Home | Login | Register   REVIEW SHOP SHARE LEARN
  PhotographyReview.com          
  Camera reviews, digital camera reviews, and photography community
RSS Feed
REVIEWS:  Lenses:  35mm Zoom:
Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 17-35mm f2.8
Sample Images >>

More Products from Contax >>
Link to this page
Contax Carl Zeiss N Vario-Sonnar T* 17-35mm f2.8

MSRP: $

Description:
 
Sort by Latest Reviews >> |  Sort by Best Rating >> |  Sort by Worst Rating >> |  View All >>
Rating
Reviewed by: Austin Powers
 (Expert)

Review Date
July 29, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5,
2 votes

Rate this review?

Review 1 of 2

Price Paid:  $1500.00 from eBay

Summary:
This lens is better than anything of this kind that I have tried. It sports no vinietting, no barrel distortion and an incredible contrast and colour rendition.

Strengths:
Outstanding optical quality. Extremely durable all-metal construction. Ultrasonic motor. Dual focus.

Weaknesses:
95mm filters cost more than some pretty good lenses, you know...

Similar Products Used:
Minolta 17-35 G Canon 20-35 L Sigma 17-35 EX Carl Zeiss Distagon 4/18

Customer Service:
did not need



Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
Rating
Reviewed by: okayla
 (Intermediate)

Review Date
February 16, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.43 of 5,
7 votes

Rate this review?

Review 2 of 2

Price Paid:  $0.00 from Naniwa Camera, Osaka

Summary:
Very well built wide angle lens, all metal lens barrel. As well built as a tank, also as heavy and as big, the weight is close to two Canon 17-35s. The size of the lens is about the same as my Zeiss 35 3.5 for 645, an that''s huge. I bought the lens in Osaka Japan, after the sales showed me the lens I couldn''t resist buying it. After taken 5 rolls of film with it I can easily say the optical quality lives up to the Zeiss name, the best that I''ve seen from this type of ultra wide angle zoom.

Strengths:
Optical performance much better than my Canon 17-35mm, vignetting almost non-existent with the 95mm filter. I love the weight of the lens but some might object to this. The friction of the zoom and focusing barrels exudes quality.

Weaknesses:
For a lens as expensive as this one the lens hood is optional (expensive, too). 95mm filter size is good but ultra expensive, the PLC will cost about USD300, as much as some consumer zooms. The bulk of the lens is unprecendented for this lens type. Focusing motor is noisier than 24-85 or 50 1.4, probably not USM but only a minor caveat.

Similar Products Used:
Canon 20-35 2.8L, 17-35 2.8L.

Customer Service:
None required.



Would you like to Comment?
Join PhotographyReview for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
<< Prev 5 Reviews |

Latest Pro Reviews:
2008 PMA Tradeshow Coverage
2008 PMA Tradeshow
Camera News:
Get Newsletter!
Enter e-mail address for PhotographyREVIEW
newsletter

 MtbREVIEW.com  RoadbikeREVIEW.com  OutdoorREVIEW.com
 PhotographyREVIEW.com  VideogameREVIEW.com  ComputingREVIEW.com
 AudioREVIEW.com  CarREVIEW.com  GolfREVIEW.com

Copyright ©1996-2008 All Rights Reserved.ConsumerREVIEW.com, a business unit of Invenda