It's a rainy day (Sony Alpha 7S first test)

F

Filippo Chiesa

Well-known member
I filmed this short test with my new Sony Alpha 7S in a park near my studio (one hour in the rain).
I also used an old Carl Zeiss Jena lens with a TS adapter.


Camera: Sony Alpha 7S (S-Log)
Lens: Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm f/2.8
TS adapter: Arax

https://vimeo.com/102080454
 
Your CZJ 180 looks a lot better than the one I bought. Mine was relatively soft and the bokeh was actually pretty bad, very far from what I expected from such a renowned design (I ended up selling the 180 and keeping the 300, which is not sharp either but at least has decent bokeh, plus it's just a gorgeous piece of kit to look at, and like yours also a piece of History, same optical design as the 1936 Olympia).
 
Samuel H said:
Your CZJ 180 looks a lot better than the one I bought. Mine was relatively soft and the bokeh was actually pretty bad, very far from what I expected from such a renowned design (I ended up selling the 180 and keeping the 300, which is not sharp either but at least has decent bokeh, plus it's just a gorgeous piece of kit to look at, and like yours also a piece of History, same optical design as the 1936 Olympia).
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I used the an older 180 mm 2.8 called "Zebra", made from 1963 to 1967.
The newer multicoated Zeiss Jena lenses, marked “MC”, are not as good as the “Zebra”.
Do you own a "Zebra"?
 
The 180 Zebra is very nice. I ended up getting a Nikkor 180/2.8 ED ais, and this one:
Leica Elmarit-r 135/2.8 APS-C mode S-Log R11 Filmconvert
rRw7SDN.png
 
Nice images Filippo, and nice lenses.....off topic but Squig how are you handling audio in Resolve - doesn't seem to like Xavc?
 
ade4all said:
Nice images Filippo, and nice lenses.....off topic but Squig how are you handling audio in Resolve - doesn't seem to like Xavc?
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I haven't actually cut anything in resolve, just doing some grading tests. If R11 doesn't like the XAVC audio you could split the files in another app.
 
Yes, mine was a zebra, definitely not multicoated, but made in 1970 according to some s/n list that I checked at ehe moment. I guess it was somehow damaged because it didn't stand up to its reputation by a long shot :(

The 300/4 is the black model from 1974, and it's so big and heavy and awkward that I haven't yet used it for anything but tests. And for lens porn, of course:
198999_1812270459043_2983187_n.jpg
 
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(I did cheat a bit, that's the 180mm at its shortest and with no shade or adapter, vs the 300mm at its longest and with the shade and the canon adapter)
 
Old glass is always a lottery. It must have some glass separation or a decentered element or something like that. Not mine anymore, and I just lost around $50 for the priviledge of testing it.
 
squig said:
Every individual lens is different. My Tokina 28-70 is soft, everyone I know loves theirs.
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It should not be, especially with new cinema and/or top photographic lenses.
Zebra glasses are old and Zeiss Jena quality check, probably, was not the top notch.
 
There's always variation when they come out of the factory (here here here etc), but on top of that 40 years of use and abuse can have a huge effect

I've had to reassemble a lot of the vintage lenses I bought. The 180mm zebra wouldn't become good enough that way, though: probably separation or a decentered element, which I never tried to repair.
 
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