Does Zeiss glass ever go on sale?

[itsnotmeyouknow]

You're welcome.  Every Zeiss I have purchased has been used and its been perfect for my use.  I have purchased three Zeiss lenses through Craigslist and one from Ebay.  Ebay has fees and you can't try a lens before purchase.  CL has its share of risks but I've lucky.

Best of Luck

Have you emailed helen from Adorama? Really bad form to name and shame someone without giving them opportunity to deal with it.  Hopefully you've just neglected to say that you have given Helen a chance to deal with it.

[unadog]

I was sorry to see this; can you tell me more about the issues? You can email me directly: Helen@adorama.com

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

Helen was great when I had an issue with Adobe recently, after I bought the Adobe software through Adorama.

I can't say enough about how much I appreciate her help!

I have used other stores from time to time, but I appreciaite and always try to reward good customer service.

Since her help in June, I have spent about $8K with them - a Canon T4i kit with 18-135, a Canon 5D3 kit with 24-105, a Pixma Pro printer, etc.

Thank you Helen!

Best,
Michael Murphy

[unadog]

FWIW, I am just in the process of trading some equipment to get a Zeiss ZE 35 mm 2.0

I am not sure if I can afford to keep it yet - I need to pay that $8K bill to my credit card!   

I also have an older Zeiss 28 2.8 I think, with a C/Y adapter. You can PM or e-mail if you are interested. You are in Atlanta? I am in Michigan.

Best,
Michael 

[itsnotmeyouknow]

FWIW, I am just in the process of trading some equipment to get a Zeiss ZE 35 mm 2.0

I am not sure if I can afford to keep it yet - I need to pay that $8K bill to my credit card!   

I also have an older Zeiss 28 2.8 I think, with a C/Y adapter. You can PM or e-mail if you are interested. You are in Atlanta? I am in Michigan.

Best,
Michael

The ZE 35 2.0 is great.  Have 1 myself

[unadog]

The ZE 35 2.0 is great.  Have 1 myself

That is good to hear!  I wasn't looking for it. Someone offered to trade for some film equipment I am selling. I thought about it for 3 minutes and said "OK" - no research, etc.! 

I am too old & stupid for manual anything for the most part.  But I am doing video with the T4i (which I love by the way) & 5D3, so I thought I would give it a try!

I have never been big on alternate lenses because I had 7 Canon L lenses.  The color is often so different on the Zeiss, Leica, etc. that I just stuck with Canon. 

Oddly enough, I was just trying to sell off down too 3-4 lenses, now I am going the other way. Time to play with the Zeiss though - maybe I will pick up a 50 or 85 to have more of a set.

Thanks!

Michael

[Tayvin]

I've never seen it on sale before.  Btw, the 21mm ZE is terrible.  I love all the rest.

[itsnotmeyouknow]

The ZE 35 2.0 is great.  Have 1 myself

That is good to hear!  I wasn't looking for it. Someone offered to trade for some film equipment I am selling. I thought about it for 3 minutes and said "OK" - no research, etc.! 

I am too old & stupid for manual anything for the most part.  But I am doing video with the T4i (which I love by the way) & 5D3, so I thought I would give it a try!

I have never been big on alternate lenses because I had 7 Canon L lenses.  The color is often so different on the Zeiss, Leica, etc. that I just stuck with Canon. 

Oddly enough, I was just trying to sell off down too 3-4 lenses, now I am going the other way. Time to play with the Zeiss though - maybe I will pick up a 50 or 85 to have more of a set.

Thanks!

Michael

trust me you will love man ally focussing this lens.  Very smooth focus ring.  I use mine with my mk III set it up with the focus confirmation beep or use the live view.  Very sharp lens with good contrast and natural rendition.

[Axilrod]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll probably go for a used Zeiss. I have the 85mm 1.4 and it is built like a tank. From a reputable dealer, I suspect that a used lens will work quite well for my purposes. I shot video with a Zeiss 50mm 1.4 on a 5D Mk III recently and fell in love with the lens. I had been satisfied (not exactly happy) with the Canon 50mm 1.4. But there is just something about the Zeiss that feels good and looks good. I have the Canon 24mm 1.4L II that is beautiful for photos, but I don't love it for video. I hope I haven't just developed a Zeiss fetish. 

I think comparing the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 to the 50L is a more fair comparison than with the EF 50 1.4.  It does have a beautiful quality to it, the bokeh looks very unique and the color rendition is very accurate, and it's super sharp at f/2 and above.  If you like that you should try the 50mm f/2, it's insanely sharp.  The 21mm f/2.8 is awesome if you don't like the 24 1.4 for video, although it doesn't have as wide of an aperture, the 25mm f/2 may be worth looking into as well, haven't used it but I've heard nothing but good things.

[Axilrod]

I've never seen it on sale before.  Btw, the 21mm ZE is terrible.  I love all the rest.

If you think the 21 2.8 is terrible you seriously must have gotten a bad copy.

