Although this telephoto lens features rather
basic specification, the promise of the optical Carl Zeiss lens that has high
quality is known is that itself is enough to tempt some photographers, though
it costs more than $2,550. This ZF2 Lens is manual focus, but it has electronic
contacts to inform metering and aperture control attached to the camera. The ZE
version of this lens is also available to match with the Canon EF cameras
Carl
Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm f/2
Features and processing
Similar to the cases of the other Carl
Zeiss ZF lenses, the lens outer is molded from metal and results in feeling of
the maximum quality. The lens is fairly large though if the use of high quality
materials has been taken into account, it generally weighs about 930g and
balances well with the Nikon D600 used for testing, with or without the MB-D14
battery grip attached.
The
lens outer is molded from metal and results in feeling of the maximum quality
The process of manual focusing is quite
smooth and each focusing, the focus ring should be adjusted a turn by
three-quarters of the ring and the closest focusing distance of 80cm. This may
be a blessing or a curse, because it makes applying the good process of
adjustments to focus accurately at fast aperture become great, but this also
makes it more difficult to make major changes in the focus distance. A
measurement chip with integrated electronic contacts accompanies with matrix
supported on all Nikon cameras. The Hyperfocal distances for apertures between
f/11 and f/22 are marked on the case, as a sign for the process of infrared
focus.
A
circular aluminum hood also comes with the lens; it will be fastened to the
metal bayonet on the front.
The Lens expands about an inch at the
closest focus point, although the result is that the 77mm filter thread does
not rotate, this makes this lens ideal for use with graduated or polarizing
filters. A circular aluminum hood also comes with the lens; it will be fastened
to the metal bayonet on the front.
When
installed on a Nikon camera
Performance
Sharpness is prominent in the center of the
frame at maximum aperture, reaching amazing levels of clarity to the edges of
the frame. Lowering improves sharpness more across the frame, approaching the
excellent levels to the edges of the frame at f/2.8 and highlighting levels of
sharpness between f/5.6 and f/8. Do you really not need to request more with
clarity that has achieved?
Rating
image chromatic aberrations
How
to read our graphs
The blue column stands for the indexes from
the center of the frame at the various apertures and the green is from the
edges. Averaging them, we will have the red weighted column.
The conventional column on the left side is
to show the resolution level of the actual image. The higher the column is, the
better the quality of the camera lens is.
In this article, the lens was tested on a
Nikon D600 using Imatest.
Chromatic aberrations are almost
non-existent across the frame at all apertures. Imatest was able to detect
fringing including 0.21 pixel widths towards the edges of the frame at f/2, but
you will be able to hardly see it for yourself.
Rating
the image sharpness
How
to read our graphs
High chromatic aberration given the
remarkable range or create a halo effect around sharp edges around the image.
It can be handled by the software. High chromatic aberration offers a
remarkable range or a halo effect around sharp edges around the image. It can
be handled thanks to the software.
Apochromatic lenses have special lens
elements (aspheric, ultra-low dispersion, etc.) to minimize the problem, so
their prices are often much higher.
In this article, the lens was tested on a
Nikon D600 using Imatest.
Falloff of illumination towards the corners
of the frame is properly controlled for a lens with a fast maximum aperture. At
f/2 the corners of the frame are 1.96 stops darker than the image center and
visually uniform illumination is done with the aperture lowered down to f 4 or
beyond.
The distortion is very slight and you will
have difficulty to detect it, even in images with straight lines parallel to
the edges of the frame. Imatest managed to find 0.21% barrel distortion, which
is an extremely small number.
High contrast and glare rarely cause
problems, even when shooting in the light. The deep circular hood does its job
perfectly is to shade the lens, and protects it from the impact of factors from
the front.
Test
images
The
sample images come from the product
Value
The old saying confirms that you get what
are worthy of your money spent for surely applies to this lens. In order to
obtain such high optical quality, thus the asking price of $2,587.5 seems
reasonable.
However, when the price is compared with
the same lenses from Canon and Nikon, the increased price becomes more
difficult to explain, AF-D 135mm f/2 DC of Nikon costs about $1,500 and stands
out with the features of defocus control, allowing you to control the amount of
spherical aberrations and prominent features out of focus areas. Canon’s EF
135mm f/2L USM features an ultrasonic focusing motor, which allows manual focus
adjustments to be applied anytime for around $1,290, which is equal to half the
price of the Zeiss.
Conclusion
There is not much that needed to improve
towards the optical performance or the build quality, or handling of this lens.
It is definitely a very sharp lens, but then it's also very expensive,
especially when it does not have autofocus feature.
Those who want, or need the complete best
quality lens for their SLR will feel this lens attractive, as long as their
shots match with the manual focus. It is not a lens for everyone, so for some
it will not fit; then they will struggle to find fault in its performance.
Pros
·
The optical performance is incredible.
·
Metal build quality is very good.
·
Focusing is smooth and accurate.
·
There is almost no distortion or CA.
Cons
·
It is expensive.
·
Long distance on the focus ring is between
infinity and closest focus.
Carl
Zeiss Apo-Sonnar T* 135mm f/2 Specifications
|
General
·
Lens Mounts: Nikon F; Canon EF
Lens
·
Focal Length: 135mm
·
Angle of View: 64°
·
Max Aperture: f/2
·
Min Aperture: f/22
·
Filter Size: 77mm
·
35mm equivalent: No Data
·
Internal focusing: No
Focusing
·
Min Focus: 80cm
·
Stabilized: No
Construction
·
Blades: 9
·
Elements: 11
·
Groups: 8
Box Contents
·
Box Contents: Front and rear caps; lens hood.
Dimensions
·
Weight: 920g
·
Height: 105mm
|
