Zeiss 100/2 MP ZF2 for $1K

<p>I have an opportunity to purchase a Zeiss 100mm f/2 ZF2 for $1K - it's in KEH EX+ condition, but no box or papers - just the caps. Good deal or not?</p>

<p>I'd be using it for landscapes, candid portraits, and low light theater-type shots on my D800.</p>

<p>- John</p>

That is an incredible deal, even of it comes without the hood. Even sweeter if it comes with it. (The hood is $100 by itself.

If it doesn't come with one, I'd suggest getting one). That's a good price even for the old ZF, not the ZF.2. For your use,

the .2 is not a critical issue, you really only need it for S and P modes, you're probably doing landscapes in M, theater in

A, portrait in A or M.

 

Caps? I don't use the ones that come with it, because the rear cap is a one position type, like Sigma, and the front one is

a PITA with the hood, so I use a Nikon three position rear and a big Nikon, 72 or 77mm that snaps into the open end of

the hood. I only put a 67mm cap on the lens itself when loaning it out, and I do that very seldom.

 

Killer landscape lens, uniformly sharp across the frame, contrasty. The bokeh is on the pleasant side of "nice", it will do

you fine for both portraits and landscapes. I'd rather have AF for theater, but that's just me. Then again, I pulled out the

Zeiss for some fashion recently, so it can be done.

 

You might consider fitting your D800 with a split image focusing screen.

<p>What is the difference between a "one position" and a "three position" end cap?</p>

<p>I have not succeeded in finding anyone who makes a split image focusing screen for the D800. Do you have any references?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I think Joseph is talking about a rear lens cap that can only fit the lens in one way vs. one that you can rotate by 120 degrees in either direction and can still fit. The latter is a bit easier to use.</p>

<p>Yes, it comes with the original Zeiss caps as well as a Nikon pinch front cap (I have lots of rear caps). It also comes with the original hood. This seller got it from KEH and just did not use it as much as he'd like.<br>

The seller is going to wait a week to see if I want to buy it - I've sold some things to him in the past so we have a bit of a relationship - he'd rather sell it to me than to someone he does not know. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it Just so happens that I just rented the 100/2 MP ZF2 from Lens Rentals last night and it will arrive next week. I'll see if this lens will be a good fit for me first before deciding on purchasing this one.<br>

- John</p>

<p>Go for it. The combination of D800 and 100mm/2 Makro Planar is incredible, and this is a good deal. The lens performs well both at macro and long range distances.</p>

<p>I don't know about the value, but, that is a dream lens for me. Do it for the fun of checking it out and see where it goes from there.</p>

<p>That's an amazing deal. It's one of my best lenses and I have quite a few very good ones. It performs incredibly well on the D800.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It's one of the best, if not the best lens in the Z line, so its a probably a good deal. You have to be happy with MF though.</p>

<p>Yes, I have many great MF Nikkors (and a CV 90/3.5) so it will fit right in on my D800.<br>

The question will be can I MF it accurately enough. With the chip I believe I can AF fine tune it if need be (I'll have to check into that).</p>

<p>Just a word of caution. I read your original post as if you were obtaining this lens from KEH directly and I suspect that some of the replies you received thought the same thing. I see that you later indicate that the lens you are planning to buy is coming from an individual - not directly from KEH.</p>

<p>So while the price for the lens is very attractive, I would be concerned that it is actually too good to be true. Unless you either know the seller or you obtain the lens in person and get to examine it and try it out, I would be very skeptical. I would not send $1k to a stranger to get this lens sight unseen.</p>

<p>If you were buying from KEH directly, it would be a steal as someone else mentioned. But from a stranger? Beware!</p>

<p>Eric -<br>

The seller is well known and we have done business before. I have no worries.<br>

<br />Thanks for the wise words though!</p>

<p>John</p>

<p>John - then in that case, jump on the deal. I own the lens and it is almost indescribable in terms of sharpness, color reproduction and bokeh. I noticed someone above mentioned that he felt that the lens was on the better side of ok. I find it is waaaay on the other side of ok, but of course concepts like out of focus backgrounds are highly subjective.</p>

<p>I use it for macro and portraits, so I don't miss the lack of AF. Never tried it for theater shooting, but I might agree that manually focusing in a darkened theater may be somewhat difficult. I use it on D-3's and there is no split image focusing screen available, so if I am shooting fast moving subjects (or those in dark places), I might choose one of my AF's. </p>

<p>Incidentally, for macro, I like the lenses mounted on a Nikon P-11 extension tube to get closer to 1:1. Prefer the PN-11 tube over generic because it has a tripod collar. </p>

<p> I have even used the lens on my NEX-7 with a Novoflex adapter, but while it does work well, the size of the lens and the adapter sort of mitigate the value of the tiny NEX-7. </p>

<p>Well, I had a few moments yesterday to compare the 100/2 MP, 90/3.5CV, and 105/2.5 AIS on my D800 at infinity distances.<br>

<br />Both the 100/2 and 90/3.5 were very impressive with excellent uniform sharpness and contrast across the frame at all apertures. The 100/2 was really impressive in the fact that at f/2 it's still sharp across the frame from center to extreme corners with just a bit lower resolution than at f/4 or f/5.6. At common apertures the 90/3.5 might have had a slight bit more contrast/detail, but it's very slight if at all.<br>

Both of these lenses, at least regarding sharpness, I would not hesitate to shoot wide open. Both require focusing via live view as the AF confirmation dot is not accurate enough to get full sharpness.<br>

The 105/2.5, though sharp in the center, suffered from generally lower contrast at all apertures, not sharp corners wide open, and far corners that don't quite reach sharp levels even when stopped down. This lens has been my light-ish weight ~100mm go-to landscape lenses over the past few years and now may have been replaced by the 90/3.5CV.<br>

<br />If I can get some sunshine I will be comparing these three for flare/ghosting characteristics.<br>

John</p>

<p>So is there such a thing as a dud copy of a Zeiss lens, and if so, where would one send it to be adjusted?<br>

I'm concerned that even though I'm getting a great price, I might be getting a $1K sub-par copy.<br>

My 100/2 ZF2 from Lens Rentals appears to be stellar right out to the far corners even wide open on my D800 and I'd love to have that kind of performance on the one offered to me for sale.<br>

- John</p>

<p>Well, I ended up not purchasing the 100/2 MP as I could just not justify the $1K at the moment no matter how great a deal it may be. I'll just have to live with my 90/3.5 CV which is just as good optically, it's just not f/2 when you need it to be!</p>