Sonnar 180mm Zebra and Vivitar 200mm Series 1; a comparison.

[woodrim]

I have received the Zeiss Sonnar 180mm lens that I purchased a while back at a great price. It is the Zebra model f/2.8 in P-Six mount. I have an M42 converter purchased from ebay that I have been using on my Orestegor 300mm and now it will serve double duty.

My first impression of this lens is probably the same as everyone else - it's very large around. While only a little faster than my Series 1 200mm, it is disproportionally large in comparison. My second impression after looking through the lens was that it seems seems amply bright, like what one would expect from a fast lens. Naturally, I was eager to give it a go, so I went out to a couple of my favorite spots yesterday and clicked away.

My comments will be comparative since the focal length is so close to my Vivitar Series 1 lens. I found the Sonnar easier to focus; it seemed the focus popped with more certainty than what I experience with the Vivitar, which has always been one of the great challenges with that fast lens. The Sonnar was easier to hand hold and operate than what I might have expected with such a large lens, but certainly not as easy as the Vivitar. The rest of my impressions come from the results.

I had great expectations of this lens because of its reputation, Zeiss name, and from reviews that I have read on this forum and others. My first impression was disappointment as I had expected sharper images. Perhaps I had set my expectations too high. Still, I believe the Series 1 lens to be sharper, but that will need to prove out at a later date when I do a direct comparison with identical lighting conditions. This lens seems extremely contrasty; is that one of the characteristics others have found? I'm sure these initial results are hampered by both the type of lighting and my exposures. Yesterday was a top 10 day here in Charleston; bright sun, nice temperature, and clear, blue sky. I wonder if the lighting was too harsh. I was also limited by my vantage point where the sun was somewhat behind the subjects and couldn't be adjusted since I had no where else to go due to being surrounded by water.

I have gotten in the habit of underexposing by a full stop because of metering issues with adapted lenses. I do adjust that depending on the ens I use, but generally I like to be under rather than over so whites do not get blown out. I will need to learn the best approach for this lens. Most of my pictures were underexposed and the contrast was so great that I lost detail in the shadow areas. While CA is evident at times, it was better controlled than I expected and much less than the Series 1.

As usual with me, I don't record apertures used, so for this initial shoot data are not available. When I do a direct comparison to the Series 1 lens I'll have more information to go along with it. Here are some of the better pictures - all have been processed in PS where I adjusted for the extreme contrast, exposure, and provided moderate sharpening. Most images are also slightly cropped. All taken with my Sony A200 at ISO 100.

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8- No CA correction made to this image.


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11- This image of a strange bird in a tree surprised me by its crispness. You will see in the 100 percent crop that follows that the sharpness is actually quite good.

100 Percent crop...

[ManualFocus-G]

Looks really good to me...plenty of pop! The bird photos are fantastic as well, regardless of the lens

[ChromaticAberration]

Good sharpness and smooth bokeh make for a very nice 3D effect indeed.

[martinsmith99]

I've owned the Sonnar for a couple of months and still yet to try it. It was an impulse buy I regret.

[woodrim]