| Article Index |
|---|
| Zeiss Contax MTF Comparison |
| 35mm Comparison |
| 50mm Comparison |
| 70-100mm Comparison |
| All Pages |
Lenses compared at 35mm:
• Carl Zeiss 28-85mm f3.3-4 Vario Sonnar at 34mm
• Carl Zeiss 35-70mm f3.4 Vario Sonnar at 35mm
• Carl Zeiss 35-135mm f3.3-4.5 Vario Sonnar at 35mm
• Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.8 Distagon
• Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.8 PC (Perspective Correction)
| 28-85mm | 35-70mm | 35-135mm | 35 / 1.4 | 35 / 2.8 | 35mm PC | ||||||||
| A | B | A | B | A | B | A | B | A | B | A | B | ||
| f1.4 | 5.9 | 5.6 | |||||||||||
| f2 | 7.7 | 6.0 | |||||||||||
| f2.8 | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 6.8 | |||||||
| * f4 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 8.7 | 6.3 | 8.6 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 7.3 | 8.4 | 6.2 | 8.3 | 7.7 | |
| f5.6 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 7.4 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 8.4 | 8.2 | |
| f8 | 8.6 | 7.0 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 7.0 | 8.2 | 7.3 | 8.6 | 7.4 | 8.2 | 8.0 | |
| f11 | 8.3 | 6.1 | 8.2 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 8.2 | 7.4 | 8.1 | 7.6 | |
| f16 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 7.4 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 7.0 | 7.6 | 7.0 | |
| f22 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 6.8 | 6.3 | |||||
| Distortion | -2.0% | -3.5% | +1.5% | -2.0% | -1.5% | -1.5% | |||||||
| Vignetting | 0.25 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.85 | 0.8 | 0.8 | |||||||
Zeiss claimed that the 35-70mm f3.4 outperformed primes in its range: in many ways this wasn't hype. If you can overlook the strong barrel distortion, at 35mm this lens is literally as good as it gets, barring weak border performance wide open. These figures place the 9.0 rating of the Zeiss 21mm in sobering perspective.
Truly, though, all the Zeiss 35mm lenses are very fine indeed: the 35-70 may manifest the most consistent across-the-frame behaviour (the 28-85mm is the least impressive in this regard), but even the inexpensive 35mm f2.8 prime is well worth adapting to a Canon DSLR. The fast f1.4 prime yields superb images at wide apertures and the uncommon 35-135mm too bears favourable comparison with the class leaders centre frame, though the 35-70mm remains the only zoom lens fully competitive at this focal length with regard to Zone B and C performance.
