Lens review

Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 35 mm f/2 ZF/ZK/ZS/ZE

4. Image resolution

The resolution of the Zeiss 2/35 was verified on the basis of RAWs which were taken by Nikon D200. Measuring errors amounted less than 1 lpmm for maximum aperture value and decreased progressively to 0.2-0.3 lpmm when stopping down . The graph below shows both central and corner resolution of Zeiss. Let’s firstly examine the central.

Reading this graph Zeiss deserve only for a long applause. We are impressed the results especially at the widest aperture. Hardly a few wide-angle and so fast lenses give such a perfect resolution where MTF reach almost 40 lpmm so pictures are very sharp. Here I want to emphasize that the Zeiss, in some measure, outclass other competitors with the same features (35/2). To match up to Zeiss can only Canon’s L 1.4/35, which on f2 achieves over 40 lpmm (in addition on a Canon 20d which sensor contains less pixels). However, L is more expensive but at f2 it is stopped down for a one unit so aberrations are noticeably decreased.

We can also praise the Zeiss upon results obtained on the corner. On f2 it achieves over 30 lpmm which is extremely high on this level. Sharpness increases progressively on stopping down. In this range none of competitors exceed Zeiss in resolution, even more expensive Canon’s L.

In the ending we show a cutting from our test table, obtained using JPEG and saving with RAWs at once.