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Vario Sonnar T* 80-200 f4 does quite well at arty stuff.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:
I think this lens comes into its own when shooting people and animals - those sort of shots show of the lens' character - it has great pop. The only downside is a little green CA.


I think it's pretty interesting across the board actually. I expected to use it for people, animals, landscapes... but then I was totally surprised at the qualities it has for shooting art photos. I definitely need to spend more time with it...


PostPosted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:
I think this lens comes into its own when shooting people and animals - those sort of shots show of the lens' character - it has great pop. The only downside is a little green CA.


I don't disagree, but the pop is all about quality of ambient light and camera angle. When hit just right, the VS definitely delivers.

I used the 80-200 almost exclusively on my recent African safari trip. (The other was the VS 35-70.) It totally lit up the animals but it did very very well with sunsets/landscapes. Color rendition and sharpness in the savannah woods and open plains in morning/afternoon light were just superb.

Sure, there's some CA. But not a problem these days as one click in LR makes all that go away.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have this lens, a good lens for sure.
Maybe Klaus mean concerning to the title blown away.. The lens is good, you can get more beautiful shots with it. It's hard for people to say blown aya for such pictures, It doesnt mean that bad shot at all.
Maybe if you include the cropped to see detail I can understand if you say blown away by it's detail
This is my sample with it, I'm not saying this is good shot, just to show detail on cropped one. wide open.

Cheers...


PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well it blew me away. I think a bigger problem for some people is the type of shots. What blew mW away was the artistic quality.

I'll see if I can edit the thread title.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Those shots are indeed arty and as such they provoke some subjective criticism that I wouldn't take too seriously.
They are not too soft to me. I'm very impressed with your compositions and the restrained color tones. Very nicely done!


PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks like it preforms well, I like shallow DOF myself. Perhaps a few shots not wide open?


Roger


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
vroger wrote:
Perhaps a few shots not wide open?


I can offer some. Taken at f/5.6 or f/8. I was shooting at high ISO to keep the shutter speed up because, well, it's MF and handheld. Don't recall the others, but the last one is at 80mm and full-frame (no crop).









PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gorgeous animal shots. The fact you took this lens on safari says a lot for it to begin with.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Wonderful shots Smile

I have literally used this lens once, on a gloomy day, in the garden.It did produce some very nice portraits, even under those conditions.

I can't wait to try it out in more diverse circumstances however.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Jeff Zen wrote:
Those shots are indeed arty and as such they provoke some subjective criticism that I wouldn't take too seriously.
They are not too soft to me. I'm very impressed with your compositions and the restrained color tones. Very nicely done!


Understood Smile

Thanks for the nice feedback, I am going to have fun with this lens I'm sure, and will definitely try a variety of subject mater/style.
I think I need to get a monopod though....


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 7:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Impressive stuff frenched !


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Amazing stuff frenched! Well done!!


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oh yes, fine pictures - and a fine lens. I do like that quality in a useful zoom - what's not to like ? Cool


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
Oh yes, fine pictures - and a fine lens. I do like that quality in a useful zoom - what's not to like ? Cool


I've been wavering over this lens for years, but have never bought it because as much as I like the images shot with it, I've never seen a lens in more desperate need of a tripod collar than this one. (And normally, such an issue doesn't concern me, but for some reason it's on my mind with this lens.) The lens strikes me as very long hanging off a camera body. The ironic part is, for as long as the barrel is, I can't figure out a spot to place a tripod collar if I could find one to fit the lens.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kds315* wrote:
Amazing stuff frenched! Well done!!


Vielen Dank, Klaus! Smile

And everyone else, too!

Not fishing for compliments, just praising this lens.

I struggled to decide whether to rent a modern Canon lens or two for the trip or just bring what I had. My decision turned out okay. I got literally thousands of good/very good shots with the VS 80-200 and 35-70. Not disappointed at all. You really don't need monstrously long lenses for safaris because you get so close to the animals. So close it's scary sometimes.

I've often thought this lens could use a tripod collar, but I can't see how one could ever be attached. But though it may be a tad long it's quite light.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
frenched wrote:
But though it may be a tad long it's quite light.


Kind of like the Minolta 60-200 and a number of other lenses from that time frame. As others have said, great shots, frenched.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
RnR wrote:
I think some of the shots are a little soft because of the shutter speed being a little low for some of the images (assuming most of them are at 200mm). #1 is nice and sharp, but its also taken at 1/2000.

I've settled for a Yashica 80-200 ML for landscape purposes. One day I'll get these puppies Very Happy


+1

Based on the first image, this lens is pretty sharp, and it can't go wrong with other images except you did this way. Most of the images is not as sharp as the first one so I suspected you got some vibration.

I also mostly shoot primes, but I have few zoom lenses, and I'm sure the FD 80-200 f/4 L can be a bit better than this lens.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The other day I saw a Canon lens made collar - 3rdy part actually - for long lenses which could prob. be adapted to the Zeiss zoom.
At ebay there's a bunch of it... (I'm thinking to bring one for the Jupiter 21M 4/200, find the beast heavy enough,

Cheers,

Renato


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
RSalles wrote:
The other day I saw a Canon lens made collar - 3rdy part actually - for long lenses which could prob. be adapted to the Zeiss zoom.
At ebay there's a bunch of it... (I'm thinking to bring one for the Jupiter 21M 4/200, find the beast heavy enough,

Cheers,

Renato


Renato, one could put a collar on this zoom, but then the collar will interfere with the user being able to access the entire zoom range.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
CBokeh wrote:
The ironic part is, for as long as the barrel is, I can't figure out a spot to place a tripod collar if I could find one to fit the lens.

Maybe the Manfrotto 293 'Telephoto Support' could be of use? Just without the strap so you have the full zoom range.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Regarding length/weight, I find its ok as its not super heavy, although it does stick out a fair bit. Its not super great to hang it around your neck and walk around. Smile

I also have the Vario Sonnar 35-70 f3.4, which is a lovely lens:



PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Langstrum wrote:
RnR wrote:
I think some of the shots are a little soft because of the shutter speed being a little low for some of the images (assuming most of them are at 200mm). #1 is nice and sharp, but its also taken at 1/2000.

I've settled for a Yashica 80-200 ML for landscape purposes. One day I'll get these puppies Very Happy


+1

Based on the first image, this lens is pretty sharp, and it can't go wrong with other images except you did this way. Most of the images is not as sharp as the first one so I suspected you got some vibration..


It was a gloomy day and I was just messing around, so I ended up compromising on shutterspeed. I din't mind for the art shots though.Sharpness isn't everything.

HOWEVER, I would like to have more control over these decisions, so I ordered a monopod yesterday. I'm struggling with handheld shots at the longer lens spectrum Smile


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a general impression that many Zeiss lenses quite often have issues with CA? Surprised
IQ else wise is superb in most cases.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My 5 cents regarding this gem:










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PostPosted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I like the VS80-200 it's my best MF tele-zoom.

I also have a Tamron 70-210SP (#19AH) and the Canon FD 70-210/4. When tested each @200mm on my A7r I was a bit surprised by the results. In order of performance (@200mmm) my copies ran Zeiss clearly first, with the Canon a surprisingly close second. The Tamron, which I expected to beat the Canon and possibly even the Zeiss, was in last place for both sharpness and CA.
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