A user was asking me about my OM 50/2 today and had me curious whether anyone has ever tested it against the Zeiss 50/2 makro. Has anyone here ever used both?
I'm interested in this comparison, too. I have only the Zuiko and am very impressed by it's sharpness from center to the corners even wide open. I had many other 50mm lenses but the Zuiko has the clear edge in this regard. From what I've seen from many Zeiss examples in the forums and on flickr I have the impression that the Zeiss has more contrast and more saturated colors, while the Zuiko is sharper in corners. But I'd like to see a direct comparison between both lenses to test this impression.
I have the ZE 50 MP and it is very sharp across the frame and with its floating element design, is sharp at infinity and close up. There is a small drop in sharpness only in the extreme corners, basically the last 2% of distance to the corners which is not a factor.
Since I don't have the Zuiko 50/2 I didn't respond earlier. But I will say that the Zeiss is very sharp wide open at f/2 and has excellent bokeh.
I made a comparison between zeiss MP and contax n 1.4 a couple of weeks ago. It shows that neither the 1.4 Zeiss is soft at close focus nor that the MP is unusable at infinity, in fact it is the sharpest 50mm out there at this distance I have ever come by. Still not much of a difference, most 50mm are great performers anyway.
Thanks for that review. Very helpful, as I'm also looking for another 50! From what I've seen so far, I'd prefer the 50MP over it's 1.4 cousin. Although a Conorus conversion is truly tempting!
Last week I almost bought a Summicron. Glad I didn't, as the 50MP seems to be better in every regard, but I have to make thorough comparisons. What do you think?
Ohmygod wrote:
Last week I almost bought a Summicron. Glad I didn't, as the 50MP seems to be better in every regard, but I have to make thorough comparisons. What do you think?
I found the Summicron to be a very fine crafted lens though not as sharp as the Zeiss lenses and I found that Leica colors are not of my taste either. I would say the Summi is kind of a "between" Sigma 50mm and Zeiss 1.4 50mm. I 'd say the MP is made to be sharp, the 1.4 has a different finger print and I prefer it.
Andi Dietrich wrote:
I made a comparison between zeiss MP and contax n 1.4 a couple of weeks ago. It shows that neither the 1.4 Zeiss is soft at close focus nor that the MP is unusable at infinity, in fact it is the sharpest 50mm out there at this distance I have ever come by. Still not much of a difference, most 50mm are great performers anyway.
my ZF 50MP is on the B/S BTW. I dont use it since I received the Conurus AF Planar lens
Just saw your comparison shots and noticed how blurry your N 50/1.4 infinity landscape at f2 shots are in the edge of the frame crops.Awhile back when I posted my infinity 50 comparison test shots of a church, you and someone else remarked that I must have done something wrong and that your copy was not like that.
Well, looks like the same as your copy. Also, would be nice if you matched up the exposure better between the two lenses in the landscape shots. The 50 MP shots are darker in some of the shots.
I never made you believe that the N was tack sharp at the edge wide open. There is no 50mm which doesnt need to be stopped down for a perfectly sharp landscape image. It would be the same for the Sigma, the Canon and whatever lens.
The exposure speed and the aperture was the same for boht lenses. The darker frame comes from the light fall off. Matching exposure individually would flaw the comparision
I haven't tested the OM 50mm f2 but I have tested the OM 3.5 and 1.8
From my testing at f5.6 and infinity focus (landscape conditions):
Contax 50mm f1.7 is sharpest
Zeiss 50mm f2.0 2nd sharpest, best color
OM 50mm f1.8 third in sharpness but very close to OM macro
OM 50mm f3.5 very close to OM 1.8 at infinity and amazing at macro.
All lenses are very close and on any given day may be within my ability to manually focus. The OM's are stellar on a micro 4/3rds
Contax 50mm f1.7 is sharpest
Zeiss 50mm f2.0 2nd sharpest, best color
OM 50mm f1.8 third in sharpness but very close to OM macro
OM 50mm f3.5 very close to OM 1.8 at infinity and amazing at macro.
I've avoided this thread, but this one is really begging questions, so I'll wade in.
What do you mean by "sharpest"? Overall, in general, on average, in the center, in the corner, averaged across the frame, at what aperture, averaged across apertures, average across apertures and the frame in some way, etc. If averaged how did you average? How did you "test"? Is this scientific, was is side-by-side, or just a subjective impression you got but using them at different times with different subjects?
I am really curious. I only have had the first 2 lenses in your list, and I would have easily and without a doubt put the Zeiss 50mm f2.0 (assuming this is ZF/ZE MP lens) over the older 50/1.7. As would most people out there unless cost was a very important consideration. You're ordering is quite counter to what people would expect and any notion of what the consensus might be. The 50MP would (to use fanboy language) "wipe the floor" with the old f1.7 lens at f2.0, and be superior overall at every aperture smaller. The only place where the f1.7 might be a littler better than the 50MP is in the extreme corner at f5.6 (and maybe f4.0). So really, what do you mean by "sharpest"?
As stated: I did Limited testing... but to answer your questions:
Tested at inifinity and f5.6. What most would consider landscape conditions. Sharpest is based on detail resolution. Center is very high on all of the lenses so the largest diferences are towards the boarders and corners. In center at 5.6 the f1.7 did look ever so slightly better than MP 50, and looked somewhat better in boarders. I edited previous post to capture landscape conditions.
I agree that at close distance the 50mm F2.0 MP does "mop the floor" with the Contax f1.7, especially at f2.0. If not working at infinity and mid apature the 50MP is proabbly a better choie, and if color and Zeiss-ness is your deal the 50MP would be the choice. For total Zeiss-ness at close range I also realllllly like the Zeiss 35mm f2.0
