Nasim!
You promised you’d do this (last month?) and you did. Kudos.
Nice to see someone in the photographic web world saying something and doing it in a reasonable length of time – in your case ‘post haste’ :-)
With Zeiss everyone talks about ‘micro contrast’, ‘drawing style’ etc.
How would you compare the Sigma to the Zeiss in those aspects?
The Sigma seems to be the sharper lens but that’s not everything. Bokeh would be a consideration too.
Compliments of the New Year to you, yours and associates.
Fred, you are most welcome!
Microcontrast is not always better on Zeiss lenses, but the drawing style / 3D look / beautiful colors usually are. It is hard to say where the depth comes from, but I think it has to do with the combination of optical design that has a bit of natural vignetting. Zeiss lenses have German glass in them, even though most Zeiss lenses are assembled by Cosina in Japan. That German glass is color neutral and is made by the same company that makes optical glass for Leica, Schneider and many others. Others cannot really compete with Germany’s history of glass molding, it is nearly perfect. That alone is what makes Zeiss lenses so special…
Dear Nasim,
Thanks for your reply. Appreciated.
I was aware that the Zeiss lenses were ‘made’ by Cosina, Japan but hadn’t realised it was German glass from the same company that makes glass for some of the other big names.
Good point- makes sense – thanks for the information!