Canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS Review There is much speculation about how this lens performs compared with the Canon 70-200mm f4 L, and of course everybody still really really wants a Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS, but Canon knows that if such a fantastically useful and high quality lens existed, far fewer of its other (more …
Contax Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon v Canon 17-40mm f4 L [first published 2002] Lens comparison made at 21mm / f11. Exposure 4 seconds on a Canon 1Ds Mark I mounted on a view camera head on Manfrotto 155 legs, locked and braced, on a concrete floor. Multiple frames were shot, with fractionally different focusing – …
Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 DI v Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX v Contax Zeiss 35mm f2.8 [published 2004] The motivation for this test was to establish whether a zoom could replace the 35mm Distagon f2.8 I commonly use for architectural shoots. Trolling about on location, the perfectly convenient lens for shooting exteriors would be a 35-70mm zoom …
Zeiss Contax 35m f2.8 Distagon v Zeiss Contax 35-70mm f3.4 v Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX DG Zeiss Contax 35-70mm f3.4 v Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 EX DG v Canon 50mm f2.5 Macro [published 2003] The real point of this test is to determine the substance of the claim made by many that the Zeiss 35-70mm zoom …
Leica 21-35mm v Contax Zeiss 21mm Distagon Following a two day shoot solely using the Leica 21-35mm Vario Elmar f3.5-4 and Canon 1Ds II, using the CameraQuest adaptor, I ran some controlled tests on a familiar target, because I was sure the Leica was going soft on me at the wide end. The obvious benchmark …
Olympus 18mm f4 v Contax Zeiss 18mm f4 v Canon 16-35mm f2.8 [Test by Mike Hatam, published 2004] All images shot with a Canon 1Ds Mark II in RAW, processed in 8 bit via Raw Shooter Essential and converted for web with BoxTop Pro. Centre Frame Crops (100%) Olympus 18mm at f11 Contax Zeiss 18mm …
Contax Zeiss 18mm f4 v Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f2.8 [published 2004] Further to the apparent narrow victory of the Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f2.8 in the 21mm play-offs for second place to the Zeiss 21mm, the natural next step was to assess its performance against the Contax Zeiss 18mm f4 Distagon. While nowhere considered the equal …
Olympus 21mm f2 v Sigma 15-30mm v Nikon 17-35mm AFS [published 2004] OK: so everyone knows the best 21mm in the world by a country mile is the Zeiss 21mm, but not everyone can afford one, and not everyone can live with the awkward waveform distortion. So, what most people have come to realise is …
Sigma 12-24mm v Sigma 15-30mm v Canon 17-40mm L v Contax Zeiss 21mm Distagon f2.8 [published 2004] ISO 100 / Full frame Canon 1Ds Mark I with mirror lock up, f8 / 1 second / AWB on a Manfrotto 155 with view camera head, legs locked. All were shot RAW and processed in 8 bit …
A Tale of Two 28mm Nikon 28mm f2.8 AIS sample variation demonstrated [published december 2005] Preliminary to the 28mm group test, two samples of the well-regarded Nikkor 28mm f2.8 AI-S were obtained to compare with the Olympus 28mm f2 and Carl Zeiss Contax 28mm f2.8 Distagon. Both were sourced from a reputable UK dealer …
