All images by Dawn M. Wayand unless otherwise noted.
Most of us have heard of the name Zeiss. For those of you who have not, Carl Zeiss has been a producer of many optical instruments such as microscopes, binoculars and eyeglasses since 1846. The Zeiss Planar lens was introduced back in 1896 after Paul Rudolph, a German physicist, developed a photography lens while working at Carl Zeiss. We rely on many of Zeiss-type products to be accurate for our use in our everyday lives (for me, eyeglasses are necessary for my ability to even write this review!)
Perfect lens for that sweet spot.
ISO 800. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/30 of a sec.
This particular lens can be found at Adorama for just under $1,100 in a Nikon mount. Before I purchase lenses, I like to test drive them, which Adorama Rentals has a great service where you can do just that! I was curious how Zeiss lenses stacked up in accuracy and quality against their other incredible glass materials/products, so I put the Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F/1.4 ZF lens through a few tests of my own. For the purposes of this review, I tested the lens on a Nikon D7100 camera body.
Image Courtesy of Adorama Website
Compatibility
The Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F/1.4 ZF lens is manufactured for both Nikon (F mount – the ZF.2 model) and Canon (EF mount – the ZE model). You can may also find these in used lenses for Pentax K mounts. There are very few Nikon and Canon models that do not support all functions of these lenses but I always say it’s good to check with your Adorama representative before purchasing any lens to make sure it’s fully compatible with your camera model. This Zeiss works on both full frame and crop sensor cameras but on 1.5x crop sensors, it has the equivalence of a 127.5mm focal length, which still makes for exceptional portraiture.
Don’t be fooled by the smaller size. This lens feels like a brick!
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.8 at 1/125 of a sec.
Look and Feel
Don’t mess with this bad boy as the Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F/1.4 ZF lens is as tough as a cinderblock yet not quite as big or heavy as one – coming in at a weight of 570g (1.26 lbs), a length of 86mm (3.39 inches) and a diameter of 77mm (3.03 inches). In hand, this lens feels super solid as it is made completely of metal – including the lens hood!
A little over three quarters long, four – if you count the rear cap.
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.8 at 1/125 of a sec.
This lens is not for everyone as it is manual-focus-only. I would encourage those non-manual shooters to take this lens out for a spin on rental for a week and learn to shoot manual because the reward is having complete control of what “you” want to focus on rather than fighting with the camera on what it chooses to focus on for you. A tiny twist can shift focus between one eye or the other in an asymmetrical portrait. It’s pretty amazing. Unless I’m shooting action, I will probably stick to manual focus lenses from here on out!
The Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F/1.4 ZF lens has beautifully bold engraved markings on the barrel instead of the modern painted markings on polycarbonate – which tend to rub off easily after extended use. The markings note an aperture range of 1.4 to 16. The lens also shows an uncommon distance scale and a depth of field scale.
This Zeiss has a very long throw, but it provides for more accuracy in focusing. If you struggle with focusing, a focusing screen might be in order for you. You can find focusing screens at Adorama at varied prices based on your camera model. Be sure to ask your Adorama technician on exactly which screen you need before buying and be sure to have a qualified technician install this for you as it is easy to damage during installation and a bit of a pricey part to go to waste due to improper installation.
Canon Eh-A Standard Precision Matte Focusing Screen for EOS 7D Mark II DSLR Camera
Image Courtesy of Adorama Website
Due to the focus throw being so long, even though I captured a lot of detail in some, I managed to miss some action shots as I could not focus quick enough (as seen below); therefore I would not recommend this lens for action or sports photography.
This was an unplanned shot and while I still captured a lot of detail, it’s mostly blurry due to
inability to bring anything into focus quick enough because of the long throw.
ISO 640. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/160 of a sec.
In a more controlled environment, such as understanding the exact timing of an action and setting up the focus ahead of time, I was able to achieve a much sharper, detailed image, as shown below.
This is a much sharper version under a more controlled scenario.
ISO 640. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/160 of a sec.
I also wanted to mention that even though you are twisting the focus ring to focus, the front element does not move so this lens still works well with CPL filters.
Image Quality
Color and Contrast
I was most pleased with the color renditioning of the Zeiss lens over many other lenses that I’ve tried or owned to date. Colors are vivid and vibrant. Contrast is low at wider apertures but improves when stopped down.
The colors here are very vivid under a clouded sky. Picture is also very sharp.
While colors can vary slightly for artistic purposes, one area where it cannot is portraiture. I was quite pleased with the excellent matching in skin tone, as shown in the portrait of a friend below.
I was pleased not only at the excellent match in skin tone, but the overall sharpness of the image.
ISO 640. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/160 of a sec.
While you may not know my friend’s skin tone, we all know the color of money…
Natural colors exactly as seen. No post processing on this image at all (except to add my watermark).
ISO 800. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/30 of a sec.
