[shoplink 40189 ebay]
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Reminder: That limited quantity eBay deal will run out soon. It’s on grey imported Zeiss FE lenses but the savings are big and they come with full US seller warranty. The seller itself is Top Rated at eBay:
$190 off and 3 years US seller warranty on the Zeiss FE 55mm lens on [shoplink 40189 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
$60 off and 1 years US seller warranty on the Zeiss FE 35mm lens on [shoplink 40190 ebay]eBay US (Click here)[/shoplink].
Ken Rockwell: And both lenses got reviewed by Photo blogger Guru and Her majesty 😉 Ken Rockwell. This is what he writes about the Zeiss 55mm FE:
No other 50mm or 50mm f/1.8 lens has anywhere near the optical technology of this lens. It is significantly sharper wide-open than anything from Canon or Nikon. If you’re reading this, just get one. Like a Porsche, there is no substitute.
And this is what he writes about the Zeiss 35mm FE:
The Sony Zeiss FE 2,8/35mm is an optically superb gem,the quality of out-of-focus areas as opposed to the degree of defocus, is superb.No other 35mm f/2.8 lens has anywhere near the optical technology of this lens. It is significantly sharper wide-open than anything from Canon or Nikon.
A and E-mount USA savings ending at midnight: So if you want to buy the lenses today is the last day you get the big E and E-mount savings in USA! A special full overview page can be seen at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here). And those are the FE lens savings in detail and with direct link to three major US stores:
Full Frame E-mount lenses:
$100 off on the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 16-35mm f/4.0 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 70-200mm G lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 24-70mm f/4.0 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the Zeiss 35mm f/2.8 lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 28-70mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$100 off on the 28-135mm PZ lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
$25 off on the 24-240mm lens at Amazon, Adorama and BHphoto.
84 Responses
No other blogger has anywhere near the word play of this man. He is significantly sharper than anything from Huff or Northrup. If you’re reading this, just read more. Like a Porsche, there is no substitute.
he is very funny sometimes and knows how to rile people up. he clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously. his humour and excellent technical knowledge (particularly of Nikon’s entire historical lens and camera lines) is why i keep going back
Does anyone actually care what Rockwell has to say? His “reviews” always seemed to be nothing more than commentary on spec sheets, many of them don’t give the impression that he’s actually used the lens he’s “reviewing.” Look at the sample images from the FE 55, a wide shot, a palm tree and a closeup of a palm trunk.
Worst. Review. Images. Ever.
And it’s two years late. Way to keep up with the times.
Kinda, care, its funny though, after him being so negative toward the A7 series. One area where KR is spot-on though, and reviewers like DigLloyd are 180 degrees off is on camera design and ergonomics trumping MP counts and DR. Rockwell is more photographer on his off day than Lloyd is on his best, yes that’ll piss-off a few people!
I doubt that he actually touched 1/4 of the gear he reviewed !
And he literally begs for money, asking for up to 100 USD a month automatic Paypal donations !!! SHAMELESS.
sometimes he has pictures of his orange children and his weather vane. i think he does childcare most of the time then dials in these reviews from his garden. occasionally he organises photo trips that cover the same area year after year. i’m not even sure he believes he’s a photographer. but his reviews can be quite funny.
Can’t wait for his a7 mark One review.
i trust rockwell, i think he is a little bit snobby, but he had a lot of lenses in his hands over the years, and his review matches with other Datas from DXOmark or lenscore.org.
Hope this lens was just the start for more comming E mount lenses on his Website.
Ken Rockwell is a moron.
Yes, these lenses are stellar and defecate over everything Canikon, but Ken Rockwell is literally the last person in the world to figure that out.
Come on. The 55 is great. But the Nikon 35/1.8G is not bad wide open and pretty good at 2.8, too. The 35/2.8 is small though, but I prefer the 35/1.4 Art, even though it is heavy.
The Nikon is a little sharper but also has more CA (a lot).
At F2.8?
You are comparing different focal lengths?!
No. The article talks of the 55 and 35mm lenses (see above). To the latter I was referring.
“Yes, these lenses are stellar and defecate over everything Canikon…”
BA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was funny.
I actually think Ken is warming up to the A&Rii. At first, as he was building the review, the comments were quite negative. Then he added another paragraph recently with pretty positive comments.
