[tcom]

Here are finally the long awaited test shots with a working copy of the Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/100 ZK lens.

For those who did not follow the whole story, I ordered a Zeiss 100/2 in Pentax mount 10 weeks ago. I got a first copy of the lens three weeks ago, but the aperture did not work, it was stuck wide open. Here is a test shot I made with that lens:

1/640s f/2.0 at 100.0mm iso100


Well, that was with a defective Zeiss lens. I sent the lens back and last week, as the shop still had no clue when the lens would be available, I put the pressure, either the shop gets me the lens until the end of this week, or I cancel the order. And surprise, the lens arrived today, in working order...

So it was time for a few test shots. It was however already late afternoon and a bit windy...

1/400s f/7.1 at 100.0mm iso200


1/160s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso200


1/1600s f/5.0 at 100.0mm iso200


1/200s f/5.6 at 180.0mm iso200


The full sized photos are either under pbase or flickr

The result is quite nice for a start. Unfortunately, bad weather is announced over the next days, so these will be the only test shots for a while.

Comments and critiques are welcome.

[Lanfriendly]

very nice! sounds like a good lens, how much was it?

[tcom]

The street price here is around CHF 2000, around USD 1800. Adorama is selling it around USD 1600.

[roentarre]

That is expensive, Dominique!

Good lens with test images though.

[k100d]

looking forward to some proper test photos
good to hear you got a good copy, all you need to do is whine

[tcom]

Thank you for your comments.

I hope to get more photos once the weather is better.

[nupentaxian]

wow very expensive lens...i can see why though. btw, this is a prime right? how you get 180mm on the last shot?...typo?

[tcom]

The Zeiss is a prime lens, yes.

I made yesterday a few test shots, also with the 1.7x AF converter, so I set the focal length in the menu to 180 (170 is not available) and forgot to switch back, so it is not only a typo, the exif of this photo is also wrong.

[Marty]

Please also include some distance photos when you get around to it!
Oh, and how about a picture of the lens on the camera... curious about the dimensions.

[tcom]

I will add those photos, once I get some time and better weather...

[Gooshin]

it would be intresting to pit this lens directly against a Jupiter 9

125 USD vs 1600 USD

[tcom]

Here is an additional photo I took yesterday with this Zeiss lens, a portrait shot of the Charles Chaplin statue here in Vevey, so not a macro shot anymore:

K20D, 1/250s, f/5, 200iso

(you should be able to get the full res photo by clicking on the photo)

The DOF is a bit to narrow...

[tcom]

The weather makes it a bit difficult at the moment for additional macro shots, so I took other subjects:

K20D, f/8, 1/500s, 100iso


Charles Chaplin Statue in Vevey
K20D, f/5, 1/200s, 100iso

[tcom]

I tried to make a few more photos with the Zeiss 100/2:

K20D, 1/180s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso400


K20D, 1/200s f/8.0 at 100.0mm iso400


These and other shots with this lens are available full size, unprocessed under:

Zeiss macro planar 100/2 ZK - a set on Flickr
Zeiss Makro-Planar 2/100 ZK Photo Gallery by Dominique Schreckling at pbase.com

[gtmerideth]

Dominique,
Thank you so much for your efforts in posting the photos.
I don't see how this lens can get any better. Terrific work.
gary merideth