Originally posted by sibyrnes You seem like a very logical person to me so I assume you would have to realize that the decision or choice to enter contests has nothing to do with the lenses one choses to use. The fact that no contest here has been won by an image taken with a Zeiss lens has NOTHING to do with the image quality of Zeiss lens.
When you have no direct access to any other kind of comparison you look for evidence that is indirect.
So, until someone comes up with a better comparison, I'll go with that one.
You certainly can't make a case that because no contest has been won by a Zeiss lens, they are better than other lenses.
This was a follow up to line of thought, encouraged by designers like Jun Hirakawa in his patent notes for the 77 ltd. "Designed for the way people take pictures, not for the test charts." and by his successor both refer to the need for a compromise between 3D spacial ability and lw/ph sharpness. As noted above, except for one lens Zeiss has avoided making that type of lens.
And that the test for that is the preferences of actual humans for the images.
Some of the contests on the forum are determined by the preferences of the people who vote on those contests, so it's quite possible that Zeiss lenses are not considered to be superior in their overall rendering characteristics.There are many other possible explanations, including that no one has submitted a photo taken with a Zeiss lens meaning they couldn't have won a contest.
But, as I have repeatedly pointed out to Fenwoodian, the test chart sharpness of Zeiss lenses may not be the best for portrait or 3D photgraphy, and the continued success of the one Zeiss lens made more in the Pentax style would suggest even Zeiss saw the benefits of going this route at least once.
But I throw it out there as I have many times to Fenwoodian, as a non-studio wildlife, landscape, nature candid photographer, where can I find Zeiss images that show me that Zeiss lenses are better for what i do?
Zeiss has an amazing reputation amongst test chart junkies, but, the lack of outstanding images that people actually like, I see very little evidence they are anything but a niche brand for people who are more influenced by numeric charts than by compelling images.
My view of various lenses tends to be determined by checking to see which lens was used for images that catch my attention. Thus far no Zeiss lens has ever caught my attention while viewing the exif of flickr files. That may well be because Zeiss users don't post their images. But it's more likely the result of no one else thinking as much of the way the lenses render as they do, and the lack of support for their somewhat biased evaluations.
I'm still trying to figure out... what are Zeiss lenses good for? Who uses them for what? What type of photographer would find them to be of value?
My advice to advice to beginning photographers is , find a guy who shoots what you'd like to shoot, find out what equipment he uses, and then try and emulate his techniques..so this is kind of critical to my way of thinking.
Last edited by normhead; 10-16-2017 at 07:57 AM.