The way he describes the focus transition makes it sound like the Contax counterpart/predecessor. Even from that small image I get the feeling that this lens may have slightly more of a tendency to draw double lines, but that will hopefully be disproven.
Looks great I think I'll just order the Samyang (if it looks better than my current 35 1.4 ai-s) and then save up for either the zeiss or the new nikon... choices!
Very nice, that first shot would have not been very different if it had been shot with the old 35/1.4. I'm glad that we'll get a preview now by a photographer who knows how to use Zeiss glass.
Wish the pics were better composed. I want to see how well it resists flare and CA amongst other aspects. An really wish he would have posted the portrait shot. Right now I'm still leaning towards the C/Y version, especially when considering price.
Im considering buying a zeiss-subscription just to check out the 35 1.4 test. I'm going to get the samyang first (if it looks better than my old 35 1.4 ai-s), but then I have to decide between the nikon 35 1.4 af-s and the zeiss... (or get rich and get both :P )
wasn't price quoted as around 1300 euro and dont we usually get the same in the US ( meaning somewhere in that ball park?)... I've seen c/y 35/1.4 selling for 1100+ ... at that rate I'd rather have the newer coatings (I love the ZE colors) and the auto aperture/full exif
ersatz wrote:
Wish the pics were better composed. I want to see how well it resists flare and CA amongst other aspects. An really wish he would have posted the portrait shot. Right now I'm still leaning towards the C/Y version, especially when considering price.
morpheus2891 wrote:
wasn't price quoted as around 1300 euro and dont we usually get the same in the US ( meaning somewhere in that ball park?)... I've seen c/y 35/1.4 selling for 1100+ ... at that rate I'd rather have the newer coatings (I love the ZE colors) and the auto aperture/full exif
The c/y sells for 1100 USD though and not Euro. The rollei is even less at $600-800USD but the triangular bokeh dissuades me. I thought the Z* 35/1.4 would be priced closer to the 21/2.8 but who knows. The size/weight of the z* line is also a concern but my cameras are gripped so the lens may balance well. I'll probably wait until a few here get the Z* model and see how it compares. If it's vastly better then maybe it'll drop the price of the C/Y and I may just pick that one up as I'd be more than happy with it.
C/Y and Rollei cost about the same - you can get them between $800 and $1200, depending on the condition. C/Y is of course newer so on average they will be in better shape and hence fetch a higher price. I have seen mint Rolleis (and those are rare) to fetch over $1800 which is significantly more than a mint C/Y will cost you. In very good to excellent shape (i.e glass is perfect but there are signs of wear on the lens body) the average price is around $1000 for both versions.
You have to work hard to get the triangular bokeh effect with the Rollei. When you are shooting closeups which is the only time you can expect the aperture blades to significantly impact the shape of the bokeh (large circle of confusion) there would be very little point in stopping down. It's supposed to be used open.
As for future prices, both C/Y & Rollei versions are at an all time low. If the new 35/1.4 would be identical then prices would fall. As it looks though, it's different so you can expect the same thing to happen as with the other Contax lenses in the Z* line that were changed - prices will go up. It's a generally overused expression but the old 35/1.4 is truly a legend. So even if the new 35/1.4 is awesome there will be a lot of love left for the old version.
I think I'll just order the Samyang (if it looks better than my current 35 1.4 ai-s) and then save up for either the zeiss or the new nikon... choices!