Brand name lenses?

[delhi]

Just wondering what are your thoughts that these days alot of the 'other' brand cameras sport branded name lenses like Carl Zeiss, Leica, Zuicko etc. Does a Zeiss lens that come with Sony camera means it's better than our Canon stuff? or even Sigma/Tammy?

[crn3371]

I can't speak for a particular lens/camera, but I would guess that just as there are varying degrees of quality between Canon lenses, so too are there degrees of quality in the other brands. Are they better than Canon lenses? Unless you're comparing two identical lenses it would be pretty hard to determine. Like comparing apples to oranges.

[coreypolis]

the P&S market started to advertise lenses using leica and zeiss, schneider etc. that can be a vast improvement over previous plastic or low quality glass lenses, but most if not all are still inferior lenses to a decent slr lens. They are still capable of taking good pictures, but when you look at a credit card size camera with internal optical zoom that happens to be a zeiss piece of glass, don't worry, you're still ahead of that genre

[sapearl]

I've used Zeiss medium format lenses for some years, and coming up from a brand that was slightly less in quality, I can say they are superb. Overall construction, anti-reflective optical coatings, ability to deal with lens flare - all of these were real stand out points on the Zeiss optics. The build quality is top notch.

The only current Canon lens I use now is the 24 - 105mm f4 L. I find it to be a superb lens also. But to put it side by side with one of my medium format Zeiss beasts - that would be a difficult comparison to make.

In addition to the high build quality of Zeiss lenses on higher end cameras, there are also certain optical formulas they developed decades ago which would be hard to improve upon today.

Just wondering what are your thoughts that these days alot of the 'other' brand cameras sport branded name lenses like Carl Zeiss, Leica, Zuicko etc. Does a Zeiss lens that come with Sony camera means it's better than our Canon stuff? or even Sigma/Tammy?

[coreypolis]

I've used Zeiss medium format lenses for some years, and coming up from a brand that was slightly less in quality, I can say they are superb. Overall construction, anti-reflective optical coatings, ability to deal with lens flare - all of these were real stand out points on the Zeiss optics. The build quality is top notch.

The only current Canon lens I use now is the 24 - 105mm f4 L. I find it to be a superb lens also. But to put it side by side with one of my medium format Zeiss beasts - that would be a difficult comparison to make.

In addition to the high build quality of Zeiss lenses on higher end cameras, there are also certain optical formulas they developed decades ago which would be hard to improve upon today.

thrue zeiss and leica etc are 2nd to none, I think he was more talkign about the little digi cams sporting the big names on them.

[Andy_T]

Well,

there are the Zeiss and Leica lenses that run in the $1000-3000 price range (per lens) and those that are part of 300$ digicams.

Honestly, what do you think?

Best regards,
Andy

[sapearl]

Well, they would never truly compare to most found in the high end cameras, but some are actually reasonably produced and do a fair job. Computer aided designs have brought some very good lens expertise to the industry in the past 20 years.

Which inexpensive cameras and lenses would be good bets? Hard to say. You'd just have to study the reviews and look at test results. Fact is though, the cheap cameras and lenses of today are generally much better in quality than those of the past. - Stu

Well,

there are the Zeiss and Leica lenses that run in the $1000-3000 price range (per lens) and those that are part of 300$ digicams.

Honestly, what do you think?

Best regards,
Andy

[Dorman]

Comparing SLR lense and P&S lenses is rather pointless. Good SLR lenses coupled with a great processor will produce better images than a P&S in any capacity. Now, when comparing various P&S and "prosumer" long zoom cameras there is quite a difference.

Some have cheap plastic lenses, while others have Leica and Zeiss. Speaking from alot of hands on experience the Zeiss lenses found in the Sony H-2, H-5, R1, and even the gaumet of their more compact cameras deliver excellent image quality.

[xepherys]

Dorman pretty much hit it on the head. From a P&S perspective, a Zeiss lens on Sony digicams really doesn't mean much compared to a Canon lens on your DSLR body. It's optically not a hugely high quality lens. Same with Kodak and the Schneider lenses. *shrug*

[delhi]

actually i was refering to say the new Samsung dSLR's that comes with schneider lens, or the Zuicko glass with the Oly lenses. And I am sure Sony's dslr will be Zeiss glass too. THen all of a sudden these new players will come with perhaps better lens than regular Canon/Nikon/Sigma/Tamron offerings right?

