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Comparison
The Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 Distagon is an oddball focal length (and is actually 25.6mm). The Nikon 24mm f/2 was considered for a comparison, but the field of view was too different. No Nikon wide angle zoom was available for testing, so the Canon EF 24-70 f/2.8L zoom lens was used. It is widely regarded as an excellent performer, and the test sample had been serviced by Canon reasonably recently. Field of view was closely matched, with the 25mm Distagon showing a slightly wider field (1.1%) field of view, putting it at a very slight disadvantage.
Matching focus exactly between lenses is always a challenge. For this comparison, focus was done manually using the Mark III’s 10X Live View feature, and a 4X loupe. Close examination of the central image area suggests a very close focus match. However, the area of sharp focus seems to be mangled by other optical effects, so visual verification is confusing. However, given that the Zeiss 25mm Distagon appears to be sharper both in front of and behind the plane of focus of the Canon 24-70L, the comparison is judged reasonable so long as all areas of the frame are considered. A second trial was performed at a slightly closer focusing distance, and the results were consistent with the first trial. Another entirely different composition was also tried, with similar results, with the 25mm Distagon showing sharpness over a much broader area of the frame than the 24-70L.
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Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 Distagon
(approximate plane of focus represented by red line)