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p.4 #11 · p.4 #11 · LensRentals: Planar T* FE 50/1.4 ZA is absolutely superb! | |
Steve Spencer wrote:
I think I was the one who brought up the mid zone dip. I wish now I would not have done so, some seem to have given it way too much weight. Yes, it is there in the MTFs, but it is less extreme than some awfully good lenses (i.e., the Leica M 50 f/1.4) for which it is hardly noticeably in practice. I don't think it is going to be a serious issue for this lens at all. IMO, it is really only an issue when comparing this lens to the Otus. The FE 50 f/1.4 has about as much of a sharpness advantage over the Otus as the Otus has over the FE 50 f/1.4 in the mid zone. Their sharpness patterns are about equal, but different. That was all I was trying to say. My comment was really meant to note that as exciting as this lens is, there are still some ways that the Otus will outperform it (e.g., corrections for aberrations and mid zone sharpness).
Now what does the mid zone dip mean? My guess is you will have to very closely pixel peep to see it at f/1.4 and you won't even be able to see it with such peeping at f/2. IMO, not a serious issue at all. So, if we keep the strengths in perspective, then we should note that it is not sharper than all other 50s in all ways, but if we keep the weaknesses in perspective then we should note that even the mid zone dip is unlikely to create any serious problems. That's how I see it anyway.
Now, when people actually get the lens in their hands (thank you Fred for offering to do tests, you do a fantastic job) we will learn a lot more about what I see as the more important stuff. How does the lens perform at infinity, at medium distances, and close up? How is the bokeh at middle distances, close up, at large distances? How about wide open and stopped down a fair bit? How is the coma performance, wide open and how does it clear up stopped down? How about the bokeh fringing, how bad is it wide open and how far does the lens need to be stopped down for it to clear up? How is the contrast wide open; are there still some spherical aberrations? What about astigmatism in the corners; how it is wide open and then stopped down? All these things matter to me at least as much as sharpness and it will take more than just one review to address them (even as good as Fred's reviews are he doesn't try to address all these issues). So, it is early and the lens looks great, but let's try to keep both the positives (there is a good chance the Otus will beat it in at least some ways) and the negatives (that mid zone dip probably is a small issue at most) in perspective....Show more →
Rogers article says the mid zone dip may be an artifact of their testing rig having not quite the right stack thickness...
EDIT. Oops I see many others have pointed out this possibility, still I won't delete as reading above I can see I wasn't the only one not to have got to those posts so it bears saying again...
Edited on Jul 18, 2016 at 05:41 PM · View previous versions
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