Bokeh
With 9 aperture blades in a circular diaphragm, the blurred background or “bokeh” of this lens is very creamy – as illustrated by my Color and Contrast portrait above – and artistically dreamy for other creative uses. However, to go a step further and show the difference in progression between a few different stops, I photographed a couple of sunflowers at four settings. I love yellow petals, so my focus actually fell on the top petals of the left flower. Watch the increase in focus as I stop down from f/1.4 to f/5.6.
Some of the things that caught my eye in watching difference in this progression going forward were the stems off to the right and the second flower. In the f/1.4 image below, the overall image is pretty soft. The flower stems are absolutely impossible to make out the details. The right sunflower has no strong detail.
ISO 800. Shot at f/1.4 at 1/500 of a sec.
As I stopped down to f/2.0, while the stems still have no real definition, the petals of the flower on the right start to become more detailed, as do more petals on the initial left flower that I am focused on.
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.0 at 1/250 of a sec.
Going down to f/2.8, I saw an incredible difference in more detail in focus than from the two previous images. The fact that there were two stems became more obvious. Even more petals on the left flower became more distinctly separated from each other. While I could see that all of the leafs started having more definition, even that little left leaf on the left flower finally lost its fuzzy halo.
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.8 at 1/125 of a sec.
By f/5.6, the entire image is almost in focus, including the markings of the wood on my table!
ISO 800. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/30 of a sec.
Sharpness
This lens can produce tack sharp results as found in my portrait above under Color and Contrast, but not wide open – which is common. At its widest aperture, images are very soft. Scenes and objects become sharper and more in focus the more the lens is stopped down as shown below.
As seen above, the top of the stems and around the top edges of the white part of the flower have very soft halos.
ISO 800. Shot at f/1.4 at 1/500 of a sec.
In the next image, the halos around the flowers disappear and the flowers become much sharper, but the tops of the stems still show a slight bit of halos at f/2.8.
Those soft halos disappear from the tops of the flowers here.
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.8 at 1/125 of a sec.
At f/5.6, the image is crisp where the stems actually look separated and defined, with a pleasant bokeh.
A much crisper image with pleasant bokeh.
ISO 800. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/30 of a sec.
This next image shows just how tack sharp of an image the lens can yield when outdoors at a slightly wider aperture of f/4.5.
Almost every rivet is noticeable here with no clarity added.
ISO 200. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/400 of a sec.
What impressed me the detail I was able to pick up a little over a mile away, unable to actually see the exact details I was capturing as shown in the images below.
I shot this from over a mile away and struggled with ability to tell if I was even in focus due to the brightness
of a cloudy day. I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and snapped the frame.
ISO 250. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/400 of a sec.
With the sharpness I got from over a mile away, this makes for an excellent prime telephoto lens!
ISO 250. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/400 of a sec.
A last note on sharpness: for those with a bit of a shaky hand, a tripod and optionally, a remote will help prevent blurry images and aid to tack sharp images.
Chromatic Aberrations
When compared to other lenses on the market, the Zeiss does have slight fringing in higher contrast areas when shooting wide open, but using a lens hood helps to reduce CA considerably.
Flare
Beyond the cloudy images throughout this review, I did manage to shoot some scenes outdoors in much harsher lighting conditions and did not capture lens flare in any of my images, thanks to the Zeiss T*Ⓡ anti-reflective coating on the lens and a lens hood.
Distortion
Considering this to be a standard portrait lens, it is not surprising that I found no distortion in my images.
Vignetting
I also failed to see any vignetting with this lens which was a pleasant surprise compared to other 85mm lenses I have used.
Who It’s For and Recommended Uses
This lens is excellent for landscape, product and low-light photography as well as portraiture. It can almost easily serve as a general purpose lens. By far, it is also a dream lens for videographers due to the long focus throw and the softness that the aperture offers. As always, I highly recommend renting this lens prior to purchasing it to see if this is the right lens for what you shoot. If you are new to manual focusing, just remember to be patient, don’t give up right away. You must practice. Remember, you have to learn to walk before you can run! Using a manual focus lens is a great exercise in training your eye just like a prime lens is a great tool to train you to zoom with your feet!
Included and Optional Accessories
Included:
Lens Shade
Recommended:
Filters (UV, CPL, ND)
A good tripod
Conclusion and Recommendation
Overall, I was a bit torn with this lens. As a travel/street photographer turned “people” photographer, I need a lens that I can focus very quickly. While I also love landscape photography and low-light photography, I just do not really shoot this as much. It could be useful for me with architecture, yes. And if I were to shoot video more often, absolutely. So for those reasons, I might not purchase this lens at the moment. I would definitely reconsider down the road should what I primarily shoot change. But again, every lens holds a place in someone’s camera bag based on what they shoot. I do give this lens an A+ for its crisp sharpness and its creamy-dreamy bokeh. I think manual focus shooters and aspiring manual focus shooters will definitely love this lens.
