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Zeiss 18mm f/3.5
© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

Intro   Specs   Performance   Compared   Recommendations

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Zeiss 18mm f/3.5

Zeiss Distagon 18mm f/3.5 ZE (82mm filters, 18.1 oz/513g, about $1,300). enlarge. This is the Canon version; it also comes for Nikon, (both with and without CPU), and even in the too-tough-to-die Pentax K mount. It's available at Adorama and Amazon. It helps me keep adding this site when you get yours from these links, thanks! Ken.

 

December 2009      Zeiss Reviews    Nikon   Canon   Pentax  All Reviews

 

Compared to Nikon and Canon's ultrawides

More Zeiss Reviews  

Zeiss Manual-Focus Lenses for Canon 15 September 2008

 

Introduction         top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Compared   Recommendations

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The Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 is a heavy, chunky, all-metal, high-performance manual-focus super-wide lens available for most SLRs, digital and film.

This is a full-frame (Barnack 24x36mm) lens and I will review it as such. It is a waste to use this on any format other than full-frame.

It has performance better than Canon's ultra-wide zooms, making it worth serious consideration for shooting nature and landscapes with Canon.

This Zeiss lens also costs less, weighs less, and is smaller than Nikon's and Canon's zooms.

Unlike Canon, Nikon has made many versions of fixed 18mm lenses that work on its cameras, both manual and auto focus. I have not compared their performance against this Zeiss lens, however Nikon's 18mm fixed lenses have lower performance than Nikon's current 14-24mm AF-S.

 

Compatibility       top

Canon

On Canon, Zeiss actually worked with Canon to ensure everything works properly.

On digital, focus confirmation lights work great, as does auto exposure and EXIF data.

I tried this ZE lens on Canon's very first EOS 620 from 1987 and the newest 5D Mark II from 2008. It worked perfectly on both of them, so I foresee no problems.

 

Nikon

In English, the CPU lens works perfectly with your D700, so long as you don't mind focusing manually. The non-CPU lens asks that you enter the data in the D700's non-CPU lens data menu, and then works great in only manual and A exposure modes.

The non-CPU ZF lens performs the same as a Nikon AI-s lens. I have not confirmed that it has the correct rear lugs to give full matrix metering with the FA and F4.

Thus it is compatible as listed under AI,AI-s (or AI converted if it lacks the secret maximum aperture coupling lug) at Nikon Lens Compatibility.

The CPU ZF.2 lens is as compatible as an AF lens at Nikon Lens Compatibility.

This Zeiss lens is perfectly compatible with older non-AI Nikons made from 1959-1976, since it has a coupling prong, something Nikon removed from its AF lenses back in 1986 to save money.

 

Pentax

I have no idea. I haven't tried.

Short of shooting this on a Pentax ME, does Pentax make any full-frame cameras today anyway?

 

Specifications         top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Compared   Recommendations

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 ZE. enlarge.

Name

Zeiss calls this the Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 3,5/18.

The Canon EOS EF mount shown in this review is suffixed "ZE."

The Nikon AI-s mount is suffixed "ZF."

The Nikon AI-s mount with CPU is suffixed "ZF.2."

The Pentax K mount is suffixed "ZK."

Distagon is Zeiss' trademark for wide-angle retrofocus lens. All wide-angle 18mm SLR lenses are retrofocus, thus the use of this trademark is meaningless, except that it sounds cool.

 

Optics        top

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 diagram

Schematic, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5.

13 elements in 11 groups.

Multicoated, for which Zeiss uses its trademark "T*."

Rear focusing. Nothing except the focus ring moves externally.

Zeis ZE 18mm f/3.5

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 at f/3.5. enlarge.

Diaphragm

9 blades.

Stops down to f/22.

 

Close Focus

1 foot (0.3m).

 

Maximum Reproduction Ratio

1:12.2.

 

Size       top

2.4" (61mm) extension, 3.448" (87.59mm) diameter.

82mm filter thread. Does not rotate.

 

Weight       top

18.085 oz. (512.7g), as measured, Canon version.

Zeiss specifies 510g for the Canon version, and 470g for the Nikon and Pentax mounts.

 

Introduced

2008.

The newest ZE mount version seen here was announced 14 September 2009.

