After shooting "The Great International Beer Festival" (which is touted to be the largest in the US) I went out to the woods (no not to drink Whiskey) but to get some climbing shooting in on a beautiful day. Much to my surprise the woods were largely empty when I got there. But, such is the way sometimes. (Edit: I didn't actually have any beer at the festival - maybe if I'm not working it next year).

I ended up going back on Sunday afternoon (~2ish) to try out a new lens. I avoid getting into too much technical stuff with this blog, but for this lens I will wax a bit poetic. I am a Zeiss fan but I just don't have the level of interest to want to spend what it takes to get a set of Zeiss ZF (or ZE) lenses. But Zeiss C/Y... now that is a different matter. Similar if not the same optical formulas as the Z series, less aperture blade, but historically good quality.

*note to climbers: technically when you upload a pic to facebook you are giving facebook the license to the image... so officially I discourage the practice. But, that said, if you happen to post something on the facebook give me some link love in the captions. Arigato!*

When Albert at Hunt's mentioned a Zeiss zoom was in the back I was only slightly interested. Afterall, I like Zeiss primes. The 35-70mm F3.4 he brought out is an unassuming lens. Not very fast. Not very big. Push-pull zoom. Short zoom range. I decided to sleep on it.

A bit of nighttime reading (internet research) and phone call to Bill (my uncle and longtime Contax user) later and I was convinced. This was not an ordinary lens. Not only had I not noticed that it was a macro lens, but according to its marketing literature it was extraordinarily sharp at all focal lengths. Rumor had it that it was better than L zoom glass and many primes. It was a short bet to to try it out for myself.

There are a lot of downsides to using this lens. It is a push-pull zoom (like a little vacuum stuck on the camera as it sucks away from the sensor). It isn't sealed. I had to use an adapter that has a touch of wiggle. Stop-down metering is required. Judging focus is fairly difficult with the stock viewfinder. No autofocus - no focus confirm. No super shallow depth of field (I vacillate between liking shallow and super deep depth of field).

What was immediately apparent was this: this lens is sharp. It is bitingly sharp. It's like having a scalpel as your pocket knife. Not the tool for every job but really really sharp. Plus it is built to last. No noticeable zoom creep.

I missed shallow depth of field at times, but when I zoomed in the pictures I was a happy camper. It has been some time since I put a lens on that just clicked for me. From a mounting standpoint this is a lens of compromises. But from a picture taking standpoint this lens was just fun.

I have to admit that shallow depth of field feels like a cop-out at times. You can be lazy and ignore your backgrounds. You can let flare blow out your images for "warmth." Shooting a 3.4 zoom really isn't different (by the numbers) from shooting a el-cheapo kit lens.

Yet, it is different. It is a long time since I even worried about sharpness as a metric. Who cares about sharp as long as the content is good enough. It has to be sharp enough for the intended use, but beyond that does it matter? Heck when shooting portraits I'm often working against sharpness.

So, this lens brings out the worst in me. The gear-head admiration of a cool old piece of technology that still kicks butt when used appropriately.

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Except for the last 2 or 3 pictures which were shot with a 50/1.4 due to lack of light all the images are with the 35-70. The last image is lit by headlamps from the other climbers trying to assist the guy on the rock. Before grabbing photos please read the *note above.