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Examples: Lundy Canyon, Early Winter
Images in this four pages of Lundy Canyon examples (Nov 2015) have some challenging dynamic range to cope with. They were prepared with the expectation of viewing in dim lighting on a calibrated display having brightness of about 120 cd/m^2. Viewing in brightly-lit conditions will squash some of the wonderful darker tones.
Examples shot the 50-megapixel Canon 5DS R, so some perspective is in order:
- Even with perfect technical execution (focus appropriate for the scene, aperture and depth of field, etc), 50 megapixels is a demanding resolution. The slightest errors and weaknesses show up (true even with Zeiss Otus!). The truth is that 50 megapixels is only marginally more than 36 megapixels, even under ideal execution.
- Images are chosen to show the lens rendering style and performance characteristics. Some have limited depth of field, some have noise, etc. Some are chosen for visual impact or appeal and may not be technically perfect: that’s the point of photography.
- The 21/2.8 Distagon exhibits field curvature arcing forward at the periphery, all but unavoidable with wide angle lenses (and deriving from the natural Petzval curvature of lenses). If focused too closely, peripheral areas at a greater distance suffer in sharpness. Such is life with all wide angles, one way or another (some area of the frame declines relative to focus, depending on the nature of the field curvature).
- This particular sample was a delight: it turned out that under most conditions it could be racked to its hard infinity stop for distance shots. However, in very cold conditions, it became necessary to back off infinity just a tiny hair (for infinity focus). Zeiss sets infinity focus precisely, but some camera bodies may be off just a bit and temperature could change—don’t assume.
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Diglloyd Guide to Zeiss offers comprehensive integrated coverage of Zeiss DSLR lenses for Canon and Nikon. Nearly a decade in the making, it covers everything you need to know for every lens in the ZF.2, ZE, Milvus and Otus lines. Guide to Mirrorless and Zeiss ZM rangefinder lenses in Guide to Leica.
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Want a preview? Click on any page below to see an excerpt. And see Lloyd’s articles for Lenspire.Zeiss.com.