 

Scope of Delivery

Includes lens, metal hood, caps, and impressive paperwork. Zee Germans are big into zee papers.

Box, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5

Box, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 ZE.

Price

$1,290, USA, December 2009, in Canon mount (ZE).

$1,240, USA, December 2009, in Nikon (ZF) or for Pentax K mount (ZK), no CPUs.

$1,395, USA, December, 2009, in Nikon CPU mount (ZF.2).

 

Performance         top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Compared   Recommendations

Overall    Focus    Cold Weather    Color    Data    Diaphragm

Distortion   Ergonomics   Falloff   Filters   Ghosts   Hood    

Lateral Color Fringes      Mechanics      Sharpness

 

Overall       performance     top

This Zeiss performs as we'd expect from Zeiss, who also makes planetarium projectors, lenses for spy satellites that can read newspapers from space, and lenses for submicroscopic semiconductor wafer fabrication. Microscopes? Zeiss has been shipping those for over 150 years. Man's walk on the moon? Zeiss lenses again.

Nikon only started making cameras in the 1940s.

Canon started making cameras in the 1930s, which were merely cheap copies of the LEICA.

Leica started selling cameras and lenses in the 1920s.

Zeiss has been dominating the high-performance camera lens market since the 1800s!

Zeiss' Anastigmat was designed in 1890 by Dr. Paul Rudolph, and it was the lens copied 25 years later by Dr. Max Berek as the first lens for the LEICA.

Dr. Paul Rudolph's Zeiss Planar, a double-Gauss design on which most modern fixed normal lenses are still based, came out in 1896. Over a hundred years old, and it's still what the Japanese are selling today as their latest normal lenses.

Dr. Paul Rudolph's Tessar came out in 1902, and is still the basis of simple 4-element, 3 group normal lens designs.

So Zeiss knows a thing or two about optics. Heck, it invented most of it.

I don't feel worthy to "evaluate" a Zeiss lens, because, yes, Zeiss makes the MTF and other test equipment everyone else uses to test their own lenses.

That said, this is a very good lens, possibly the best there is, within the limits of my ability to test and compare intelligently across camera brands.

 

Focus       performance     top

Focus is manual-only.

The focus ring is more heavily damped than Nikon, so it won't flick end-to-end as will a Nikon, but you can easily focus precisely with just one finger tip.

It is wonderful. Cradle the lens in your left hand, and you expression finger can move the focus at the same time.

Since the barrel is solid and does not move in and out as do most manual focus lenses, nothing hangs up. The focus ring moves on its own as you solidly hold the rest of the lens.

 

Canon

On Canon, hold the shutter halfway as you focus.

Look for the AF sensors to blink as you pass the point of perfect focus. Only the dot on the bottom of the finder will stay lit so long as you are in focus.

On older EOS cameras, look for the dot on the bottom of the finder as you hold the shutter. Their AF sensors may not light.

No big deal, see your manual, and with this lens, you never have to move a switch to manual focus.

 

Nikon

Use your split-image and microprisms as always.

On AF or digital cameras, look for the in-focus dot (or dots) lit up in the finder. Nikon's AF cameras are way behind Canon's for manual focus: Nikon's AF sensors never light in manual focus modes, so you have to look away from the images to the sides to look for Nikon's OK dots.

 

Cold Weather       performance     top

This lens is all metal. Not mostly metal with plastic this or that; it's all metal.

If your friends suggest that Zeiss lenses taste like licorice while you're out shooting in freezing weather, wait until you get back indoors and it warms up to try tasting it.

 

Color Balance        performance     top

The color rendition seems the same as Canon's 16-35mm II. There are no surprises.

 

Canon 16-35mm L II vs. Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 color balance, f/8.

Roll mouse over to compare. Reference: Canon 16-35mm L II.

© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

These two shots exaggerate the difference. I shot the 5D Mark II in my usual setting of +3 saturation. To shoot these, I set a manual WB reference to the Canon 16-35mm L II shot, forcing it to gray. You will see peripheral color shifts in both these lenses.

 

Data       performance     top

This Canon-version makes files whose EXIF correctly reads the shooting aperture, and reads "18mm" for lens.

On Canon, from 1980s film EOS to today's digitals, everything seems to work perfectly.

