What a fantastic thread to read pros and cons of the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Planar. Thank you all!

I have the CY 50/1.4. Love it. Beautiful transition from in to out of focus.

I just bought a 50MP after having rented one months ago. It shot everything from macro to mountains that trip and did so beautifully.

My wife appreciates my photography work but is not fond of the expense. I told her I was likely to sell the Contax but would be sad to do so. She asked to see sample images. I showed her some. Her response was, "you can't sell that. Those two lenses are totally different."

If she can see it...

It is less about a which-is-better debate and more a question of which fits one's needs. In some cases, 'both' is even an acceptable answer, even in fiscally conscious times.

:-)

Jim

P.S. I used to have both the CV 58/1.4 and Leica 50/2. I felt that they were visually almost the same lens, when used at comparable framing and aperture. I stupidly sold both but should have kept one of them.

bushwacker wrote:
Johnny B Goode wrote:
you can debate lens specs all day long but real world performance is more important, that's why this tread is useless without pics. One taken yesterday with the 50 1.4 wide open.


IMG_7307-2 by Pete the Irish Guy, on Flickr

now someone comment on the flare...

JBG,

on this shot, what's the camera to subject distance? you didn't crop this right?

No crop.

Johnny B Goode wrote:


No crop.



and the camera-to-subject distance?

Oh I don't know. I'm horrible with distances but probably close to 6 feet

Johnny B Goode wrote:
Oh I don't know. I'm horrible with distances but probably close to 6 feet


reason I asked, a lot of people here are saying it is not sharp up close you need distance.

How sharp do you need? Per pixel sharpness on a 36MP FF sensor viewed in 100% crop could perhaps dissapoint but that is academic. You can print any size you'd like with a good capture, as long as the intent is the view the image rather than check pixels. It's sharp enough. You can take a look on the second shot in this post of page 2 in this thread, its the CY50/1.4 wideopen.
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1163096/1#11091981

It can be sharp up close, but you need to stop down. It has a great look though, even wide open and up close, so you will always get something

The C/Y is sharper up close and wide open, but it doesn't have quite as nice a look, as far as I can tell and IMO.

For me the only issue with this lens is the focus shift.

There may be sharper lenses, but this one is sharp enough!

I dunno the ZE but the C/Y is sharp all over; close up, far away, and in the middle.

I'm pretty sure these are all from the C/Y wide open at f/1.4 though I am known to nudge the aperture a little ways in - so I suppose a few of them could be between 1.6 and the next click at f/2 - most aren't for sure tho.

Wow.. those last four pics. Bokeh in that pink blossom photo is just amazing. I guess those are stitches?

Tho it might be bit less good on FF as m4/3s uses just central part of lens. Still that center portion must be damn sharp..

Nope not stitches. Those are actual single shots. If I remember correctly however the very last one there is a reference image for a stitch of the same from a different (much longer) lens which I posted here some time ago. I might have that one backwards tho and this is the stitch. I think not however because the EXIF is that of a single image and my stitched images usually show as being so in their EXIF data.

PS: I think it's probably better on FF actually. I wish I could afford one!

Another vote on 50P. Fashon, passion, love, appreciation, or simply, 50P speaks my language.

CY50 1.4

Nice suspicion confirming FF D700 shots! I bet it looks even better on D800.

Bif, is that you on one of those shots?

I guess the D700 must be getting affordable by now...

OK, I'm busted! Was it the pink sweater or the headphones that gave it away?



And yup! ya know it's cheap when even I am toying with the idea of getting one.

Old 5D is even cheaper.. and easier with C/Y lens.

Bifurcator wrote:
OK, I'm busted! Was it the pink sweater or the headphones that gave it away?

And yup! ya know it's cheap when even I am toying with the idea of getting one.

Ha ha Nah, I was wondering if it was the rabid looking guy who only showed up in the one photo where your black friend was missing, making me suspect a photographer swap. The expression also matches your posting style

A 100% crop on a 5Dc. Shot at f5.0


IMG_3953 by Pete the Irish Guy, on Flickr


IMG_3953-un-crop by Pete the Irish Guy, on Flickr

And a close-up shot at 1.4. I don't have a 100% crop readily available for this one.


IMG_4015 by Pete the Irish Guy, on Flickr