Just how good is the Olympus E-PL2 plus Zeiss 18mm?

I really want this combination to be good. It looks simply stunning to me. It also handles and feels great in the hand. Even the fact that its a manual focus lens isn't that much of a problem, with the improved layout of the E-PL and the excellent VF-2 electronic viewfinder. Its one of those combinations I want to pick up and use. But do the results match its looks?



The short answer is yes, just about. The lens is great, there's no question of that. It produced beautifully sharp images on my Leica M9, apart from problems with vignetting and colour casts. Since I'm going to be using one lens only on the Leica this is surplus to requirements. At least it was until I put it on the E-PL2 a few days ago and was immediately seduced by its looks on that camera. I know that shouldn't matter, but it does.

The Olympus sensor, is well, an Olympus sensor! Its got a bit too much luminance noise at ISO 200 for my liking and the colour is somewhat muted compared to a Leica M9 or Fuji X100. The Zeiss produces very nice looking files on it however. Somewhat surprisingly the lens seems to be sharpest wide open at f/4. Not something you encounter every day. f/4 isn't particularly fast but this lens at f/4 on m4/3 produces a similar result to a 35mm lens at f/8 on 35mm. A classic focal lens and aperture setting. So worth pursuing with. Particularly since no one seems to be inclined to buy it at the price I have it on ebay, and I guess if I don't use this combination to take many pictures I can always just look at it!

All following images shot at f/4.

"Focus free photography" with Olympus E-PL2 and Zeiss 18mm

Using the hyperfocal distance or zone focusing with the Zeiss 18mm lens produces an incredible amount of depth of field. At f/8 everything from 2.5 feet to infinity will look in focus.

Here's how it works.

Using this technique its possible to just set the lens and shoot away without refocusing. 

All of the above were shot using this technique with the lens set to either f/8, f/11 or f/16. 

There's a couple of things to remember. Firstly you probably won't get your primary subject in sharp focus. This "zone focusing" produces "acceptable" focus. The sharper the lens the more the difference between the actual point of focus and this acceptable zone. Secondly not all lenses have the infinity marker set at infinity. Its assumed that m-mount lenses like Leica and Zeiss do have this accurately set, however thats not the case. Also when using an adapter this can move it. In the case of the Zeiss when moving the focusing ring all the way round until the infinity mark is at infinity and won't move any more it is slightly "beyond" infinity when using the adapter. However there is a lot of latitude with this lens.

This technique is used extensively in both street photography and landscape photography. I used to use it all the time when shooting film with manual focus prime lenses. Its also a something that photographers who use rangefinder cameras like Leicas employ a lot, as it saves having to re-focus for every shot. For hand holding and walking about it works best with wide-angle lenses (its useless for telephotos) and obviously good light helps as you generally want as small an aperture as possible. 

Just as a final note, focusing with the Zeiss using the magnification feature on the Olympus isn't easy. Wide angles in general make it very difficult to see when you are in sharp focus unless you use the widest f-stop. This can result in a very time consuming and fiddly process. This zone focusing is much easier and results in virtually focus free photography. However its not 100% infallible and not every image works.

On a different note the Zeiss on the E-PL2 plus leather case is a very aesthetic combination. It looks great and also feels great. So to finish a bit more camera porn.

Leica M9 in the Cotswolds

Leica M9 90mm f/2.5



Leica M9 90mm f/2.5



Leica M9 Zeiss 18mm f/4



Leica M9 Zeiss 18mm f/4





As ever lovely sharp images with beautiful colour. And as ever I look at the pictures on the screen and wonder why I ever use anything else. I know there are the dust spots (building up again) the lack of AF, no long lenses, no close-ups, vignetting and colour casts on the wide-angles and I do use it less than I should because I get put off by all of that. However when I'm using it its incredibly enjoyable and I definitely think more about what I'm taking and slow the whole process down. 


Being a stock / library photographer for so long has put me into the mind set that I might somehow miss a classic best-seller if I'm not ready and able to shoot anything at a moments notice. However when I actually look at the images that have earned me the most money, they could have all been taken with a 10x8 plate camera, and its actually very rare that I sell a motor-driven, fast AF, instant reaction shot. 


There is also the fact that Leica pictures do take longer to edit, with the dust spot removal and the lens corrections. One of the reasons I've always liked m4/3 is the speed I get through editing the images. However I do like to linger over a Leica shot.


There is an answer to this. Use the Leica and take less and take better. If I can just get the cover it from all angles with all focal lengths, stock shooter sensibility out of my head then it might work. As I've said on many occasions, my favourite photo shoots are with one camera and one lens.