[sapearl]

Well, as we all know from past experience, it's not just the glass that makes the camera. If the ergonomics are poor, the design bad, components shoddy and buffer slow then all the great glass in the world won't make for a "great" camera. ;) - Stu

......THen all of a sudden these new players will come with perhaps better lens than regular Canon/Nikon/Sigma/Tamron offerings right?

[tiha]

"The Leica DC lenses are manufactured using measurement instruments and quality assurance systems that have been certified by Leica Camera AG based on the company's quality standards."

This is an excerpt from article at: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/LeicaLensExplained

IMHO it's just a marketing trick - Panasonic makes those lenses and Leica only certifies them. I've read somewhere similar story about Zeiss glass on Sony cameras.

[xepherys]

AFAIK that is the case regarding Zeiss glass on Sony digicams. Also, remember that even in those four listed, Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Tamron, quality differs from lens to lens. Even two Canon "L" series lenses may not be equal in quality. Then there are some Canon non-"L" that are damned near, if not, as good as some "L"'s. With optics, it's a crap shoot. And that optics, not just cameras and lenses. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A (very short) story I like to tell is about a BEAUTIFUL art photo in my mother-in-laws living room. It's a black and white wide-format photo of a castle in Germany where their family stayed a while back on vacation. It's an absolutely stunning image and was taken with a disposable 35mm film camera. You just never know what'll make a good picture and what won't until it's all sitting in front of you.

[farrukh]

An experienced EX-photographer currently he is distributer of Sigma and Leica in Pakistan said that Japanese lenses can't compete with Germans. it doesnt mean that Japanese can't make them but then manufecturing cost becomes too high, so thats why Lieca MF lenses are so expensive. And they are used for sophisticated work.

[sapearl]

Again it proves that while paint and brush are certainly important tools of the artist, it is the hand and eye of the artist that have final say 8) .

..... It's an absolutely stunning image and was taken with a disposable 35mm film camera. You just never know what'll make a good picture and what won't until it's all sitting in front of you.

[condyk]

I've had a number of Panasonic P&S models, including the FZ5 and FZ20, with Leica lenses and they are very good, but the results cannot at all compare with the results I get with a DSLR.

[Dorman]

The new Sony DSLR, the "Alpha", will have two line-ups of lenses. One series will be "Sony" lenses, basically re-branded Konica Minolta lenses, and other line-up will be true Zeiss DSLR lenses. The camera will also use the Minolta mount and will therefore be backwards compatible with previous K.M. lenses.

The Alpha looks promising, it's modeled after the Maxxum series body with some new twists thrown in, and of course Sony sensors and guts (Yes your Canon bodies and many other manufacturers use Sony sensors). I'm excited to give it a test run, and I'm sure that I'll sell quite a few. Will I be giving up my Canon gear? Not in the forseeable future.

There are lots of great P&S and mega-zoom prosumer cam's with really decent glass for their applications. Would they benefit from "L", Zeiss, or Leica SLR quality glass? I'm doubtful you'd see much of a difference as the raw performance of these cameras can't possibly compare to a DSLR.

[tiha]

The Alpha looks promising, it's modeled after the Maxxum series body with some new twists thrown in, and of course Sony sensors and guts (Yes your Canon bodies and many other manufacturers use Sony sensors).
Canon DSLR bodies use Canon CMOS sensors, which are better than larger Sony CCD sensors used in e.g. Nikon DSLR bodies. Only Canon P&S cameras use Sony CCD sensors.

[Dorman]

Canon DSLR bodies use Canon CMOS sensors, which are better than larger Sony CCD sensors used in e.g. Nikon DSLR bodies. Only Canon P&S cameras use Sony CCD sensors.

I stand corrected, I knew for sure that P&S had the Sony CCD's, but I thought some DSLR's also used CMOS sensors made by Sony. Thanks for the correction Condyk. Other than that I still think my point is valid. :)

[Andy_T]

The new Sony DSLR, the "Alpha", will have two line-ups of lenses. One series will be "Sony" lenses, basically re-branded Konica Minolta lenses, and other line-up will be true Zeiss DSLR lenses.

Will that be Zeiss Zeiss lenses or Sony Zeiss lenses :wink: ?

So far, I haven't heard that Zeiss had plans to start making lenses in the Konika/Minolta mount.

Best regards,
Andy