LENS REVIEW Contax Carl Zeiss T* 18mm F4 Distagon Lens & Canon 1Ds Mark III

LENS REVIEW

Contax Carl Zeiss T* 18mm F4 Distagon Lens & Canon 1Ds Mark III

OVERVIEW

It has been a couple years since owning the Contax 18mm F4 Distagon, so this article is partly based on memory and also based upon two newly purchased 18mm Distagons (used). Looking back, the Contax 18mm was a fine lens and perhaps one of the better wide-angle bargains for full-frame Canon dSLRs. In 2007 Canon updated the 16-35mm F2.8 L wide angle zoom to a “Mark II”, so the rules have changed since 2005. The Canon 16-35mm F2.8 L II does not match the corner performance found in lenses such as the Contax 21mm F2.8 Distagon, or the resolution of the 28mm F2.0 Distagon, but the Canon 16-35mm F2.8 L II does cover the wide angle range well and its corner performance is respectable.

Last summer (2007) the Canon 16-35mm F2.8 L II was my wide angle solution with the Canon 1Ds Mark II. The 16-35L II was partnered with a Contax 28mm F2.0 Distagon (review available here) during a summer vacation to Hawaii (pictures here). The Canon 16-35L II was used for its range and convenience, and when I had time to work with a prime the Contax 28mm found its way onto the 1Ds Mark II. The Canon 16-35L II was fine for the trip, but the images lacked that “something special” look, so the lens was sold shortly after the trip. Fast forward to today (June 2008) and a 18mm F4 Distagon is sitting on the desk. The rest of this review is a blend of past experience with a Canon 1Ds, and current experience with a Canon 1Ds Mark III.

LENS HANDLING

I am a sucker for a nicely made lens and the Contax 18mm Distagon easily falls into that category. It is a compact lens - maybe 1/3 the size of a Canon 16-35L F2.8 II. The picture above shows the 18mm Distagon in front of a Canon 35mm F1.4 L (right) and a Canon 200mm F2.8 L II (left). The 18mm Distagon is a bit larger than a Contax 50mm F1.4 and the Distagon only weighs about 4 ounce more. The 18mm Distagon’s dampening on the focus ring is sublime - perhaps the smoothest focusing Contax lens. And focus ring only requires a light touch - very Leica-esque. In comparison to the Contax 100mm Planar and the Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar, the 18mm focus ring turns very easily. Like all the Contax RTS lenses, the aperture ring clicks in full stop increments. This should be fine for landscapes since most scenes are typically shot at F8 or F11. The 18mm Distagon uses a floating lens element design (commonly referred to as “FLE”). A floating element design improves near field performance - both in terms of sharpness and resolution. If you like shooting wide angle with focus on a very near subject point - then you want a lens with a floating element design - such as the picture above taken at F4 with the Canon 1Ds Mark III.

LENS PERFORMANCE

As the Zeiss description states on the U.K. website, the design is compact, corners are sharp and the distortion correction is excellent. The achilles heal of the lens is its light fall-off in the corners. Light fall-off in the corners is normal and all lenses have it to varying degrees. In the case of the 18mm Distagon the fall off is pronounced when shot wide open (F4). The picture to the left had substantial amounts of fall-off ADDED in Photoshop. In this context the light fall-off helps to highlight the subject. Light fall-off can compromise metering. If metered for the center, then corners are under-exposed. If metered for the corners, then the center is blown out. To be fair, the light fall is not a significant issue at F8 or F11. However, shooting F11 is not always possible such as moving subjects, or in windy conditions, or in low light settings such as a sunset or sunrise. Curiously I’ve found the light fall-off to be less of an issue with the Canon 1Ds Mark III - its metering has been very good with the 18mm Distagon. The image above was taken at F4 and is a good example of a worse case scenario. (Continue to next page)

CONTAX CARL ZEISS T* 18MM F4 DISTAGON