 

Diaphragm       performance     top

The diaphragm of this Canon version is much nicer than I'm used to seeing in SLR lenses.

Not only is it a perfect 9 blades, a point of note that most users will never notice is that it is always symmetrical and never out of round.

Other SLR lenses have diaphragms which give the correct exposure, but because of the precision and speed at which these have to operate, usually have some blades that don't quite close the same as others, leading to slightly lopsided openings.

It doesn't matter, but it is a mark of quality that on the version I tried, apertures were always completely symmetrical when stopped down.

Even Zeiss' Contax 645 medium format SLR lenses, which cost several times what these 35mm lenses cost, have uniformly ununiform diaphragm openings.

 

Distortion       performance     top

If you run a straight line across the top of your image, it will "pull out" a bit in the corners. Zeiss' 21mm f/2.8 is much better.

This is complex pincushion distortion.

You can try -1.5 in Photoshop's lens distortion filter, however it leaves some waviness.

For perfect correction, you'll have to pray for a DxO module, or shoot Zeiss' 18mm f/4 rangefinder lens on your LEICA instead.

 

Ergonomics        performance     top

Zeiss 18/3.5

Zeiss 18/3.5 ZE. enlarge.

Unlike today's plastic pro zooms, this is all-metal. If you're used to plopping your Nikon and Canon plastic beauties down on your glass table or desktop, back off — you need to be careful with these heavy metal Zeiss lenses.

It is very dense, so I fear that it will be easier to slip out of my hands when mounting and unmounting. The focus ridges all run parallel, with no waffle pattern to stop it slipping axially out of your hand.

This chunky beast reminds me of the Zeiss 35mm f/3.5 lens for the Contax 645, just a little smaller in scale.

The red engravings are not very visible in use. They stand out a lot more in these photos here than they do in actual use.

The EOS mount has no red index dot on the outside, as do Canon lenses. You have to look for the red dot on the back of the mount, which is much less visible.

There is no "18" engraved on the side. You have to just know, or look at the front of the lens with no cap.

 

Falloff (darkened corners)       performance     top

All superwides have a lot of falloff. They get dark in the corners, especially at larger apertures. That's what they do, regardless of brand.

On Canon, there is no profile available for automatic peripheral illumination correction, as there is for most Canon lenses. Therefore, you'll have to correct this manually if it bothers you. If you do a direct comparison between the Canon 16-35mm II and this Zeiss 18mm on the 5D Mark II, you'll see a big difference, because the 5D II is correcting the 16-35's falloff, but not the Zeiss.

I've greatly exaggerated the falloff of the Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 below by shooting a gray field and presenting it on a gray field.

 

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 falloff on 24x36mm at infinity.

f/3.5
f/4
f/5.6
f/8

© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

Just like with other 18mm lenses, the falloff is quite visible at f/3.5, and is gone by f/8.

Photographers use this for deliberate artistic effect. Shooting at large apertures will emphasize your central subject, and exaggerate the wide angle effect.

At large apertures, this falloff leads to darker images I prefer, on the 5D Mark II, to add a little more exposure if I'm shooting wide open. There aren't any secrets here; just look at your LCD.

 

Filters, Use with       performance     top

The filter ring never rotates. It doesn't even move in or out with the Zeiss' rear focusing.

The 82mm filter size in generous. There is no problem with vignetting on the full 24x36mm frame, even with a Tiffen HT Grad ND 0.6 in rotating mount (5.6mm ring thickness excluding threads).

In fact, there is just a little vignetting even with this TIffen grad and a stacked regular filter, for a total thickness of 11.6mm, excluding threads.

Don't bother with polarizers on ultrawide lenses. The sky doesn't cooperate.

 

Ghosts       performance     top

Ghosts are minimal.

Go ahead, put the sun in your image. If you want ghosts, you're going to have to add them with a filter in photoshop.

This Zeiss is much, much better than Nikon's 18mm f/2.8 AF-D for ghost suppression.

 

Hood       performance     top

Zeiss 18mm hood

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 and included metal hood. enlarge.

The excellent metal hood is included.

It's the same hood as the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8.

It locks on better than any of the flimsy plastic hoods that are good enough for Nikon and Canon. You have to push the Zeiss hood straight towards the camera to lock and unlock its rotation in the bayonet tracks.

