So Prime Lens Day (is that something B&H Photo made up?) came and went last week. Seeing B&H tweet about it, makes it hard for me to pass up the chance to wax lyrical about my favorite category of camera lenses. So I thought, why not blog about one of my favorite prime lenses! But before I go into the topic of my favorite prime lens of late, let me digress a bit… Is there a predetermined date on the calendar for the celebration of fixed focal length lenses? If memory doesn’t fail me, the “occasion” fell on July 11 last year. 🤔 It’s no secret I love using prime lenses, despite the inconvenience that accompanies it. If I want shoot something far or near, I need to consider the focal length of the lens, move physical nearer or further to frame my subject ideally. The only reason why I would consider using zoom lenses over prime lenses is if I’m doing a paid gig in a challenging environment that I’m not very familiar with. The last time I felt this way was when I was covering a wedding in a church abroad, but that was nearly half a decade ago…
So anyway how did I discover the marvelous Zeiss Distagon 35mm ƒ/2? Two years ago I purchased the Zeiss Makro-Planar 100mm ƒ/2. I’d been eyeing that macro lens for years. And when I finally decided to buy it, the price came down too. I saved more than $300 simply because Zeiss was phasing out the classic range ahead of releasing the updated Milvus collection. The Milvus lenses come with a more modern look (rubber focus ring), some optical and coating improvements, and priced 🤑 beautifully 🤑. It’s ironic that despite being severely myopic, I prefer using manual focus lenses. Nikon’s vintage (and still in production) 55mm manual focus macro lens holds a dear spot in my lens cabinet. It is the standard bearer of what I think a good lens is. It renders colors beautifully and is effortless to nail focus. I can’t say the Zeiss Makro-Planar 100mm ƒ/2 is the equivalent to that Nikon lens in the telephoto range. It is inevitably heavier, which makes it tougher to nail focus, handheld. But when it does, the images sing. 🎶 It is with that that I found confidence to plonk down $600 💸the following year after chancing on a Youtube review of the Zeiss Distagon 35mm ƒ/2. The reviewer claims this lens was bang for bucks.
Some shots taken with on the D800 in Hong Kong
As I would typically do before purchasing a lens, I would check out real world results from the average user via Flickr. To cut the chase, I was pleasantly surprised with the results some of the more proficient photographers were getting with this lens. I began scouring the eBay for a used copy, figuring that’s a better route to take than buying the freshly released Milvus update. Search results were few (seemed like there were other likeminded photographers and the price from eBay’s auction/buy-now started to look more expensive than I had originally budgeted for. But fortunately for me, I soon found a minty copy at KEH. It was originally priced out of my budget, but I managed to score a discount code and got it for $634. Fat chance getting that good a deal from eBay.
Some shots taken during the Orchid Extravaganza ’17 at the Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay
Now while it’s a breeze nailing focus with the lens on the D800, I can’t say that’s exactly the case when I pair it with the Fujifilm X-T1. I tried using the lens while I was at Gardens by the Bay for the Orchid Extravaganza. The main issue I have with using the Zeiss 35 on the X-T1 stems from the EVF and the focus peak highlight. There seems a visible lag in the EVF when the lighting is scattered/mixed or gradually dimming. In times like this, I really appreciate having an OVF. Even without the focusing dot confirmation on the D800, it’s plain obvious to the eye if the shot is generally in focus when looking through the OVF. The lag in the EVF to show real-time updates and the finicky nature of the focus peak highlight made me second guess repeatedly if I had nailed focus. When I do trust in the focus peak highlight to assure I have indeed got everything I need in focus in the frame, the playback of the captures only disappointed me later. I really don’t think I should be using manual focus lenses on the X-T1. Maybe the situation has improved on subsequent models, but I do genuinely feel the X-T1 is not geared towards use with manual focus lenses. Not a big deal for me since I can always fall back on the D800, and it does seems manual focus lens users are the minority among enthusiasts. The event was quite underwhelming, so I don’t think the shots below are exactly inspiring. Still, the Zeiss 35 is much easier to nail focus on the X-T1 than the Nikkor 55mm micro lens. I think on a whole it helps that the lens barrel is less loose (buttery still but not freewheeling). And because the lens is designed specifically for manual focus use, the design of the lens barrel is done to optimize user experience for that function. The Fuji lenses work best in autofocus, but when it comes to manual focusing it lags precision compared to the Zeiss. Not a big deal since I rarely ever need to manual focus on the Fuji, unless the AF on the manual doesn’t give me the desired results. Anyway in regards to the flora exhibition, maybe because of the pollen scent I was reacting badly to, the awfully large crowd of tourists, and the fact that the layout focuses mainly on the mass display of orchids. I like to shoot the flowers selectively and with so many of them clumped together, it just feels visually claustrophobic. It’s probably a personal issue I have with the display, for I see other visitors happily snapping the flowers and generally enjoying their time there. But I think the few mediocre shots I got from the Zeiss aren’t too disappointing. I like the rose shot. Of course I had less of a eye-and-head-ache using Fuji’s XF 23mm ƒ/1.4 lens since it focuses effortlessly in AF. However, the Zeiss 35 presents this challenge to use, and when I do get what I want, I feel more satisfied.
I’ll update this post should I discover more delightful aspects of this lens. For what it’s worth, the lens has brought me much joy. I don’t particularly enjoyed the 35mm focal range on Nikon cameras (tried various versions from Nikon and the ole Sigma copy) until I used the Zeiss 35. Sure it is priced at a premium and isn’t all perfect (purple fringing/chromatic aberration), but I really love the end products I get from the lens. Ok, maybe I’m too deep in the blue ribbon fandom. 😍
P.S.: The Zeiss is definitely not the lens for newbies. When new to photography, it’s daunting to handle both manual focus and manual exposure. Probably check back at them once you have a hang of using your camera and figuring out the exposure triangle. 🙂 If you’re an experienced photographer that wants to push your craft up a notch and have the moolah 💰 to spare, Zeiss lenses (such as the Distagon 35mm ƒ/1.4) are worth taking a look at. Used prices aren’t too high for these classic lenses. Zeiss states that their Milvus collection (which is essentially the updated version of ever focal length available of the older ZF/ZE and ZF.2 lens range) is better suited for current digital cameras. I beg to differ… At least with the Milvus 35mm ƒ/2, other than the solving the color fringing/chromatic aberration issue that is prevalent when shooting with the classic lenses, I don’t see any obvious improvement. As for the color fringing I do get when I shoot wide open, in high contrast scenes, it’s easily corrected in Photoshop CC.