I saw this review in dpreview and have been looking for a zeiss lens for video, hence my interest:
For the growing number of photographers and videographers using DSLR’s for movie making, the Distagon T* 2/35 ZE is one of four prime lenses making a core set, joining the Distagon T* 2/28 ZE, Planar T* 1.4/50 ZE and Planar T* 1.4/85 ZE. These lenses are well suited for HD video applications due not only to their exceptional image quality, but for the smooth focus and long focus rotations.
They absolutely are, after a year of shooting with L glass I used some Zeiss glass on the last shoot I did and I don't think I can go back to Canon for video now. I got the 21, 50, and 100 but am going to pick up the 25 f/2, 35 f/2, and 85 1.4 once I sell my Canon glass.
The throw on the focus ring is amazing and smooth as butter. With the Canon glass, like the 135 f/2 for example, at larger apertures if you barely move the focus ring it will throw the subject out of focus, but the Zeiss gives you more room. And they breathe a lot less which is always a plus. Aside from that, the are built like bricks, the optics are just beautiful, and the color rendition is very accurate (required much less CC than Canon glass and the colors match better from lens to lens).