Zeiss makes excellent lenses. Their Canon mount lenses are fantastic
I visit Ken Rockwell’s site for ‘from the left field’ opinions. I’ve leaned to cut through the crap and seek a bit of truth he tries to convey – almost like how supermarket tabloids are the source of information for agents from “Men in Black.” However, he is obnoxious too often and has no tact whatsoever, ending up pissing people off. He could be totally wrong as well, as in the case of urging people to shoot in jpeg only – in those instances, he drops the topic instead altogether, hoping for collective short memories of the readers instead of recanting and facing it like a man. Case against A7 cameras is similar – he initially dismissed them as ‘toys’ but now he says he’s liking it. Anyways, read only for entertainment purposes and don’t take anything seriously, just like you would with a supermarket tabloid.
Oh dear…not Rockwell.
If Rockwell praises it, then it must be crap.
So the Zeiss FE 55mm f/1.8 is crap?
I thought the common knowledge was that Ken doesn’t really know anything and many times reviews lenses that he’s never actually used so whether he praises or bashes a lens you’re usually better off finding another review source to confirm.
Ken’s lens reviews are concise and accurate and when shopping for used older lenses a good source of information if you don’t have the time to digest a long review. His opinions in general can be a mixed bag but he usually hits the mark when it comes to lenses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZtFgsY8qw
hands on test of Zeiss Milvus on a A7rII
I’m not a Lloyd at all, but at least he’s current and actually using the lenses he writes about instead of posting manufacturer images and a few poorly composed samples. Seriously, is there anything about the FE 55 samples that makes you say “I want this lens”
God, no, reviewers are merely that – reviewers. Difference being, at least Rockwell doesn’t call pictures of rocks “erratic studies.” Lloyd is 99% BS, he’s the Obama of the photography reviewers, light on experience, and preaches to his choir.
Well, yes. It’s just a little sterile rendering vs. a vintage or modern ‘art’ prime. I wouldn’t trust Lloyd with ANY critique of a Sony product. The dude is downright hysterically hateful of Sony and Sony owners.
Although I tend to take anything Rockwell says about gear with a large grain of salt, this may be one instance where he’s correct, even if it’s only by coincidence.
Ken Rockwell Facts…
Ken Rockwell is the Chuck Norris of photography
Ken Rockwell’s camera has similar settings to ours, except his are: P[erfect] Av[Awesome Priority Tv[Totally Awesome Priority] M[ajestic]
Ken Rockwell doesn’t color correct. He adjusts your world to match his.
Sure, Ken Rockwell deletes a bad photo or two. Other people call these Pulitzers.
Ken Rockwell doesn’t adjust his DOF, he changes space-time.
Circle of confusion? You might be confused. Ken Rockwell never is.
Ken Rockwell doesn’t wait for the light when he shoots a landscape – the light waits for him.
Ken Rockwell never flips his camera in portrait position, he flips the earth
Ken Rockwell ordered an L-lens from Nikon, and got one.
Ken Rockwell is the only person to have photographed Jesus; unfortunately he ran out of film and had to use a piece of cloth instead.
When Ken Rockwell brackets a shot, the three versions of the photo win first place in three different categories
Before Nikon or Canon releases a camera they go to Ken and they ask him to test them, the best cameras get a Nikon sticker and the less good get a Canon sticker
Once Ken tested a camera, he said I cant even put Canon on this one,thats how Pentax was born
Rockwellian policy isn’t doublethink – Ken doesn’t even need to think once
Ken Rockwell doesn’t use flash ever since the Nagasaki incident.
Only Ken Rockwell can take pictures of Ken Rockwell; everyone else would just get their film overexposed by the light of his genius
Ken Rockwell wanted something to distract the lesser photographers, and lo, there were ducks.
Ken Rockwell is the only one who can take self-portraits of you
Ken Rockwell’s nudes were fully clothed at the time of exposure
Ken Rockwell once designed a zoom lens. You know it as the Hubble SpaceTelescope.
When Ken unpacks his CF card, it already has masterpieces on it.
Rockwell portraits are so lifelike, they have to pay taxes
On Ken Rockwell’s desktop, the Trash Icon is really a link to National Geographic Magazine
Ken Rockwell spells point-and-shoot “h-a-s-s-e-l-b-l-a-d”
When Ken Rockwell went digital, National Geographic nearly went out of business because he was no longer phyically discarding photos
For every 10 shots that Ken Rockwell takes, 11 are keepers.
Ken Rockwell’s digital files consist of 0’s, 1’s AND 2’s.
Ken Rockwell never focus, everything moves into his DoF
Ken Rockwell’s shots are so perfect, Adobe redesigned photoshop for him: all it consists of is a close button.
The term tripod was coined after his silhouette
Ken Rockwell never produces awful work, only work too advanced for the viewer
A certain braind of hig-end cameras was named after people noticed the quality was a lot “like a” rockwell
Ken Rockwell isn’t the Chuck Norris of photography; Chuck Norris is the Ken Rockwell of martial arts.
