Zeiss Distagon T* 25mm f/2.0 ZE Lens for Canon EF Mount

Comments about Zeiss Distagon T* 25mm f/2.0 ZE Lens for Canon EF Mount:

I recently moved from camcorders into DSLR photography/videography with a Canon 5D Mk III. I bought the 24-105mm kit lens and a Zeiss 50mm f/1.4. Well, the Canon lens stayed in the bag most of the time because of the outstanding image quality and incredible "feel" of the Zeiss lens. These things are beautifully built. I recently added this Zeiss 25mm f/2.0 to have the same sharp image, wonderful color rendition and beautiful bokeh I got with my Zeiss 50mm. I was NOT disappointed! I know these lenses are expensive and yeah, autofocus is nice, but it's oh, so worth it! I plan to own these lenses for the rest of my life and hope to add to my collection in the future.

The only downside I would mention is the lens cap. I find it very difficult to grasp. I actually bought Nikon lens caps for my other lenses then I got the bright idea of cutting a small piece of 3M "Outdoor Tread" tape I had lying around and sticking it on the lens cap grips. This tape is like rough sandpaper on one side and the sticky side attaches well to the plastic cap - this solution worked great for me.

Comments about Zeiss Distagon T* 25mm f/2.0 ZE Lens for Canon EF Mount:

A wide angle with such a large aperture has more benefits than just shallow depth of field. While this provides ample creative uses with a wide angle lens, the greater light gathering and brighter viewfinder is the greatest aspect.

The typical well-damped Zeiss focus ring is a joy to use, and the resistance makes careful focusing that much easier.

The filter size being the same 57mm across the majority of Zeiss ZE lenses also provides screw-in filter use across many lenses.

Comments about Zeiss Distagon T* 25mm f/2.0 ZE Lens for Canon EF Mount:

Alright, I gave this a 5 star rating really I wanted to give it 4.5 stars. This is my first Zeiss lens, I bought this and sold my 24-105 Canon lens. I shoot landscape photography and wanted to get a prime. After doing some research I choose this new lens from Zeiss. I chose this because I am very familiar with 24mm focal length. There were very few reviews on the internet about this lens at the time but reading many things on Zeiss it was bound to please. After receiving it I went to Balboa Park in San Diego to test it out, and I went photo crazy.

I read about the light falloff at the corners at f/2 so first thing I did was shoot many pictures at that aperture. Most of my photos could easily show the light fallout and it's pretty heavy on my full frame 5D mk ii. I use heavy instead of bad because in most situations shooting flowers and the gardens there, it wasn't distracting. Combined with the bokeh it made some pictures look very interesting. The bokeh is buttery smooth at f/2 and with the minimum focus distance on this being so close(6.7)inches, makes getting a shallow depth of field even easier. My canon had auto focus like all my other lenses. Zeiss only makes manual focus lens. I've used my canon lens on manual many times and I'm very confident in my ability to manual focus, but to have only manual focus? I was skeptical. Again reading about Zeiss having arguably the best manual focus and me using this primarily for landscapes I went for it. This like the bokeh is buttery smooth. The focus ring has a long smooth feel and I feel like I'm a surgeon when it comes to focusing this lens. I find my self playing with the focus ring when I'm walking around with it. It is just that amazing.

The image quality with this lens is superb. The colors are incredible, the contrast is very good, and it is very sharp. As you will see in my pictures below. At 5.6 it is sharp like a knife. and the light falloff is not an issue. The chromatic aberration is gone. This lens handles chromatic aberration so well, it's virtually gone. My pictures well show how sharp this lens is and the chromatic aberration on high contrast edges.

The build quality of this thing is insane, it's all metal. Feels like a tank that will last a thousand years. This is not your typical mass produced plastic dslr lens. This is a lens built to an artisan like quality, and Leica lenses are supposedly an even better build quality! It's hard to imagine something better than this type of build quality!

So my conclusion to this lens is if you are willing to spend the money get it. My suggestion to people is save up and get a excellent quality lens. The lens just feels right when you hold and shoot it. After getting this lens I don't think I'll be getting a wide angle L series again. The negatives of this lens would be the light falloff at f/2(Can be fixed in photoshop/lightroom easily)I even like the vignetting when combined with the bokeh, it makes for an interesting look sometimes. People have said this lens isn't weather sealed, I'm not testing that out, but I did email Zeiss about that and got this response "All these lenses are not specially sealed. They can stand a little shower or something like that. But in heavy rain you should protect them like the rest of your equipment."-Zeiss. For having a phenomenal build quality I wish it was weather sealed. It's just nice to walk/hike around not worrying about your lens being ruined from rain, but that's a minor detail from the big picture(pun intended).

The sample shots are that same picture one uncropped and the other cropped to show the detail. These images are unedited from my 5D mk II
shot a f5.6 1/90 and an iso of 1600.