Tag Archives: Sony

The manual photographers series part 3: Oliver Fecher (aidualk)

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Hi Oliver, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you use manual Lenses?”

I am an industrial economist and live near Frankfurt, Germany. Photography has been my hobby for more than 25 years. When I started I was never satisfied with the image quality of analog 35mm film, so I turned to larger formats very soon. Most of my landscape pictures were taken with medium and large format cameras. Of course all lenses were manual focus, so I was accustomed to manual focus from beginning . 😉

With the Sony A900, I switched to digital cameras in 2008 and I was very satisfied with the possibilities of this new medium. At that time, the Sony-Zeiss 24mm SSM lens was my favorite and remained so for many years.

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Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland – Sony A900, Sony-Zeiss 24mm, f8

The next steps were the A7R in 2013 and, since last year, the A7RII. I switch slowly and flexibly (thanks to the LE-EA Adapter) from A- to E-Mount, also by reason of the fantastic Zeiss primes for E-Mount, lenses which I wanted to have for a very long time 😉 I use AF Lenses too, but for landscape pictures, I use them mostly by manual focus to get the best control of the depth of field. The Sony cameras are perfect for manual focus.

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Nightsky over Watzmann – Sony A7R, Samyang 14mm, f4

Continue reading The manual photographers series part 3: Oliver Fecher (aidualk)

Review: Contax Zeiss Distagon 2.0/28 T* AEG (C/Y)

DSC01741The “Hollywood-Distagon” 2/28 is one of the few lenses with a nickname. It is an adapted cinematic lens design for the Contax SLR cameras, but does it’s performance live up to the cool nickname?

Sample Images

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Sony a7II | Distagon 2/28 | f/2 | full resolution
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Sony a7II | Distagon 2/28 | f/2 | full resolution
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Sony a7II | Distagon 2/28 | f/8 | full resolution

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Review: Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 Distagon T*

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Since the introduction of the Contax Distagon 2.8/21 in the early 1990’s, the 21mm lenses from Zeiss have a long and glorious history of being some of the best wide angle lenses in the world. While the Loxia 2.0/35 and the Loxia 2.0/50 are refined ZM-Designs, the Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 is the first Loxia lens that features a new optical design. Lets have a look if the Loxia 2.8/21 can keep the heritage alive.
31/05/17 Update by Bastian: I have been using this lens regularly for a year now and Jannik asked me if there is anything I would like to contribute to his review, so I added a few notes and sample images.

Sample Images

Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | A7II
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Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 | f/5.6 | ISO 100 | A7II | Full Size
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Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21 | f/2.8 | ISO 100 | Sony A7R

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Review – Contax Zeiss Sonnar 3.5/100 T* (C/Y)

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I am currently looking for a capable but small landscape tele lens to complement my travel  kit. Will the Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 3.5/100 (C/Y) deliver for my purposes?

Sample Images

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Sony a7R | Zeiss Sonnar 3,5/100 | f/8

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Sony a7R | Zeiss Sonnar 3,5/100 | f/8

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Sony a7R | Zeiss Sonnar 3,5/100 | f/11

Continue reading Review – Contax Zeiss Sonnar 3.5/100 T* (C/Y)