Photo Jottings

I took the Zeiss 16-70mm zoom out for some serious test shots, and in the process discovered the images are far less than what I had in mind for a lens costing $1000.  Here’s the thing; the centers are very sharp and impressive at F/5.6 at all focal lengths, but as you leave the center, the image softens, and the sides never really sharpen up at any length.  At the wide end I don’t expect the sides to be really sharp, that would be almost abnormal, but at longer lengths the images should be reasonable sharp with plenty of contrast at the sides.  The old DT 16-80mm Zeiss is very impressive as you zoom out, although not really great at 16-20mm.  Just to be clear, the lens performs good,
but it doesn’t seem to be impressive for 2013.

So now I need another replacement lens this month, first the Rokinon 16mm, and now the Zeiss.  I’m hoping the brand new Zeiss 16-70mm F/4 OSS I bought was a ‘Friday’ lens, meaning it was thrown together quickly (and improperly) while the employees where anxious to get out of work for the weekend and hit the local watering hole.  If my lens in fact does meet Sony Zeiss quality control, I’ll be passing on this one, and sticking to the primes.  Oh well.