Zeiss ZF Lenses - High Performance For Nikon and Canon

In this era of plastic-barreled mass-produced lenses, the Zeiss ZF lenses stand out in sleekly-elegant fashion, with their beautiful and durable all-metal design. For the past year, I’ve used the entire Zeiss ZF lines extensively on both Canon EOS and Nikon, with outstanding results(see the diglloyd blog beginning June 2008). My Guide, Zeiss ZF Lenses, goes into depth on the lenses. This page captures my thoughts on this superb lens line. If you’d like specifications on weight, size, etc, please see the Zeiss web site; this review won’t go into that stuff. You might also want to see the Zeiss July 2008 Camera Lens News.

The unanswerable question that will invariably be asked is whether the Zeiss ZF lenses are “worth it”—are they actually “better” than an equivalent Nikon or Canon lenses? There is no unequivocal answer to that question unless priorities are specified. Here are just a few of the considerations:

* Wide-open vs stopped-down sharpness and contrast throughout the frame;
* Ability to distinguish subtle tones, particularly in highlight or shadow areas;
* Color rendition, distinguishing fine nuances of color;
* Maximum aperture;
* Bokeh;
* Flare spots and veiling flare;
* Distortion;
* Automatic vs manual operation;
* Compatibility and ergonomics, especially focusing;
* Build quality;
* Cost.


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