"F" Mount Zeiss lenses for Nikons - Anybody Tried/Seen them?

[Roger Hicks]

I found the zeiss lenses easier to focus because of the way the image just jumped into sharpness

Dear Soeren,

Exactly. It's hard to explain until you've seen it.

Cheers,

R.

 

[mcgrattan]

I have an M42 mount Rikkenon 50mm where the image just seemed to jump into focus when I used it in a way that the other 3 or 4 50mm M42 lenses I had simply did not. No idea why, it just did.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

Soeren
"they are very easy to focus even on an AF body ..."

I do not get meaning of that. What is a difference with manual lens focusing on non- and autofocus camera. Might be I am missing sometingwww.Leica-R.com

Auto-focus SLR's including digital models do not in general have focusing screens that have focusing aids in the middle, such as split-prism, etc., therefore it is harder for some people to accurately manually focus.

 

[Soeren]

Dear Soeren,

Exactly. It's hard to explain until you've seen it.

Cheers,

R.

Dear Roger
I find it hard to explain even though I have seen it
Kind Regards
Søren

 

[Soeren]

Auto-focus SLR's including digital models do not in general have focusing screens that have focusing aids in the middle, such as split-prism, etc., therefore it is harder for some people to accurately manually focus.

I took that knowledge for granted, sorry about that
Kind regards
Søren

 

[JanaM]

I just read in Shutterbug about the newer Zeiss lenses for the Nikon "F" Mount. Anybody tried them out, seen them?

I'm kind of intrigued by the 100mm Macro lens but I'm sure it's pretty expensive. I'm curious if it is really much better then the Nikkors.

There are tests of the ZF lenses at photozone:

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

Perhaps this is a little bit helpful for you.

Best regards,
Jana

 

[airgunr]

Well, "ZAS" finally did take over and I took the plunge and got the 100mm Macro f2......

Mounted it up on my FE2 and shot off a roll of Portra 160vs on the flowers in my wife's flower garden.

The roll is going off to A&I tommorow so we'll see how they turn out!

(and yes, I did wait until the wife had come home from shopping for shoes and clothes......)

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, "ZAS" finally did take over and I took the plunge and got the 100mm Macro f2......

Mounted it up on my FE2 and shot off a roll of Portra 160vs on the flowers in my wife's flower garden.

The roll is going off to A&I tommorow so we'll see how they turn out!

(and yes, I did wait until the wife had come home from shopping for shoes and clothes......)

Please let me (and indeed all of us) know your opinions.

I've just been testing the new ZV lenses for Hasselblad. Nothing processed yet...

Cheers,

R.

 

[airgunr]

I will do that. It ususally takes A&I about 10 - 12 days to get the rolls back to me so it will be a little while.

First impressions are positive and to my eye it does look incredibly sharp. Amazingly smooth in the focus and it does seem to "snap" into focus when you do get there. I like the 1/2 stop intervals as well.

But, as they say the "proof is in the pudding" and I'll see how the photos turn out. I was a bit like a kid in a candy shop and was rushing about shooting everything I could and probably didn't go as slowly as I should have. Next time I will use the tripod and do it right!

 

[ehparis]

Half a dozen advertisers, I think all from Hong Kong, have appeared on eBay advertising that they had them in stock. Prices looked to be not that much higher than comparable Nikkors. Just use a search string something like "Nikon 85mm f1.4" and one or more that size should pop up.

 

[copake_ham]

Half a dozen advertisers, I think all from Hong Kong, have appeared on eBay advertising that they had them in stock. Prices looked to be not that much higher than comparable Nikkors. Just use a search string something like "Nikon 85mm f1.4" and one or more that size should pop up.

Thanks for the info. I'd love to get a fast 85 F-mount.

A couple of questions come to mind:

1) Is the 85/1.4 one of the ZF's made by Cosina under Zeiss supervision so that it's readily obtainable in Asia and that's why these HK dealers have it?

2) I see a lot of these HK dealer listings on eBay. Are they reputable dealers? Anyone know good ones (or baddies to stay away from)?