On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 7:50 PM, Graydon <[email protected]> wrote: > On Sat, Feb 21, 2009 at 07:38:42PM -0500, Adam Maas scripsit: >> The Zeiss ZK Makro-Planar 100/2 is probably the best option available. >> Unfortunately it costs more than any 3 other options combined. Which >> is too bad since its worth every penny. > > Ok, _why_ is it worth every penny? > > I've been intermittently tempted by it because I use the FA 100mm macro > a lot. (Whether this is because it's my longest prime or because 100mm > is about the right length for a lot of things like indoor birds at the > zoo is hard for me to determine.) But it is not impossible with Pentax > and Zeiss relative pricing to wind up paying a lot of money for about > the same lens quality, so I'm curious why you say this about the ZK. > > -- Graydon, who figures the odds of a DA* 150/2 macro are lamentably > slight. >
It's incredibly sharp, has great bokeh, great colour, that legendary Zeiss 3D look and is f2. Downsides pretty much come down to it being bloody expensive ($1700 or so), only goes to 1:2 and isn't quite APO corrected. The design is actually related to the 125/2.5 APO-Lanthar Cosina made as a Voigtlander SL lens prior to getting the contract to build the ZF/ZK line for Zeiss. You're pretty much getting the best ~100mm f2 available and one of the best ~100mm macros available all in one package (and it costs less than buying 1 of each). -- M. Adam Maas http://www.mawz.ca Explorations of the City Around Us. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