This hood isn't going to pop off. If you beat something with it, you're going to have a bent hood still attached.

 

Lateral Color Fringes       performance     top

There are only minimal lateral color fringes on Canon 5D Mark II.

This is better than Canon's own zooms.

 

Mechanics and Construction    Performance    top

Rear, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5

Rear, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 ZE. enlarge.

This is a tough lens. Don't mess with it.

Hood: Anodized aluminum, spring-loaded locking bayonet.

Filter Threads and Hood Bayonet Receiver: Chromed metal.

Barrel Exterior: Anodized aluminum.

Focus Ring: Anodized aluminum.

Focus Helicoids: Could be brass.

Depth-of-Field Scale: Yes.

Internals: Metal.

Mount: Dull-chromed brass.

Markings: Engraved and filled with paint, as God Himself intended.

Identity: Engraved around front of lens.

Serial Number: Engraved on front ring.

Ass-Gasket (dust seal at mount): No.

Noises When Shaken: Almost nothing, in Canon mount. This is the most solid lens I've ever shaken. You're more likely to accidentally throw it while shaking it than you are to hear anything rattling, at least in Canon EF mount.

Made in: Japan. Tough. You want Made in Germany? That would cost $4,500 for exactly the same lens.

Weaknesses: Potentially slippery metal, easy to drop, and your hands will stick to it in freezing weather.

 

Peripheral Color Shift        performance     top

Most 18mm lenses shift color a little in the corners because their coatings become less effective at longer wavelengths as angles of incidence deviate from normal (90º).

This Zeiss is about average. It gets more violet in the corners, but no more so than other 18mm lenses.

I'm exaggerating this below by shooting a gray field at f/8 and then presenting it against another gray field I forced the camera's white balance to neutral in the center, and shot the 5D Mark II in my usual setting of +3 saturation.

 

Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 peripheral color shift, f/8.

Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 perpheral color

© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.

 

This is rarely visible in actual photographs. I'm one of the few people who looks for it.

 

Sharpness       performance     top

Of course it's sharp. It's a $1,300 Zeiss prime lens. What were you expecting, Sigma?

I love to slam expensive gear that doesn't measure up, but in this case, this lens is the real deal.

It's sharp all over. If it's not sharp, its because you're not doing something right.

The sides and corners might be a little less sharp at larger apertures, but it gets darker there, too, so it's harder to notice.

This Zeiss lens is worlds better than Canon's zooms, which are also more expensive. So there, but then again, lens sharpness doesn't mean much to good photographers.

See examples at Compared to Nikon and Canon's ultrawides.

 

Recommendations         top

Intro   Specs   Performance   Compared   Recommendations

This Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 lens is a splendid idea for use with Canon full-frame cameras for serious nature and landscape photography.

This Zeiss is a better lens than anything from Canon, with the possible exception of Canon's TS-E lenses, however the 17mm TS-E can't use filters.

On NIkon, I prefer the ergonomics of any of Nikon's own smaller fixed 18mm lenses, even if the optics might not be as good. This Zeiss is much smaller than the pigly 14-24mm AF-S, and this Zeiss works well with filters, which the Nikon doesn't.

Skip this lens for use with little cameras, like Nikon's DX and Canon's 1.6x cameras. For these cameras, any kit zoom lens does pretty much the same thing, more easily.

Skip this lens for action, news or sports, unless you're really good. It's manual-focus.

Get one for your 5D, and skip any other lens shorter than 35mm. You never need to carry every focal length. Hit the road with this 18mm, maybe a 50mm and the 70-200mm f/4 L IS and you're set.

 

Compared         top

Compared

Zeiss 18mm, Canon 16-35mm II and Nikon 14-24mm. bigger.

See live examples at Compared to Nikon and Canon's ultrawides.

 

Deployment         top

I wouldn't bother with the hood.

For color print film or digital, you want a B+W 82mm 011 UV filter for protection.

For use with color transparency film outdoors, I'd use an 82mm B+W 81A filter.

For B&W film outdoors, you want a yellow filter, like the B+W 82mm #022.

 

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Mr. & Mrs. Ken Rockwell, Ryan and Katie.

 

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