When I started serious photography and began to sell pictures via picture libraries I did work quite slowly and simply, often with a medium-format camera. I then got involved with studio portrait work, performing arts, events, commercial photography and weddings and everything became faster, more complicated and more gear driven. My intention this year was to scale all of this back and return more to the photography I love most of all, outdoors with the opportunity to take my time. For that the M9 comes into its own. 


Its pretty obvious what I should do, but somehow it doesn't seem to register with me. One day it will.


Words - David
Images - David and Ann

Zeiss 18mm f/4 Distagon

It probably comes as no great surprise that a Zeiss lens on a  Leica M9 body takes great pictures. There would be something wrong if it didn't. The 18mm f/4 Distagon is a superb lens. I liked the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 I had but this is sharper, with a great colour rendition. 








I tried zone focusing with it, using the depth of field scale, and it did work. Infinity is Infinity on this lens so the depth of field markers are accurate. However with lenses such as this the point of focus is so sharp that I prefer to focus on my main subject rather than just let the depth of field have everything more or less in focus. There's a couple of articles on this below.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field


http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps%20how%20zone%20focus.html








All of the raw files for these pictures were run through Cornerfix, which sorted out the vignetting. 





For me an M-Mount lens is just as liable to get used on a m4/3 camera as on my Leica. Trying it on my GH2 it was again very impressive. These below were tripod mounted shots at f/11 and the originals are very sharp indeed. The colours are absolutely spot on as well.

















Even at this small web size you should be able to see just how sharp this lens is in this last picture. Also its ability to render the various shades of green.


I also took some shots outdoors with the lens set wide open at f/4. 

















Again, even at these small sizes the definition in these shots should be apparent. f/4 is not a particularly fast aperture, but the wide open performance was still very impressive. It was sharp across the frame which is not always the case with wide-angle lenses like this.


So another excellent Zeiss lens. I was pleased with it because my last experience with a Zeiss 18mm wasn't so good.





The 18mm Distagon SLR lens that I used in my Nikon and Canon DSLR's and m4/3 was a very disappointing lens. I bought it despite reading quite a few negative reviews and after using it for a while wished I'd taken more notice of them. It did produce quite soft results, and had very poor edge definition even when stopped down.


This time the reviews I read of the 18mm M-mount were much more positive, and the lens has proved to be as good as they say. 


I first encountered Zeiss lenses some years ago when I used a Contax film camera. With only the one exception I have found them to be excellent. This 18mm Distagon is one of the best.


I'm pleased with it because of the difficulties I've had finding a really good wide angle lens. Many I've used have performed well stopped down or had good centre performance but have proved less good wide open or sharp across the frame.


One example of this is the Pentax 15mm f/4 limited lens I have for my Pentax K-5. While it gives excellent results stopped down, at f/4 its very soft at the edges, while being sharp at its centre. For some pictures that often doesn't matter but it can be a problem.








I do like the lens, and it has a really nice colour rendition, but getting a wide-angle right, even with a prime lens doesn't seem to be as simple as you would think. However Zeiss have done a good job with the 18mm f/4 Distagon.


Words - David
Images- David and Ann

Leica M9 Zeiss 18mm f/4 Distagon Zhou Half-Leather case

ZEISS 18mm f/4 DISTAGON


I've been looking around for a wide-angle for the M9 that would double up as a semi-wide for m4/3 and eventually settled for the Zeiss. The Leicas were just too expensive. I have used the Voigtlander 15mm previously but the Zeiss seemed the better option, giving 36mm on m4/3, which is very close to my favourite 35mm focal length.


It has the usual Zeiss, jaw-dropping sharpness, but suffers from the same vignetting and magenta cast problem that many wide-angles seem to have on the M9. However the free Cornerfix software fixes the raw files for Vignetting and creates new ones, and a few seconds in Photoshop fixes whats left of the Magenta cast. Not ideal, and further proof that Leica owners do "tolerate" a lot, but in the end its a small thing and the images are certainly impressive when processed. I'll post some samples when it stops raining!





ZHOU HALF-LEATHER CASE


I've been looking for a half-leather case for the Leica for some time to give it a bit more protection. After giving up on trying to order from some mustachioed Italian and his appalling website, who never answered any of my four emails, I got a Zhou one on ebay. Its taken two weeks to get here from Shanghai, and cosmetically its a little rough, but its very well made with good leather and fits the M9 beautifully. Its also 1/5th of the price of the Italian one and will do the job just as well.