Ken Rockwell never starts, he continues
You forgot Ken Rockwell is the only person in the world to ever use and own the left handed Nikon F100
This is the best post I’ve seen on this site. You sir just dropped the mic.
Ken Rockwell does not wait for the Golden Hour, the Sun stops and waits for him to take his shots.
Ken’s camera does not have a shutter speed dial, just one Bulb mode and his finger is so accurate that he can expose all the way to 1/32,000 of a second with this single mode.
Ken does not need any sort of sensor/lens stabilisation, he shakes the world around him to counter camera shake.
Ken Rockwell does not need a battery, he just puts his finger on the electrodes where the battery needs to go.
If Ken runs out of space on his SD card, he just remembers the stream of 1s and 0s of the RAW files and later writes them down when he’s done shooting.
He can also remember in the same way 29min 59sec of 4K video.
Ken does not use the Play button on his camera, he can recall his last one thousand 42Mp images at 1:1 ratio in his head at any time.
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Really? Just taking the Chuck Norris quotes and exchanging the name?
“The term tripod was coined after his silhouette” It took me a second but then ROFL.
Someone’s got too much time on their hands.
Wait, these Chuck Norris comparisons are usually reserved for people who are accomplished in their field.
Classic, dude
Same guy that said the 17mm RMC 3.5 Tokina from the 80’s was sharper than any 2k nikon wide angle. Oh yeah? I owned it. It was GARBAGE.
Porsche? What about Ferrari then? OK, that must be Zeiss Otus 🙂
You don’t have to be a good photographer to have a popular photo gear review site. Ken Rockwell is an example of this.
Infamous, more than popular.
Incredible, actually, that he is now getting known in the audiophile world. And despite his infamy here, he writes GREAT reviews of audiophile gear.
He has even done car reviews, search for BMW 540i review and one of the first to show up is his.
Ken Rockwell belongs in the audiophile world, no question.
I belong to an “audio society” and my enthusiasm has waned because of the dominant personality types there. In the world of high-end hi-fi, not only is a cynical, unforgiving and unrepentant attitude accepted- but it is expected. There’s a strange mix of a dominant engineering mentality crossed with a submissive, but still present, appreciation for music. Add in the inability for people to socialize normally and it becomes a fascinating, dark sideshow to observe (if you’re not into audio equipment).
People who obsesses over certain topics often have others that overlap. If I met Ken and didn’t know who he was, we could probably talk for days about multiple subjects before realizing we did like each other on the internet. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Now go support his growing family ?
Ken?
Introducing Ken the Entertainer! (aka The Donald of Photography)
You gotta admire his enthusiasm, even if it is devoid of technical testing, comparative images or any scientific research beyond Zeiss marketing materials. He’s the intellectual clown of this gear-obsessed market. His purpose is to mock and entertain us, for which his persistence has paid off – at the expense of his reputation. So, when are you gonna run for President, Ken?
PS: Say hi to the family. We love you. Keep up the good work.
Ken Rockwell and Steven Huff. A lot was heard about these 2 guys.
C’mon, Steve is fine!
Two douche combo!
Although I think Steve is ok….this is the best comment of the week! ^^^^
Rather a poetic two-liner. Well done.
As an amateur I just learned so much, thanks guys for teaching me what photography is all about. Rather than wasting my time on thoughtful discussion on the subject of photography, cameras or lenses, I have been able to productively read comments bashing a photographer / blogger. What a thoughtful contribution to the hobby! You saved me from rushing out to buy the apparently horrible 55 1.8 z.
Hi Ken. Please go away. You know you aren’t appreciated here due to your unrestrained bashing of the Sony brand and “alpha lenses.”
I don’t agree with everything Ken Rockwell or any other blogger writes, but I do like reading different points of view on the subject of photography. Nikon and Canon have dominated the industry (it still hard finding a photography class etc. that includes Sony equipment in the course), but that is changing. It seems you are knowledgeable and speak with some authority on the subject of photography, I would be delighted to include your blog as part of my reading – especially since you offer an alternative point of view.
While normally I don’t like bashing others, Ken Rockwell is someone who has said some ridiculous things, and tends to be extremely biased. I would recommend anyone looking for good information to avoid him like the plague. He has some valid things, but a whole lot more that’s not worth wasting your time with. Some quick examples:
“The Canon EOS M is the world’s first serious mirrorless camera.”
“I have to giggle at how people pay more for mirrorless cameras that weigh as much and don’t work as well as a Canon SL1.”
