Very sharp and versatile, built quality, pricy

need expensive slim 82mm filters, AF speed is not as snappy as Canon L fast glasses.

I bought this lens with the N1. This is a very versatile "walk about" universal zoom lens. Sharpness and contrast are typically Zeiss class. This makes perfect partner with the N70-300 VS covering most photographic needs. Yes it is slow aperture compared with Canon 24-70 f2.8L but it is every bit as good as the L glasses.

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many Zeiss C/Y glasses and Canon L glasses.

Sharp, rich color, saturated, solid build and optical quality is excellent.

bulky, and 82 mm filter, but it's not nessecery with result you can get.

I bought Vario Sonnar Zoom 24-85 T* with the camera N1 AF several month a go. I shot outdoor, like as nature, sunset. The result is amazing compare with my Nikon Lens 35-70 f 2.8. Rich color, saturation, tonal balance at every detail. If you blow up to 30 x 40 cm the image still sharp, I used Fuji filem Reala ASA 100. Your image become live and I did not ever saw before with my Nikon. it's true.

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Nikkor 35-70 f 2.8

Eliminates the need for primes in this range. It is the best wide-angle zoom there is.

Could be faster but who could afford one if it was.

I purchased this lens along with a Contax NX and shot several rolls of Fujichrome slide film on vacation. Projected on an 80 X 80 screen through a Leitz Pradovit projector fitted with a Leica 90mm Colorplan lens the results were stunning. I could not detect any distortion at either extreme of the zooming range. The colors were saturated (I used Velvia and Provia known for this) and the images appeared three dimensional--Zeiss magic? This lens is possibly the best available and it truly does obviate the need for a bag full of primes. Pity is is not f2.8 all the way through but then who could afford one if it was? BTW, the inexpensive Contax NX ($440 on Eaby)did a beautiful job and only got the exposure wrong about 6 times out of 6 rolls of 36 exposures and I may have been at fault by switching the camera all the way to AEL instead of simply "on." Overall, I think I prefer manual cameras and its a pity this lens will not operate on a non-AF Contax body. There may be be better AF bodies out there but no one can touch Zeiss optics when it comes to zooms.

Customer Service

Have not yet tried it.

Similar Products Used:

Zeiss G2 system, Nikon Manual Ais lenses, Zeiss 70-210mm AF.

Good optics and useful zoom range in my daily hiking. Some people may think it too big, but I like this kind of lens. The lens hood is free of charge, but not the other N lenses.

see summary

One day I used this lens with tripod and took photo for a object on the floor. I found the zoom easily extending by gravity pull. I guess it may be due to the heavy front lens elements or zoom tubes are not tightly fitted. Anyway, not a big deal. Price is a carl zeiss standard, of course more expensive than other brand's similar products.

Customer Service

Nil

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Nikon AF 24-120mm and Pentax FA 24-90mm.

Nothing sharper

None

The old rule of thumb saying prime lenses have a much sharper image than a zoom is dead. I am so excited that I went with the Contax over the Nikon and Canon. Most of my photography is people (Weddings, ext). As a matter of fact even though this lens is set up for 35mm I find it hard to notice much of a difference in sharpness from my Contax 645 to the N1 with this lens. I have never seen an image as sharp as this one in a 35mm zoom. Yes, the price is a bit more, but lets face it. If you are shooting professionally what is a few hundred dollars difference between Zeiss lenses and Nikon or Cannon. The return on investment is my far worth the extra money. Especially when you will recover the cost of the lens after just one shoot any way. If you need a sharp zoom wide to mid telephoto range this lenses is it, end of story!

See Above

See Above

I have used this lens for about 7-8 months. This is the third Contax machine of mine, namely after purchasing the T3 and the G2. Good optics! After going to a trip to the Hokkaido of Japan, I show the photos to my friends who are also photographers, they said the color looked like as if they were shot by slides! (while indeed I am using Reala, stepped down to 64) But of course I also have some complaints for the lens: 1. It''''s huge! especially for the diameter 2. When I compare the pictures taken by my G2 fixed lenses, I find G2 lenses are A LOT better (Remarks: A LOT!). The color is not as saturated and pleasing as G pictures 3. Although the distortion at 24mm is not bad at all, but when I compared that to a G-21, the 21 handles distortion better! 4. AF is slow, and it tends to hesitate a lot around the correct focus point. And it''''s not always correct! When I used Nikon AF-D and AF-S lenses, it was not a matter to shoot from a moving train, but I cannot do that anymore with this lens. Despite the disadvantages I have mentioned, the color is still good, and it is sharp! if you expect a high quality zoom, or a versitile (?) lens for most situtations, or if you are expecting the first N-mounted lens , I think this is the one.

Customer Service

Not yet

Similar Products Used:

same range: Nikon 28-105, Nikon AF-S 28-70; same brand: Contax G-mounted 21,28,45,90

Superb optics in a convenient zoom range, full time manual focus override of the autofocus system, excellent manual focus feel.

Slowish aperture range for the price.

