Vario Sonnar 10-100 VS Angie 9.5-57 ? help

JB Earl · June 19, 2016

I'm looking for opinions on the performance of the Zeiss Vario Sonnar 10-100 T2 and the Angenieux 9.5-57. Especially interested in how they perform wide open. Compared to the Sonnar T3, do they breathe as badly?

Mitch Gross · June 20, 2016

The 16mm Zeiss zooms always breathed a lot, including the 10-100/T2. Certainly they did it a lot more than the Ang. 9.5-57. The Zeiss lenses were fairly consistent but the Ang. lenses had a LOT of variability rom lens to lens. In it's heyday, Angenieux had a facility in Long Island that took all the lenses important from france and REBUILT them to try to even things out a bit. And these were factory-fresh zooms!

That said, I could never quite get the snap to the image on a Zeiss 10:1 that I could on a Zeiss SuperSpeed. And an Ang. 9.5-57 HEC was a terrific little lens. That was actually my first lens when I first bought my old Aaton kit and it got me through several docs before I sold it to go all Super-16. One thing to note is that the Angenieux exhibits some odd pincushion distortion in the middle of its zoom range. You wouldn't expect to see that around 20mm or so, but the lens was fairly well corrected on either end of the zoom. Just a tad funky in the middle. All part of that Angenieux look.

You definitely want an HEC (High Efficiency Coating) version of the 9.5-57. Makes a big difference in performance. Zeiss still has better contrast, but contrast isn't everything.

JB Earl · June 21, 2016

Thanks very much for the detailed information. Do you have any thoughts on their performance wide open?

Mitch Gross · June 22, 2016

They both noticeably improve a couple stops closed, but the Zeiss is sharper stop for stop. Depending on generation, the Ang. standardly opened to T1.9 and then you could push a little tab to open it up to T1.6. Performance really suffered when you did that, which is why they made it an extra step choice. I think they color coded the aperture ring as well for that one. But in doc work sometimes you have to do what's necessary to get the shot.

These are really not modern lenses, either mechanically or optically. Well, the Zeiss 10-100/T2 is a lot more modern, but there's still a lot of history there. Use one of these for a bit and you quickly understand what people mean by a lens "having a personality." Modern glass is kinda boring in comparison.

JB Earl · June 24, 2016

I have the 10-100 T3, but mainly need faster choices for my NPR. I could also use a C adapter and a couple of Rokinons or Nikkors, but I'm afraid the c mount will be too weak for them. I don't know if they'd perform any better than the T2 Sonnar anyway (maybe breathe less)