Re: How do old Zeiss/Contax/Yashica lenses compare to modern designs?
I think you answered your own rhetorical question. Maybe that was done to seek validation of the choices you've already made. In the portrait range you already own the Planar 85/1.4 and the 85/1.4D and you've compared them to the 50/1.8S and made your decision. I'm not quite sure what you can expect us to offer, as you seem to already know what you like. Personally, I agree with your choices.
As much as I love the Planar 85/1.4 for it's unique rendering characteristics I find it difficult to use for semi-candid portraits, or what I would call quick indoor portraits in ambient light, because it is very difficult to quickly nail wide open focus manually and because of it's focus shift at wider apertures. I pair my Planar with the Nikon 85/1.4G for those times when I need to have fast AF. The 1.4G is great for instant AF indoor portraits in ambient light. I prefer the 1.4G over more recent designs because I agree with Sam's previous comments about ASPH-everything lenses. Lenses that produce onion rings in the OOF highlights are a no-go for me and the 1.4G produces beautiful smooth OOF highlights. The 85/1.4G is a recent lens design, and freak's comments that it all depends on the design of the recent lens is spot-on, as the lens seems intended to avoid the modern ASPH-everything characteristics that a subset of users don't like.
To adapt CY mounts to Nikon I've modified lenses using Leitax F-mount converters which becomes expensive if you're adapting a large number of lenses. I expect that the process would be much simpler on the Z mount if all that you need to do is to mount the lens on an adapter ring. (No experience there)
Apr 08, 2024 at 07:32 AM
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