Thanks everyone for the comments... I really think that the C/Y 35/1.4 is probably the best 35 I have personally used for wide-open candids / portraits. With the 5D and Ee-S, it's also a pleasure to use. Sometimes I wonder if Carl Zeiss has patented the combination of high resolution with high microcontrast? There is a depth to the images I get that just isn't there with the 35L. If Sony was to take this exact design, re-release it as an Alpha AF lens, I think that I would be the first person in line to switch.
Jason, your portrait is the perfect example of what makes the Zeiss 35/1.4 so special. There's not another 35mm lens like it. It's a shame the new Zeiss 35/1.4 doesn't use the same exact optical formula.
I've been unfaithful to it with a different camera system for the past weeks, but I'll try to get some quality time with this lens in the coming weeks.
True, but the 35/1.4 is a special case. It's difficult to precisely put in words but it and the Rokkor 58/1.2 appeal to me on a different level than my other lenses. They are, clumsily expressed more personal and more humane. The color rendering has a certain subtlety and the DOF falloff is really unique - especially at close to medium distances.
Portraits (head & shoulders) with the 35/1.4 for instance enclose the subject in a special way and produce a much more intimate image than with most other lenses. As I said, it's not really simple to express with words, but I'm sure you know what I mean.
Ok, I actually got around using it for a few shots today. Not exactly the type of shots I was talking about previously, but the 35/1.4 does a fair job as a landscape lens as well.
The 35/1.4 from Zeiss is certainly one of the best lenses ever made... If only it could focus easily! I missed a lot of shots because of its extremely short focusing ring throw. I can actually catch more shots in focus with let's say Oly 50/1.2 wide open than with this Distagon. Anybody else having the same problem?
Beautiful! Like pouring lukewarm cream on the brain!
hiepphotog, it took a while for me to "find the beauty" in this lens. Very special, very delicate. This thread opened my eyes and then the 35/1.4 wide open. That day, my 35L was dead to me!
(my uncle)