Over the years what struck me as most impressive about the Contax 18mm is its distortion correction. Compared to the 21mm F2.8 Distagon and the 28mm F2.8 Distagon, the 18mm Distagon has less visible distortion to my eye. The other impressive characteristic is the 18mm Distagon’s near focus abilities. From a creative standpoint, I like to focus on near subjects, so the Contax 18mm floating element is an important consideration (for my needs).

The 18mm Distagon colors are pure Zeiss with the electric sky blues and vibrant contrasts. With the 1Ds Mark III’s 14-bit file format, the subsequent 16 bits TIFF can be stretched, twisted and pushed to extremes in Photoshop. I do not use a polarizer on the 18mm Distagon because polarizers tend to effect half the frame but not the other half (as much) with focal lengths wider than 24mm. Also, the Contax 70-86 adapter ring rotates as the lens is focused, so using a polarizer would be tedious.

ADAPTERS FOR CANON EF AND EF-S BODIES

Reports concerning the Canon 5D & 5D Mark II and 18mm F4 Distagon have been mixed. Some owners experienced clearance issues with the rear element and mirror. The most likely cause is the Distagon’s rear glass protruding to far into the Canon 5D’s mirror box (regardless of adapter thickness). While some say the 18mm will not work with the Canon 5D, others report the 18mm Distagon does indeed work on a 5D. It may take some experimentation on your part to find the right mix of body, lens and adapter.

The AE version appears more likely to work than MM version because the older AE version has a different type of retaining ring on the rear element (see the last product shot on this page). The AE’s retaining ring is angled, thus allowing more room for the mirror to clear as it swings past the rear element. Whereas the MM version has a low profile ring and the rear element actually sticks out past the ring (the element is convex). In fact, the rear element on the MM version could be damaged (scratched) by a mirror strike.

Note - For the Canon 1Ds bodies and the 1.6x sensor-sized bodies, there have not been any issues.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

18mm is a dramatic focal length. Shooting with the lens pointed slightly towards the sky produces a feel of the clouds racing across the sky and spreading out across a vast area. If the lens is held level with the horizon, then sweeping wide angle views with a huge field of view. I like to shoot low with the lens angled upwards, this picks up some of the foreground and gives the viewer sense of being right there.

The 18mm Distagon is a good wide angle prime. The corners are better than those from Canon 16-35L II. Wide open (F4) can be soft and the lens seems happiest when the subject is 5 feet or further away. I have tried focusing on subjects 2 feet away and results have been mixed because “seeing” focus is difficult with such a wide lens. Live view helps immensely. I love the 18mm’s build quality and enjoy using the lens. Its compact size makes it is easy to carry and takes up little bag-space, unlike the Zeiss 21mm Distagon.

The 18mm Distagons typically sell for ~$600 USD. Add an adapter, 70-86 Ring and #1 Metal Hood and the lens can get a bit pricey, especially for a used lens. Zeiss now sells the Zeiss 18mm F3.5 Distagon ZE for the Canon mount. It is more expensive, but is a native Canon mount lens with auto aperture, full EXIF, focus confirmation and no clearance issues on a Canon 5D and 5D Mark II. Optically the new Zeiss ZE is slightly better, but not as compact. I prefer the original Contax 18mm Distagon, but that’s me.