We spend so much time talking about how sharp a lens is. It may come as a surprise for me to then talk about a lens, in this case the Zeiss 50mm f1.4, and concentrate firstly on how it resolves the out of focus elements in the image. It does this so beautifully!As a newspaper photographer, I need to be able to cope with any situation. As a result, I need to carry a fair amount of equipment and my bags are laden with Canon prime lenses (from 15mm to 500mm) and Canon L zoom lenses (from the 16-35mm f2.8L II to the 70-200mm f2.8L IS). I'm a huge fan of Canon's lens technology; pin sharp, fast and reliable. Some of my lenses have seen daily use for around five years, in all kinds of weather, and they're still going strong.
By far though, my favoured Canon lenses are the stunningly good 35mm f1.4L and the 85mm f1.2L MkII. I can't recommend these lenses highly enough and I'm at my happiest when I'm on a job and using these optics.
However, for all the technical superbness of these optics, there's something missing. In the film days I used to have an Angenieux 180mm f2.3 APO lens for my Canon F1n and T90. It was a superb lens. After this period I switched to Leica M and R systems. On the rangefinder my favourite lenses were the 21mm f2.8 Elmarit, the 35mm f2 Summicron and the 50mm f2 Summicron. On the SLR system, the 90mm f2.8 Elmarit was my favourite. All of these Leica lenses and the Angenieux had something special about them. It wasn't that they were just sharp or well made, or that they had a superb focusing action. It was something else.
This brings me back to the first thing I said; how out of focus elements within the image are resolved. On the Canon 85 mm f1.2L MkII something magical happens when you use an aperture of between f1.2 to f1.6. The out of focus detail is given a lovely dreamy look which makes you image pop.
The Leicas and the Angenieux did this. However, they went one step further. There was a different look. The Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Planar in the ZE (Canon EOS) mount has taken me back to those days, and reminds of this special characteristic. Its not just a nice softness to the out of focus areas; its something more, something not easy to verbalise. To top this, the Leica, Angenieux and Zeiss also go one step further when you have a light source in the image; be this sunlight or the bright spots of artificial lights. They resolve both of these in a way that even the best Japanese lenses just don't do. You somehow manage to keep the sharpness and contrast of your subject even if its strongly backlit.
On another note, the Zeiss also brings back fond memories of the good old days when lenses and cameras were made of metal! Its a solid and beautifully made metal lens with a lovely metal lens hood. Naturally, all of these Zeiss lenses are manual focus and the manual focus action is beautifully fluid and a joy to use. Its going to take getting used to after relying on AF for so long, but its such a lovely sensation to manually focus with such a beautifully engineered piece of equipment.
If you get a chance, give the Zeiss lenses a try; you won't regret it.
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What comparisons would you make on it compared to the Canon 50mm 1.4?
ReplyDeleteIf AF's not an issue, the Zeiss is by far a better lens than the Canon f1.4. I did some comparisons between them and whilst the Canon f1.4 was fine, the Zeiss was excellent. It was punchier and had a smoother and milkier bokeh. The Zeiss also dealt with backlighting so much better.
ReplyDeleteI don't have the Canon 50mm f1.2L though as it would be interesting to compare the two. However, price wise, the Zeiss costs twice as much as the Canon f1.4, and the Canon f1.2L costs over twice as much as the Zeiss.
Thanks for that input - sounds very exciting.
ReplyDeleteIts a great piece of glass!
ReplyDeletewow.. all that sweet glass for a cat shot.. sighs.. ٩(●̮̮̃•̃)۶
ReplyDeleteYou're so right; however, the one thing you wouldn't know is that I'm recovering from an operation so was stuck at home when I wrote this. So, whilst the cat's not the ideal use for a Zeiss lens, its the only subject I had to play with! On a different note though, its actually a good illustration of how good this lens is; look at the blacks of the cat through to the whites of the door way; superbly resolved by the lens.
ReplyDeleteActually Edmond, I'd love to see a full res sample .. even if u splash a copyright line all over it..
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to save for the 85mm Zeiss myself for my d3x.. I have the 85mm pc-e nikkor so I'm used to shooting MF, even at weddings :) but your 100% right, there's just something really attractive about this glass that makes you fall in love with the look they give you over the other glass thats out there.. the 85mm is $2250 aust here :(
Having used the 85mm f1.4 I can without hesitation say that you'll love it and its worth every penny!
ReplyDeleteAs far as a full res sample, it a 5D MkII file so pretty heft in size. I can't put it on the blog because of space constraints. If I get a chance, I'll email you a copy - please remind me if you haven't got it in a few days.
kewl as, cheers mate..
ReplyDeleteah hem, these Zeiss lenses are made by Cosina, a Japanese company.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely made in Japan, but I'm not sure by whom.
ReplyDeleteHowever, its not a Japanese lens. The design is German. Similar to Leica lenses which were at one point made in Canada - they weren't Canadian lenses, but German designed optics made in Canada.
Hi there. Thanks a lot for your work in comparing these lenses. As a result, and based obn the reviews of a lot of thrilled users of this lens I also bought one. And to make it short: it's fantastic. See more on www.steinert-hausmann.de
ReplyDeleteBtw. the lens is made by Cosina (www.cosina.co.jp).
Glad you're also enjoying it :-)
ReplyDeleteI recently got hold of this lens. I am a little disappointed with the image quality when compared to the Canon 50mm f1.4 wide opened. Performance of the Zeiss only comes in at f2.0.
ReplyDeleteRead this back when I first started following. Being a scientist I know the quality of Zeiss optics on microscopes so was instantly attacted. Finally saved enough dough and took the trip to B&H yesterday here in NYC (little one year wedding anniversary present to myself). Can't wait to use it!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your wedding anniversary and on your little purchase too ;-) Enjoy them both!
ReplyDeleteI've had this lens for nearly a year. It took some getting used to, and in some lighting situations I find that the OOF highlights can look ugly or distracting, but that's a rarity. In general, it's MUCH sharper than Canon's f1.4 corner to corner, out of focus areas are creamy and delicious, and it's such a pleasure to use that it's become my lens of choice; I frequently go out sporting only this lens. the lack of autofocus nearly prevented me from buying it but now I don't even think about it - for sure autofocus is still quicker than my fingers, but the manual focus makes me more thoughtful with the images I take, so I get better results. I plan to invest in more Zeiss glass over the next year, now the whole range seems to come in EOS fit.
ReplyDelete