I saw over on the B+S forum a Zeiss 50mm 1.7 for a small amount of money, much much less that i ever expected to see a zeiss for..
and as I researched it, it got sold
but Now i have an opportunity to pick up the much more highly rated 50 1.4 CY version for not much more than the 1.7
this is for a 1Ds so itll need to be adapted.
But after reading a lot of threads about the different zeiss 50mm lenses, the consensus seems to be that they are not the best for wide open / bokeh shots. Which is exactly what I want to do. I have the Canon 50 1.8 and it stinks :P
Recently, I grabbed some of my old MF pentax lenses and started playing with them again with the FF, and I have an Asahi pentax 50 1.4 and a 85 1.8 and a spiratone 135 1.8 and theyre fun, so I thought a MF Zeiss would be fun to play with too, but it seems that if I want sharp, wide open, smooth bokeh, "3d-ish" shots, the zeiss doesnt seem to be what I want. Suggestions / thoughts / ideas? Im working on a >500$ so the ZE or Sigma would be a tough sell

Contax 35/1,4? You have to go a little closer, but this lens has lots of 3D and micro-contrast. I also like the latest Leica 50 Summicron, but it doesn't have much 3D, rather it has good subject isolation, so depending on your definition of 3D...

contax 50 1.4 planar t*
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=773363&highlight=Zeiss
looks good but ill use it 75% of the time wide open

I love my Planar 50 f:1.4 to the extent that people here are probably sick of my saying that every one, well, almost everyone, should have one. But if what you want to do is shoot it wide open for bokeh, don't do it. It is the one thing it does not excel at, even more so if you do it at close range. For this, consider the Sigma 50 f:1.4 for example. Just my $0.02. YMMV

Bloody hell, Philber! What with AFAIK and YMMV, I am going to have to take Text Speak 101 in order to understand your posts.

Ok, I will try to write a personal answer, since it is given by my personal exerience with these lenses. I first had a small C/Y kit with a 28/2.8 and a 50/1.7. I did not shoot the 50 very much, but I never fell for it, no obvious reason - the pictures were sharp and pretty good as long as I did nothing stupid behind the camera . After a while, while I sold the first C/Y bunch and got some Leica instead, I got back to Zeiss and had a 50/1.4 I found this lens somehow more pleasing, both from handlig and from the color rendition. But I am not a big fan of 50mm anyway, so the lens is rather collecting dust right now.

i got the 50/1.4 planar as well and i love it. bokeh isnt most pleasing but i personally like it as i prefer the more funky bokeh rather than the smooth creamy ones .. i also sold the 50L in favor, part of it due to saving some money since 50L cost twice as much.

here are some samples if you're interested
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ekinphotography/sets/72157622108542675/