[Helen Oster]

Helen was great when I had an issue with Adobe recently, after I bought the Adobe software through Adorama.

I can't say enough about how much I appreciate her help!

I have used other stores from time to time, but I appreciaite and always try to reward good customer service.

Since her help in June, I have spent about $8K with them - a Canon T4i kit with 18-135, a Canon 5D3 kit with 24-105, a Pixma Pro printer, etc.

Thank you Helen!

Best,
Michael Murphy

 Thank YOU, Michael......I remember this; Adobe said we weren't an authorized reseller! Strange....

[unadog]

Sorry folks, a bit OT, but Adorama's reputation was brought up previously ...

Thank YOU, Michael......I remember this; Adobe said we weren't an authorized reseller! Strange....

I think their "outsourced/off-shored "Customer Service Reps" have very little lattitude or discretion.

That presents a bad corporate image for a company that is so service oriented in other ways - having a reputation for a quick response to software update requests, etc.

When I had a different product registered at Adobe as "M T Murphy" (which I use for my business), and my receipt said "Michael T Murphy", they delayed servicing my request by a day to ask: "Can you clarify, what is the relationship between M Murphy and Michael Murphy?" 

Duh? You are wasting my time, and delaying support, by having me respond to this stupid question, for a simple request? 

That emphasizes to me the importance of positions such as yours: Customer Service "ambassadors", or "liasons", who are a public face for the company, and can help cut through the bureaucratic Catch-22's that all companies manage to create.

I think it is interesting, too, how this conversation started a few months ago on Fred Miranda, where I was familiar with you; to an e-mail request from me, on a Sunday; to a post 3 months later on another board about Zeiss lenses ....

The reason I am be-laboring all of this, is to remind folks: Please reward good customer service with your repeat business! 

Otherwise all we will have left is endless, mind numbing calls to off-shore CSR's, who read from the same script you just read on the web site before you called ........   

Cheers! Thanks again Helen! 

Best,
Michael

[JasonATL]

The reason I am be-laboring all of this, is to remind folks: Please reward good customer service with your repeat business! 

I agree. I'll stay a little off topic here, but since I started the thread... 

I have taken the advice on this thread and sought out a used Zeiss lens from LensRentals.com. I'm almost sure to buy one from them in the next week or so - just deciding exactly which one(s). I e-mailed them Friday with a question and they replied within a couple of hours. I had rented from them before and was very pleased with their approach. This prompt response to my query further increases my confidence in them.

But, the experience with Helen/Adorama on this thread got me to thinking just now. I've not shopped with Adorama, though I've known of them and even thought of them as a company I'm willing to do business with. The reason I haven't shopped with them is that I've always had great service and an excellent experience with B&H. Given how much I shop with B&H, I'm even willing to forgive a minor slip-up - but to be clear, I've not ever had one slip up frpm them. (side note: B&H had a used Zeiss for sale on Friday that someone was apparently quick to snap up). No business is perfect and all suffer from the unforeseen circumstances, growing pains, third party restrictions, etc.

My point is, I feel fortunate that I think we actually enjoy quite a bit of good service/selection in this industry (photo and video). There is no other industry that I must deal with regularly in which I feel as though I have several good retail providers from which to choose. I think the reasons for this are probably pretty clear. The margins are decent. The retailers understand that we are a demanding (I almost said, "needy") bunch, we're passionate about what we do, and we're loyal to those who treat us with respect and fairness. In short, like any relationship, both parties bear some responsibility for its success.

Therefore, I'll echo Michael's sentiment. Reward good service with your loyal business. It is what maintains the incentive for such service.

[unadog]

Here is a comparsion of the Zeiss lenses to the older Canon FD lenses for video use:

https://vimeo.com/48208549


It may be more specific to folks doing video, but it is a fairly well done comparsion.

One of the comments is worth reading, about how that person prefers the rendering of the FD over the Zeiss for portraits, despite the improved Zeiss image quality & resolution. 

I will say that my 16MP Canon 1DsII had plenty of detail for portraits, and taht I almost always had to add blur in Photoshop to soften facial features. 

There is also a companion video to the above (link on site) without the text labels identifying the lenses, in case you want to judge the comparison first without bias.

I am planning on using the Zeiss 35 mostly for video to start, so this is of interest to me. Not sure about others. It is not on a Canon camera. (Sony FS700, a high end video camera.)

Best,
Michael

[JasonATL]

Michael,

Thanks for posting the link to the comparisons. I downloaded the blind comparison (part 1) before watching the second. I'm glad that my preference for Zeiss held up to the blind test. I preferred the Zeiss in each test.

[JasonATL]

Woohoo! My Zeiss 50mm 1.4 just showed up! Bought a used one from LensRentals. Looks like it is exactly as described by them (actually, it nearly looks brand new, aside from one or two visible specs of internal dust - which I doubt will be a big deal). It came with a return shipping label, just to assure my satisfaction. Will shoot some tonight.