p.1 #2 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
Some highlights off the top of my head:
80mm f/2.8 Planar for Rolleiflex and Hasselblad
10.5cm f/4,5 Tessar on Zeiss Ikon Ikonta
50mm f/1.5 Sonnar on Contax
180mm f/2.8 and 300mm f/4 "Zebra" Sonnar on Pentacon Six
50mm f/1.5 C Sonnar ZM
38mm f/4.5 Biogon on Hasselblad SWC
35mm f/3.5 Tessar on Yashica T4
45mm f/2 Planar on Contax G
p.1 #4 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
Excellent question!
Although I have far less experience of Zeiss lenses than @raizans or @nehemiahphoto, I strongly agree that the 50mm Sonnar f/1.5 should figure on any such list. It may not be in quite the same mould as some of the lenses that are most associated with the Zeiss 3D “pop”, but I do think it has amazing character, and better contrast then is sometimes thought, even wide open.
Partly as a result of the bomb that Nehemiah dropped last year in Fred’s excellent 50mm Summilux / CV f/1.2 Nokton / CV f/2.0 APO thread, here, I bought one last year. It was just as good as I had hoped, and I then managed to pick up a late 1930s Contax f/1.5 Sonnar, renovated and modified for the M mount by Skyllaney Opto-Mechanics. Marvellous. I’ll post some comparisons when I have time.
One other Zeiss lens worthy of mention, which is often overlooked, is the ZM 85mm f/4 Tele-Tessar.
As most of you will know, some rather special and famous photographs have been taken using Zeiss lenses. It does help to have a unique photo opportunity, of course (I hope I got the lens details right!!) ….
p.1 #7 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
nehemiahphoto wrote:
As far lenses with more character/less corrected of the many I’ve owned these stand out more:
Zeiss 80/2.8 (Hasselblad)
Contax G21 and G28
CY 28/2
CY 35/1.4
Contarex 85/2
ZM 50/1.5
Contax N 85/1.4
If I want much higher contrast and but with some structure in the draw…
ZM 35/1.4
ZA 50/1.4
And high contrast + smooth bokeh (but this type of draw has lost much of its appeal to me, but Zeiss does it as well as anyone):
Loxia 21/2.8
RX1 35/2 Sonnar
ZF 100/f2
ZA 135/1.8
There’s so much good Zeiss glass over the years.
Wow, great list there, thank you. The only one I own is the RX1 (which I love), but I agree that while it's an amazing lens, I don't see much 3D pop or other typical Zeiss signature (but maybe that's just me).
Of these, which ones do you think show the best 3D pop?
And thanks to everyone else for the replies - it's not helping my years-long desire to get a 50/1.5 ZM
p.1 #10 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
thank you. Happy to share!
There are a lot of shooters with a lot of knowledge on FM. I don’t want this swamp the thread, and I’d like to hear other people’s thoughts. So I will wait to post my longer response.
p.1 #12 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
I've only owned one - and it was the old Sony 50mm f/1.4 ZA Planar T*. People were excited when the first 50 1.4 GM was released, but I always thought the ZA had something special about the rendering.
p.1 #13 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
saxguy wrote:
I've only owned one - and it was the old Sony 50mm f/1.4 ZA Planar T*. People were excited when the first 50 1.4 GM was released, but I always thought the ZA had something special about the rendering.
I actually owned that lens for a while as well, and I really liked it (aside from the size). It did have a little something extra to it in the rendering I thought, but given the size I knew I wouldn't pick it up that much.
p.1 #14 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
raizans wrote:
Some highlights off the top of my head:
80mm f/2.8 Planar for Rolleiflex and Hasselblad
10.5cm f/4,5 Tessar on Zeiss Ikon Ikonta
50mm f/1.5 Sonnar on Contax
180mm f/2.8 and 300mm f/4 "Zebra" Sonnar on Pentacon Six
50mm f/1.5 C Sonnar ZM
38mm f/4.5 Biogon on Hasselblad SWC
35mm f/3.5 Tessar on Yashica T4
45mm f/2 Planar on Contax G
p.1 #15 · What Zeiss lenses have the most Zeiss "magic"?
weezintrumpete wrote:
I actually owned that lens for a while as well, and I really liked it (aside from the size). It did have a little something extra to it in the rendering I thought, but given the size I knew I wouldn't pick it up that much.
I use the SL3 and the 50mm Summilux-SL. The a7r v and Sony 50 1.4 ZA would be the size difference equivalent of me going to a Fuji X100vi at this point
