p.6 #2 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80
Snopchenko wrote:
Wonder how the new Samyang 85mm AF compares?
I would guess favorably. It seems post-Otus that many high performing teles have been released—optical compenancy seems acheived by most manufacturers at this point. The Batis, Sony FE, Canon 85 1.4 L IS, Tamron 85 1.8, Sigma Art, Leica 80 1.25, Samyang 85 1.2, Fuji 56 1.2, micro 4/3 45 1.2, Sony GM 85, nikon 105 1.4 are all new. It’s an amazing amount of recent competant lenses. Pentax has announced an 85 1.4 as well.
I think the major differences now will reside in micro contrast, tonal sensitivity and color palate. Everyone seems mostly to be favoring the ZA 85/85L rendering of very smooth ultra abstracted bokeh. Given lenses keep getting larger, more abrasion free with better off central sharpness, I think we’ll a reversion to smaller, more character lenses like the cv 40 1.2 or zm 50 1.5. The portrait lens world is ripe for something just like this.
p.6 #3 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80
Thanks for the tips and I did not see that thread! I may hunt down a n85 in the future; I'm not really a smooth abstract geek, I care about color and skin tone (I like lenses that render like cine Zeiss lenses)
p.6 #4 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80
Ten years have passed. This thread is a fine background for the issues addressed and the depth of analysis presented in it. Portraiture is key to photography and both stills and cine worlds are presently heavily involved in many of its issues, such as rates of focus fade, bokeh quality, aberration 'tuning', retention of contents in bokeh, the relationship between subject and backgound, dimensionality and the pot of gold - exactly what it is that pleases us and the viewers of our images.
A vague restlessness accompanies the re-emergence of interest in exactly what directions lens design should take, as we move on from a narrow focus on purely technical concerns to a broader understanding of exactly what makes up image quality. It's a flowering with many pathways.
It's interesting how lenses can gain, lose and regain respect. We see changes in photographic tastes and priorities with the passage of time. One (of many) examples in this thread is the Summilux R 80/1.4, which was a sibling SLR lens to what many believe was (and is) the best of its breed - the Summilux-M 75/1.4. There seems to be a kind of magic to some lenses, they become more beloved talismans than mere tools.
p.6 #5 · legendary 85 shoot out! Minolta 85 1.4 Limited, Contax N 85, Canon FD 85L, Leica R 80
philip_pj wrote:
Ten years have passed. This thread is a fine background for the issues addressed and the depth of analysis presented in it. Portraiture is key to photography and both stills and cine worlds are presently heavily involved in many of its issues, such as rates of focus fade, bokeh quality, aberration 'tuning', retention of contents in bokeh, the relationship between subject and backgound, dimensionality and the pot of gold - exactly what it is that pleases us and the viewers of our images.
A vague restlessness accompanies the re-emergence of interest in exactly what directions lens design should take, as we move on from a narrow focus on purely technical concerns to a broader understanding of exactly what makes up image quality. It's a flowering with many pathways.
It's interesting how lenses can gain, lose and regain respect. We see changes in photographic tastes and priorities with the passage of time. One (of many) examples in this thread is the Summilux R 80/1.4, which was a sibling SLR lens to what many believe was (and is) the best of its breed - the Summilux-M 75/1.4. There seems to be a kind of magic to some lenses, they become more beloved talismans than mere tools....Show more →
Time flies. And in the digital photography world, it feels like a century.
Funny to look back on this—I would do things so much differently now. Reviews and what not were much simpler then too—and not the youtube culture of now.
I migrated to more serious and longer-form review—but the thinking and exercises here are educational.