We bought this lens and an NX camera to upgrade my wife''s Canon FD system (A1). She wanted something that was easy to manually focus and would allow faster work when necessary. This camera and lens suits her needs nicely. The manual focus is very nice with good tactile feedback and the auto focus is there when needed. There is no need to switch between manual and auto focus with this lens. The lens is a bit heavy but not too bad and feels good in her hands. The zoom creeps just a tiny bit when pointed vertically. Optically, there is not much to quibble about. The lens is very sharp, even wide open, at any focal length and compares very well to my fixed focal length MM/AE lenses. Color is on the warm side and flare is very well controlled. Distortion at 24 mm is very well controlled, also. You have to look very closely to see it in a picture of a brick wall. At other focal lengths distortion is essentially absent. Lateral color (chromatic abberation) at 24 mm is completely absent, an outstanding performance. At 85 mm there is just a hint of lateral color on the edge of the field under extreme side lighting. In closeup work like portraiture, the 85 end works extremely well. Slides taken wide open and at f/8 (with flash) were essentially indistinguishable as far as resolution under a 15X microscope. The wide open slides may have been the slightest bit sharper. Closeups at the other focal lengths were also very sharp and contrasty. Color saturation and contrast are exceptional, even for a Zeiss lens. In all, this is an excellent lens and an outstanding zoom lens. My tests were done using the NX camera, tripod and flash where appropriate. Film was Velvia shot at ISO 50. Slides were evaluated with 5X and 10X loupes on a balanced light box and under a 15X microscope.

Customer Service

NA

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Contax/Zeiss fixed lenses, Canon FD and AF lenses

- Excellent build quality - Fast and quite auto-focusing. - Sharpest images in its class. (Test report and expreience showed best performance for this lens is a f/8 for all focal length.) - Great performace at all aperture and focal range.

- Lens creep. - 82mm filter size. - slow (small aperture) for its size and price. - image is a little soft at edges when the aperture is wide open (true for all lenses anyway.)

Both of the Contax 24-85mm and 70-300mm zoom are come with USM. The USM move the massive glasses quickly and silently. The manual focus rings have the right amount of tension. Distortion is minimal. The resolution is very very fine, with excellent color and contrast images. I made a lot of 8x10 B&W prints, and up to 16x20 color prints. And their images hold up very well in 35mm standard. In many occasions people asked me if I used medium format negative to make these prints. Need I say more. In chromes, pairing with the N1, this lens produce very crisp, sharp, accurate and excellent color slides. No need to bracket, except +1/3 stop for insurance.

Customer Service

No needed yet. But I may send mind in to fix the lens creep.

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Various Nikon and Canon lenes. Plus a handfull of after market lenses.

Tack Sharp, great color rendition, solid build, beautiful machine/industrial design (hey I like that kind of thing)

Zoom is external, but that's the price one pays for a compact zoom.

I bought this with an N1 body as a package for that price so take that for what its worth. But I've not regretted the purchase yet! The camera rocks, but this is about the lens.

Nice and tight would be the short way to describe it. But versatile, flexible, attractive would be others. The images are sharp edge to edge from the 24 to the 85. Too bad this isn't a fixed F2.8 like the canon/nikon couterparts, but for these images, I'll live. Boy will I!

I shot a picture of my monitor from about two feet away, at the 85mm setting. Using 100 speed film, I was only able to get about 1/6 second exposure. But still took the picture for kicks. Well, this is one amazing hand held picture - you can see EVERY PIXEL! Outdoor, it rendered sunset photos beautifully, indoors, it creates a warm-neutral image that I've never seen in canon/nikon glass before. Images that looked flat in comparison from Nikon D lenses shot with this lens seem more lively.

It is largish, heck, the filter alone being this large cost $130! But, I have large hands so it hasn't been an issue. But for fun, I tried to get my son to use it and his 3 year old hands together had a hard time spinning the zoom ring. So the moral of this story, go and try the camera/lens combo first. It may be too large for you. But, and this is the important part, if it isn't, BUY THIS! You won't regret it for a moment.

Customer Service

Not yet needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 28-70afs, Canon 28-70L

Optical Quality, Superb color rendition, Manual focus easy, Synch with flash at every focal point

Large Lens in size, 82mm
Expensive Filters

Being primarily a Leica M (rangefinder) shooter and going to a zoom is a huge difference, so my review is in the context of a zoom lens. This lens is extremely sharp for a zoom. Yet I would not rate it on a parallel with the Leica 35/2.0 ASPH, 75/1.4 or the Leica 90 APO/ASPH. To be fair, you cannot compare what are arguably the best primes in the world with a zoom.

What this lens does have is great color saturation, gradation, tones and bokeh. The colors are beautiful with excellent sharpness. The bokeh (out of focus areas) are quite satisfying yet different from Leica. In my view it is a far superior lens in virtually every respect than a Minolta 100/2.5 prime macro that was rated 4.5 by Photodo.com. I would rate it equivalent or better to the best zooms I have used, comparable to various high-end primes by Nikon and Minolta. The lens is really exceptional at 50mm and above where its dimensional characteristics come to life. This plus the magnificent colors really make it top rate at these focal points.

I like the idea of a 24mm-85mm lens, because it gives you a lot of latitude with one lens. Although this lens is expensive it is worth the money, especially when on the N1. Whatever Zeiss does to make the colors come alive- it works!

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Leica M, Nikon, Minolta