I realize I haven't posted anything here in a while, but have been shooting with the Df a lot. I sold off a bunch of good and mediocre lenses and now have three GREAT ones at the wide end. Zeiss 21 (I know, I had one, returned it for the Nikon 20 f1.8, then changed my mind yet AGAIN, and returned it and found a better deal on another used 21), Zeiss 25 f2.8, and Zeiss 35 f2.0. All bought used, the 21 still cost a boatload of money, but the 25 and 35 were both well within the bounds of what I'd ordinarily spend on lenses. The only AF wide angle I still have is the Nikon 24 f2.8 because it's so tiny, didn't cost much, and really puts the Df into a minimalist configuration. But the 25, which is actually closer to 26, is a really good all purposes wide angle and eliminates the mental gyrations I sometimes go through choosing between 24 and 28. The 21 handles the really wide stuff and is the best lens in the history of the world. Well, really REALLY good at least! And the 35 is frighteningly close to the 35 on the RX1, which was the best lens in the history of the world until I'd used the 21. I'm gonna do some back to back comparisons, but if it lives up to my early experience with it, the RX1 might be on the way out.
I walked all over the Amalfi Coast in the summer of 2013 with nearly these same three focal lengths with the RX1 at 35, the Nikon A at 28, and a Fuji XE1 with the 14mm at 21. It's a trio that covers almost everything I use except for the very rare outing with a longer lens. I had a longer lens that summer and I shot some with it from the apartments where we were staying, but I'm not sure it ever actually left home with me... So this is a trio that I can do nearly everything with. And now I've got it in three thoroughly amazing and wonderful lenses. I'm fine, it turns out, with MF at the wider focal lengths. I wish I was also with stuff in the 85-150 range, but I'm not for what I mostly use those lengths for. I've shot some stuff with the 135 AI I've got and it's a great little lens for the bag when I'm out and about, but when I'm trying to shoot friends and family at get togethers in lower light, I find I'm just not quick enough with it unless people are posing, and that's not what I'm after. So I'm not buying any of the amazing Zeiss lenses in those focal lengths, which is good because that's some REALLY expensive glass - more than the 21, which is probably as much as I've ever spent for a lens and I got a
relatively inexpensive used one. Anyway, I'm good with the Df and these three wide primes in the Ona Bowery which is a great way to spend a day out. So I've consolidated a lot but I'm ending up with real quality glass in the focal lengths I use most...
Anyway, here are a few catch up shots since I last posted anything here. I've posted most elsewhere, but I figure I should add some to this thread as well. All with that Zeiss glass, mostly the 25, which is destined to be my most used lens I guarantee it:
This one went a little crazy on Flickr - the most popular shot I've ever posted there:
John Heinz Wetland area by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Stroud in the Fog by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Autumn Colors by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Philly Zeiss-401-Edit by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Philly Zeiss-146-Edit by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Stroud in Fog by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
These last two are the 21mm:
Autumn Sunset by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
Autumn Sunset by
ramboorider1, on Flickr
-Ray