Fuji Zeiss APO Sonnar T* 2/135 Report

pniev

Student for life
Let me start with the bad news: It’s a huge lens. The X-T1 looks tiny with this lens. It weighs 920gr (2.03 lbs), an aperture range from f2 to f22, 11 elements in 8 groups, 9 blades, and a minimum focusing distance of 0m8m (2.62ft) which leads to a 1:4 ratio. The filter size is 77mm and is 128mm long. I bought the ZF.2 version, which is the Nikon version. The Canon version is slightly bigger and heavier but does not have an aperture ring. The lack of OIS requires stable shooting technique, higher shutter speeds, or a tripod. Oh, and it’s manual focus. See http://www.zeiss.com/camera-lenses/en_de/camera_lenses/slr-lenses/aposonnart2135.html for more information.

The lens becomes even longer when mounted on a Fuji because of the Nikon to Fuji adapter. I use a Fotodiox which fits well.

Here is a quick and dirty shots taken with the iphone with hood. Using the hood is recommend to better contain colours (so I have been told).


IMG 0367 par phn, on ipernity


This pic show the size of the lens (with adapter) compared to the Fuji 55-200. Without the adapter they are about the same length.


FXT16354 par phn, on ipernity


Again my apologies for the quick and dirty shots. I did not take much time to shoot and PP properly.


Now the good news: the x-t1-zeiss combination shoots comfortably, also w/o tripod. Focusing is easy, especially when you use the focus peaking function.

The IQ surprised me most. There is definitely something special about these lenses. They’re sharp (see reports) and show terrific color rendition, bokeh, tones, and microcontrast.Well, at least in my perception. chromatic aberration is basically absent.

Here are some shots that hopefully show the quality of the lens. Most shots were taken at f2. Some at f4 or f5.6. Unfortunately the aperture used is not recorded so you have to track that manually (something I did not do).


FXT16105 par phn, on ipernity


FXT16109 par phn, on ipernity


FXT16341 par phn, on ipernity


FXT16349 par phn, on ipernity


FXT16318 par phn, on ipernity


FXT16329 par phn, on ipernity

Cropping is not risky with this lens:

orginal:
FXT16159 par phn, on ipernity

cropped (almost to 1:1):

FXT16159-2 par phn, on ipernity
 
No, I haven't. My perception (which might be wrong) is that I will only gain in DoF and not in speed. I also wonder if sharpness will suffer if I put the extra glass between the sensor and the lens (comparable to a converter). As said, I might be wrong. What is your experience? Is it worth trying?

Did you also try it with a Speed Booster?
 
It's great. I am using one with my Sonnar 180mmF2.8.

You gain speed but no DOF, how would you, your lens becomes (I rounded) a 95mmF1.4, which is DOF-equivalent to 135mmF2.

However, a 95mmF1.4 is a lens that many APS-C users want. Actually, most would be happy with a 90mmF2. Sadly, Fuji doesn't have one on their internal roadmap till 2016 (IIRC), but maybe the world-wide EI meeting earlier today changed that? Hope dies last, doesn't it? I certainly lobbied for putting a 90mmF2 on the fast track, and I have a feeling that I'm not alone with this.
 
It would be great to have a 90mm f2 lens!! Thanks for lobbying!

wrt DoF/speed/focal length: probably I am confused with the differences between sensors. A 135mm f2 will be f2 in terms of speed on FF and APS-C but the DoF (and focal length of course) will differ. From your post, I understand that a sppedbooster will allow to get the 135mm FF-eq. That's very appealing indeed.

Which brand would you recommend? Or is Metabones the only one?
 
It would be interesting to see a company do some more work on focal compressors. A one size fits all basically means compromise, and there (must be) different requirements depending on whether you are going to use them with long or short focal length lenses. Much as I love my super light 300mm F2,8 (Canon FDn 200/2.8IF, a long time favorite piece of glass,) on my Fuji I would also like to use it as a 200mm lens. I guess that out there in the back of closets, bottoms of drawers or ebay there are lots of 135mm F2.8s And IIRC that was the second most produced 35mm prime lens and usually as sharp and contrasty as many 50s
 
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