Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4

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A tad soft at 1.4 - but not an issue for me.

This lens rejuvenated my passion for Photography. I switched to digital in the early 2000's and was always disappointed in the results compared to my workhorse film camera for 20 years - a 35mm Contax RTS with Zeiss c/y lenses. Finally - this ZE mounted on a Canon 5D mk II body equaled not only my 35 but gave me images that looked like they came from my Linhoff 6x9 view camera with Schneider lenses. At last the veil had been lifted.

The Zeiss Planar lens was designed by Dr. Paul Rudolph in 1896 based on the double Gauss design (in 1817, C F Gauss). The Planar has been the basis for many lenses - almost all the high-aperture lenses supplied on Japanese cameras are modifications on the Planar. This ZE is the culmination of 150+ years of Zeiss lens design

This lens is compact, this lens is useable at 1.4 and gets wicked sharp by 2.5 - IMHO this lens gives a "painterly" effect that has the potential to turn your photos from mere records into "Works of Art".

The rendition of this lens is spectacular - Contrast, clarity, sharpness, resolution and color are all magnificent. The bokeh is gorgeous. Beautiful glass. Great workmanship. Thank you Zeiss

As a light travel lens that is MF, there is no comparison. Only other lens that would compare is the 50L which is much larger. Of course there is the sigma 50 f1.4. Great lens too, but does have AF issues, but has excellent rendition and sharpness.

When you take on a faster lens there a compromises wide open. This lens above f2 is great, but for low light, weight and portability...excellent lens.

Not so great wide open at minimum focusing distance, some focus shift, some CA.

This is the mother of all alt lenses, at least of the current ones. It is by far the least expensive Zeiss, the smallest, the lightest, and its 50mm focal length makes it the ideal walk-about on a FF camera. Its only weakness is up close and wide open, so if one wants to do primarily portraits with blurred background, and paper-thin depth-of-field, it is not such a good idea. There is also some focus shift, if you want to pick its, but not so much as to give me grief, and, in the absolute, there is more CA than ideal.
Come f:2.0, it is wickedly sharp, all the way to infinity. Its rendition of colours, contrast and volumes is world-class, but more as understated elegance than in an in-your-face style. I use it for landscape, cityscape, some portraits, though not close up, and it never fails to give me great results.
Considering its price, unless you need AF, need a zoom, or are primarily into portraits, nobody should be without one IMHO.
Other very competent prime shooters prefer the übersharpness of the Zeiss 50 MP. Except close up, of course, I have to date seen no reason to pay more money and carry more weight for a lens that may be a tad sharper but does not have the supremely elegant rendition of the f:1.4