Reader feedback on Zeiss Lenses

Reader John Giolas writes:

Shot 1300 plus frames while recently in the U.K. -- this one with the Zeiss 21mm mounted on a D3S. Shot straight into the sun, it's amazing how the image holds together with no flare or other deleterious anomalies. Since I bought the lens on your recommendation, I immediately thought of you as the image popped up in Lightroom as I was downloading the images shot that day.

This next shot was taken with the Zeiss 100mm f/2 Makro-Planar— also purchased on your recommendation.

As both a professional and an artist, I value accurate information. But perhaps of more value is your perspicacity -- experience as a photographer that creates a very broad and deep context to what you write. Most of all, you provide your readers with a service all but lost in modern journalism: unadorned insight into your actual opinions.

Thanks for all you do.

DIGLLOYD: Thank you John.

The Zeiss optics are consistently excellent regardless of focal length, with the 21/2.8 Distagon, 35/1.4 Distagon, 100/2 Makro Planar the standouts of the line. I recently shot the Nikon 28-300, and while it might satisfy some, to my eye it’s a dull turd lacking in brilliance but compensating with its wide zoom range for the times one must have that. But for those needing autofocus, the Nikon 24/35/50/85 f/1.4G lenses are top notch, as are Canon’s fast primes, though different in character from the Zeiss primes— a matter of taste to some degree. And while I rarely shoot zooms except when the situation calls for rapid changes, the Nikon 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 are also excellent.