SLRLensReview test of Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/1.4

After perhaps reading a not so positive review from LensTip.com, here is a different review by SLRLensReview.com. The conclusion from SLRLensReview is very positive, in particular the color fringing issue highlighted in LensTip.com's review now appears different under the hands of SLRLensReview:

The Imatest measure lateral CA at ~1.5px at f/1.4 around borders and at ~1px through the rest of the aperture settings. It's not too bad, and the CA will be visible only under high magnification. You would also need to deal with occasional longitudinal CA in out of focus areas, which can also be observed in some of the sample shots below, but overall, Distagon performs on par, maybe even slightly better than other 35/1.4 lenses I've tried in the past, and so I would say that the color handling in this lens is top notch.

I wonder if there was a sample discrepancy between the lenses in this review and the previous one. However, I have to say that the CA test at SLRLensReview isn't very extensive, so they might not have teased out as much fringing as LensTip.com did.

Go make your own judgement by following the link below

Links: Review


Edit: Thanks to Markus (from photozone.de) for pointing out my wrong understanding of the two different CA tested by LensTip and SLRLensReview.

To reiterate what Markus points out in the comment. The CA found to be high in LensTip's review is longitudinal CA, the direction transverses to the focus plane, while the CA found to be good in SLRLensReview is lateral CA, the direction in the focus plane. Hence, these are CA in different directions.

Zeiss Distagon 35mm f/1.4 tested at LensTips.com

The Distagon 35/1.4 is a long awaited lens by many. It is a manual focus SLR lens by Zeiss that is expected to excel in optical performance over other auto focus competitors, so lots have high expectation of this lens. However, how does it fare in lab?

LensTips.com says:

...The tested lens is outstandingly sharp in the frame centre and provides useful photos up from the maximum relative aperture but exactly the same was written about the Canon 1.4/35L. When we pass to the frame edge, the cheap Samyang provides better images than the Zeiss. The lateral chromatic aberration is corrected well, but the problem is that the longitudinal CA is a lot higher and it doesn’t present the Zeiss in a favourable light, especially when compared to its rivals. The distortion of the Zeiss is, to tell you the truth, the lowest but the differences between the tested lens and other competitors aren’t huge. Despite being the heaviest and the biggest instrument the Zeiss didn’t fare well in the category of vignetting, losing again to the cheap Samyang or the small Sony. The coma is corrected in a splendid way only on the APS-C/DX sensor, becoming already distinct in the corners of full frame. The work against bright light can’t be praised either as the majority of competitors fared better there....

Go over to LensTips.com to read their full detailed review.

Links: http://lenstip.com/1918-news-Carl_Zeiss_Distagon_T*_35_mm_f_1.4_ZE_ZF.2_-_lens_review.html