“Fujifilm X100T… Ahh, the world’s best digital camera.”
“Interchangeable-Lens Mirrorless: As always, I don’t get these. These cost twice as much as an ultralight D3300 (455g) or Rebel SL1 (403g), but only offer only half the performance.”
Add in the fact that he is begging for money, literally, he contradicts himself constantly. Mirrorless cameras are worthless cameras that only offer half the performance of the SL1? Except one of his absolute favorite cameras is a mirrorless fuji. Also look at the main news page, Nikon and Canon and Fuji are king! Avoid all other brands. Look at the other brand reviews? “This is amazing. Buy it at these links so I can support my orange family.”
Also it always annoyed me when he reviewed the Nex 5R, and constantly whined about having to get the external viewfinder, and not being able to use flash, and not having a standard hotshoe… but that camera was released at the same time as the Nex 6, which would have met every single one of his complaints and been cheaper than the 5R+viewfinder. It really seemed as if he purposely picked the camera so he could have complaints.
Please tell me Rockwell drives a Porsche. It would confirm everything I’ve ever known or suspected about both him, and Porsche ownership.
What the heck is bad about owning a porsche if you can afford it?
There’s nothing wrong, in theoretical terms, with owning a Porsche– whether you can afford it or have to steal it. I have a poster of a Porsche hanging on my bedroom wall at my parent’s house that’s been there at least a couple decades.
I know cars well, and setting aside the Miata (MX-5) for a second, the Boxster/Cayman are, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, the best “driver’s” cars on the road. They are better than even the 911, despite what Porschephiles might argue.
HOWEVER, only once in my life (I remember the time and place perfectly) have I met a 911 owner that wasn’t basically some version of Ken Rockwell. I know it’s a stereotype– therefore it can’t always hold true– but it has proven to be stunningly accurate over my entire adult life. And it’s specific to Porsches (more the 911 then the other cars– I’m not talking here about fake Porsches, the SUVs). It’s a mixed bag with all the other high end sports car brands; certainly a higher percentage of them are “annoying,” take the Corvette for example, but Porsche’s sports cars are unlike anything else.
I think the new 911 GT3 RS is one of the coolest cars sold right now, and even more, the Cayman GT4. But I couldn’t own one (even if I knew how to steal one undetected) because it would typecast me in the worst way.
It would stigmatize me as one of the Rockwell’s who either owns a Porsche or wants to own one, desperately.
I’d honestly feel more comfortable in a yellow Ferrari. I’ve lived in LA, spent a lot of time in NYC, and worked press at every major international auto show except Tokyo– so while my opinion my be off (I’m full of sh__ half the time anyway), I am drawing on something more than a slight hunch.
Cars are the only thing I can ramble on about longer than cameras and lenses. Sorry, I know it’s TL;DR (or whatever).
Lol, actually nice post although i dont agree completely. I think ferrari is more screaming “look at me” than porsche. By the way, i dont think i would become one of the people you describe just by buying one. Probably you wouldnt either. As of stereotypes, there is one i can testify that is correct 90% of the time. Drivers of wolksvagen golf. At least here in serbia. They drive like mad, while driving really badly. While all of them charish their golf “membership” as if its some kind of sports team or sect. So me and my mates use to say, golf is not a car, it is a diagnosis.
I would say the the absolute level of d-baggery reached can be much higher in other cars (the yellow Ferrari, for example) but the uniformity of users fitting this profile in Porsches is greater, IMHO. In other words, For every idiot driving around in a yellow Ferrari convertible trying to impress people there are probably 10 tucked away in a climate controlled garage with owners too neurotic to even put them in gear.
The Golf example you give is awesome. I love facts like that. Watching Top Gear they used to rant and rave about how BMW owners were the biggest “c*cks” on the road, and then it shifted to Audi drivers around 2010/2011. In the States, it would be hard to pick one of the big 3 (BMW, Merc, Audi) over the other. Maybe Audi would win by a shade, but it’d be too close to call with BMW. Merc owners are generally older, and Mercedes knows how to build a big car better than a small, fast car (don’t argue with me!). 😉
The biggest c*cks on the road in the U.S. are the pickup trucks that have been lifted, given big rims/tires, and loud exhaust. There are so many in the suburbs outside any major sity it’d blow your mind. Also, the modded tuner cars like the Subaru BRZ, Integra, 3-series, S4’s, etc. They are their own class of nonsense.
