Flat depiction DISTAGON ZM 18mm
A review and photo examples of the Carl Zeiss Distagon 18mm / F4 ZM with LEICA M Digital and Film camera.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Photo example taken by:
- LEICA M9
- LEICA M6 +KODAK PORTRA 160 +SUPER COOLSCAN V
Review
1．Overview
The CARL ZEISS DISTAGON T* 18mm F4 ZM is a Leica M-mount wide-angle lens released by Carl Zeiss in 2007.
The main specifications are as follows, and detailed specifications are listed in the table.
- Lens construction: 10 elements in 8 groups
- Aperture blades: 10
- Leica M rangefinder camera rangefinder coupling: 0.7m
- Minimum shooting distance: 0.5m
- Hood: Dedicated bayonet hood
- Lens color variations: Silver and black
2．Usability
The Distagon 18mm F4 ZM is a retrofocus lens, as the name Distagon suggests.
It is compact compared to retrofocus lenses with a focal length of 18mm, but it is still quite large for a lens for rangefinder cameras.
The wider-angle Distagon 15mm ZM is a lens that is used by eye and does not work with the rangefinder of a Leica M camera, but the Distagon 18mm ZM works with the rangefinder.
If you include a blue sky, you can get a sharp, high-contrast image.
This is a good point because it is a wide-angle lens, but instead of depicting the entire screen flat, it lacks the three-dimensional effect that makes the subject stand out, and the depiction at first glance feels subtle.
Since the viewfinder of a typical rangefinder camera does not have an 18mm frame, you have to decide the composition using an external viewfinder. When using an external viewfinder, it is a hassle to look through the viewfinder to adjust the distance, so I often set the aperture to F8 and just eyeball the composition.
This method can sometimes result in the focus appearing to be off with a digital camera, so it goes without saying that if you’re using a camera equipped with an EVF, it’s best to adjust the focus properly.
3．Summary
To sum up the DISTAGON 18mm, its flat depiction makes it well suited to landscape photography.
Since I was using the Leica Super-Elmar, which has the same focal length, at the same time, the Super-Elmar 18mm was in high demand and I wasn’t able to use this lens much.
Specification and Competitor
One of the reasons for giving up the DISTAGON was that I got the ultra-compact Ms-optics PERAR 17mm. This compact lens has some issues with peripheral depiction, but it is much easier to carry around.
Another reason is that if you can tolerate the size, you can use the Leica R-mount Elmarit 19mm or Super-Elmar 15mm for SLR cameras.
- The lens configuration diagrams are quoted from each company’s PDF, and the sizes have been adjusted here.
| Maker | Carl Zeiss | Ms-optics |
| Lens name | Distagon 18mm | PERAR 17mm |
| Max aperture | 4 | 4.5 |
| Min aperture | 22 | |
| Leaf blade | 10 | 10 |
| Lens Construction | 10elements in 8groups | 4elements in 4groups |
| A spherical lens | none | none |
| Min distance(m) | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Lens length(mm) | 47 | 10.2 |
| Max diameter | 63 | 50 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 58 | – |
| Weight(g) | 350 | 60 |
| Lens hood | ||
| Lens mount | ZM | M |
| Release date | 2007.08 | – |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | ¥145,950 | – |
Reference links
- Zeiss.com lens datasheets DISTAGON 18mm
- Distagon 18mm・Shige’s hobby
- SUPER ELMAR 18mm・Shige’s hobby
- ATOLL 17mm・Shige’s hobby
- PERAR 17mm・Shige’s hobby
Update
- 2025.3.24
- 2024.04.20:Update the article
- 2024.01.18:First draft
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