I'm not a professional photographer nor a technical lens comparing master. My focus is sometimes off and the positions change slightly, and my lenses might be good/bad copies as they are, this is my first comparison that I did for myself because I was looking into Zeiss lenses and found them at a decent used price and wanted to compare to my Canon EF 50/1.4 and Canon EF 85/1.8
Body used Canon Rebel XTi (ISO 100 on all)
- Faithful Mode, Raw then saved to JPG from DPP with no editing.
- Canon EF 50/1.4
- Canon EF 85/1.8
- Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50/1.4 AE (all black, made in Japan)
- Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85/1.4 AE (all black, made in Germany)
Conclusion:
85mm
- Zeiss seem sharper on the edges (except when my focus is off) than the Canon
- Canon seems sharper on the center than the Zeiss
- Canon has more contrast, while Zeiss shows more shadow detail
- Canon is more prone to CA than the Zeiss
- Bokeh stopped down between 1.8-4 the Zeiss is ugly
- Color rendition, Canon seems SLIGHTLY warmer than Zeiss
50mm (I think my canon 50mm AF is back focusing)
- but even so, the edge sharpness on the Zeiss is very noticeable compared to Canon
- Color rendition, Canon looks VERY warm compared to Zeiss
- again Canon seemed more prone to CA than the Zeiss
I prefer the more cooler look of the Zeiss than the Canon... so I'm going Zeiss Manual over Auto Canon =)
click images for full 100%
Zeiss 85 at 1.4 versus Canon 85 at 1.8
Zeiss 85 at 2.0 versus Canon 85 at 2.0
Zeiss 85 at 5.6 versus Canon 85 at 5.6
Zeiss 50 at 1.4 versus Canon 50 at 1.4 overexposed slightly because I was at ISO100 1/4000 shutter, and that's as fast as my XTi goes
Nice made comparison, thanks for the effort. I am a little bit surprised to see that CA on the 50mm shots, but what I noticed is that the Zeiss lenses tend to show a little bit of it in the OOF areas. Also, you may want to try tests with a subject that is somehow flat on wide apertures, to make sure that edge and corners are in focus - a problem with the fast mid telephoto lenses.
Excellent post! Thanks for the comparison. I've been using a CZ 85 1.4 recently, and I totally agree with your findings. It's sometimes tough to do a straight A/B comparison, as my focus isn't always spot on. But I find something intangibly "better" about my photos with the CZ 85 1.4. I can't quite put my finger on it.
The zeiss does show a bit more contrast in the small details, like the dirt for example. In comparison the canon looks a bit smudgy. But you cant argue with the canon for the price.
the canon 85mm are both great lenses, my 1.8 was even a bit sharper than the EF1.2 stopped down. the contax was sharper than both of them stopped down, not that it mattered in any way. I replaced my cz 85 with a contax zoom
What makes you say that the bokeh of the zeiss looks ugly, the OOF blobs?
Before jumping on to final conclusions (and buy or sell lenses), don't forget that these tests, although very nicely done, do only show the central portion of the glass. All edges and corners are cut out and that is where 80% of the differences between lenses come to play.
Andi Dietrich wrote:
the canon 85mm are both great lenses, my 1.8 was even a bit sharper than the EF1.2 stopped down. the contax was sharper than both of them stopped down, not that it mattered in any way. I replaced my cz 85 with a contax zoom
What makes you say that the bokeh of the zeiss looks ugly, the OOF blobs?
between F1.8 to F4 or so the blades of my AEG (germany) have the shape of a "ninja star", wide open it has beautiful BOKEH, but as you can see from my image the OOF lights are shaped not round but like a circular pointed star.
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