In Colorado, before all the Californians arrived, and certainly before the Texans, we did have our own version of your Golf– it was the Toyota Tacoma (or the model preceding it, the same). Always on your a$$, speeding, none of them with half a brain at the wheel and all of them desperate to make up for something lacking. A Golf would be faster though, and therefor more annoying. Sorry about that. 🙂
I’d love to go to Serbia. My friend went last year and liked it a lot. Observing the car culture in other countries is fascinating to me the way going on a birding safari must be for the older shooters here. (Destined to be me one day, I have a sense.) :/
Oh, yeah, that 55mm Sony/Zeiss is SHARP. Wow. I’d love to own one (and an a7r II to mount it on). 🙂
This post may seem flippant, however there are studies into narcissistic tendencies that show a correlation in changes to human behavior when a person is driving an expensive car that tend towards narcissism. Ironic but true. May go some way in explaining the Porsche affect you are eluding to.
Nothing, intrinsically, although this example just grates.
First, it is a terrible car (as Porsche are synonymous with sport, not mud-plugging) and a huge gas-guzzler, but this man pleads poverty and begs for donations to keep his site running! Nice work if you can get it I suppose…
Stopped reading at “terrible car” part, lol.
Terrible car 😀 😀 lol
What do you drive?
http://kenrockwell.com/porsche/cayenne-turbo-s/
I had to fight the urge to spit my coffee all over my laptop as I read this unexpected comment. lol
My favorite comments sections are the ones about new camera releases, and then, probably the Rockwell posts. Everyone (for once) can agree (and joke about) something– except for one or two people who are still trying to reconcile all the time they spent on his site with what an obnoxious, unlikable person he is.
They say reputation is everything. And that has proven itself here in spades. If Rockwell wasn’t an ornery dik with a record of bashing the Sony brand categorically (along with it’s lenses) then maybe he’d have a friend or two in the Sony community. I don’t know. I’m a mere mortal unfit to judge queens.
I don’t really follow the www/youtube-based photography review/blog scene/bubble as much as some people do, clearly. I vaguely feel like Kenrockwell has been around a lot longer than some of the others though, IIRC I remember hearing about him or his site when I used to be a member of photo.net back in the early 2000s. Anyhow, why all these references to a seemingly straight man being a “queen” or a “she”? Is he rumored to be a closet case, or just a pesky “drama queen” who creates trouble online, or both?
Ken Rockwell? LOL!
Nobody really takes can seriously anymore, he’s been so inconsistent and controversial just to drive people to his site. Too bad some of his reviews are actually pretty good.
He said the Canon 6D is the best DSLR in the world, which is what I have, so I’m happy! 😀
He’s correct, its the only one you can put a proper high acutance screen in, therefore one of the few that’ll actually stand a chance of focussing a fast prime on. That’s why those of us who’ve actually shot it love the Sony EVF.
Okay, NOW is the time to buy this lens. The verdict is out!
I hope it’s not gonna break as often as a Porsche, with all the plastic parts they put in there (on the car, I don’t know about the lens)
I have both lenses and while the 55F1.8 is great, the 35F2.8 is total crap. It should never have been Zeiss branded (the plastic bayonet, the lack of a lens bag suggests the Zeiss badge happened last minute before release). For Rockwell to praise it takes the value out of anything he’s said so far.
Ken’s reviews always read like a grampa who hasn’t got laid in 10 years, and then, bingo!
Everyone mocks Ken Rockwell until he says something they agree with. Then it’s like wow ok! I’m sold on x product!.
Stupid sheep.
Why is it any stupid to mock KR when he is writing sh*t? And when he emphasizes what “real” photographers do, which is ridiculous given the fact that he is such a shi*ty photographer.
But in the above review, he sounds relatively sane and has some good points: “If you value sharpness and resolution, get this lens, but overall, the others probably make better pictures once you stand back and actually look at the picture, not the pixels.” That is absolutely true. His analysis of the lenses pros & cons are pretty spot on. Why is it stupid to honor that, after I bashed him for his endless bullsh*t he talks in many of his other pamphlets?
My guess: the people who seem like stupid sheeps to you aren’t that stupid, it just seems to you in direct comparison to your superior smartness.
But seriously, I don’t know what’s your point.
Actually there is a substitute for a porsche… just get a Ferrari 😀
That’s great great info, thanks!
I’m not an attention seeker when it comes to cars (my dream car would be a de-badged, stock Audi RS6 wagon– I’m also single, btw), but put me in the seat of a brand new, red Ferrari 488 GTB, and I will both look and act like a complete jaka$$. I’ve had this type of thing happen to myself and see it happen to plenty of other people.
So, I don’t think what you’re talking about is flippant or theoretical, I think it is human nature for the vast majority of us– speaking of and for males.
Is this off topic?
Yep exactly