All images by Dawn M. Wayand unless otherwise noted.
Zeiss – a German company formed in 1846 and manufacturing lenses in both Germany and Japan – has been known to have great optics. Heck, they have been manufacturing glass for uses such such as microscopes, riflescopes, binoculars and eyeglasses –not to mention their latest project of working on a Hubble Telescope for NASA! I had to see what all the fuss was about so I started my experiment by taking theZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Camera Lensout for a spin. This particular Zeiss lens is specifically made by Cosina in Japan – but directly under Zeiss specifications
Image Courtesy of Adorama Website
TheZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Lensis available at Adorama for $625. What benefits would I have in this lens over my other 50mm lens? What would I be giving up? For the purpose of exploring the answers to those questions, I test drove theZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Camera Lenson both a Nikon D7100 and a Nikon D300.
The perfect little compact lens.
Compatibility
TheZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Camera Lensis manufactured for a variety of mounts such asCanon EF,Nikon Fand M42 mounts. You can may also find these in used lenses for the Pentax K mount. There are many cameras within these brands where all functions are fully supported, but note that there are limited functions when used with other cameras inside and outside these brands as well, so ask your Adorama dealer on compatibility before purchasing. The lens works well on full frame and crop sensor cameras, however with crop sensor, the focal length is the equivalent of a 75mm lens – which is great for portrait work.
Image Courtesy of Adorama Website
Look and Feel
While as solid as a rock, this lens is a little smaller than a baseball at the length of 69mm (2.71 inches) with a diameter of 66mm (2.6 inches). At 330g (11.6 oz), it is not as light as other 50mm 1.4 lenses such as the Nikon 50mm 1.4, which weighs 230g (8.1 oz), however, the Zeiss is not as heavy as one would think being completely constructed of metal and glass whereas the Nikon is constructed of polycarbonate and glass.
Less than the size of three quarters (including rear cap)!
A downside for many, but a big plus to others is that this lens is manual focus only. If you are not familiar with manual focus and have only used autofocus in the past, take the time to learn. You will then have complete control over your image results instead of your camera having the last word on what you are wanting to focus on.
TheZeisshas an endlessly long focus throw, but have patience! While focus won’t come immediately, you will be rewarded with the ability to focus more precisely. Due to this being a wide and fast lens with such a long focus throw, I would recommend a Super Precision Matte Focusing Screen or Microprism Focusing Screen for Canon users or a Split Prism Focusing Screen for Nikon users. You can findfocusing screensatAdoramaat varied prices based on your camera model. Many users swear by these, but if you plan to purchase this additional helpful guide, be sure whatever camera model you have, that you check with an Adorama specialist for the exact screen to purchase and have a qualified technician install it for you to avoid damaging it, which is extremely easy to do.
Canon Eh-A Standard Precision Matte Focusing Screen for EOS 7D Mark II DSLR Camera
Image Courtesy of Adorama Website
While very, very smooth to turn (almost too smooth!) and because of the endless focus throw, I found it difficult to focus very quickly (and have missed some street action shots because of this!) so I would not recommend this type of lens for motion or action shots. BTW – the front element doesn’t rotate during focusing so this works especially well with CPL filters, which help to make your landscape shots richer in color.
I almost missed this split second street scene due to the long focus throw and trying to fine tune the focus before the moment passed While I did manage to catch the moment,the image is still a little blurry – even at f/5.6 – because I was not able to get the focus perfect in time.
ISO 200. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/250 sec.
I love that this lens has nicely engraved and painted markings on the barrel. You do not find this much anymore as most modern lens markings are typically painted on or stuck on – which eventually rub off after extended use. This lens has very bright colored markings noting aperture stops from f/1.4 to f/16 as well as another uncommon feature for a modern lens – a distance scale. The aperture ring is controlled in ½ stop steps and can be locked at its lowest setting to prevent movement of that setting while shooting.
Image Quality
Let’s start with some of the qualities that are extremely important in choosing a lens…
Color and Contrast
The color quality produced from this lens is really nice, vibrant, natural color with realistic contrast. The contrast, though, is a bit lower at wider apertures, however, this starts to improve greatly when stopped down past f/2.8.
Captures beautiful bright and natural colors exceptionally. (Colors have not been modified here, only a slight adjustment in exposure to compensate for my slightly underexposed original image.)
ISO 640. Shot at f/4.5 at 1/250 sec.
Even in low-light, colors and contrast are rendered spot-on as seen below in this low-lit science museum in Chicago housing a real submarine.
Natural colors exactly as seen. No post processing on this image at all.
ISO 800. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/50 sec.
Bokeh
This lens has a smooth, painterly bokeh, however like most 50mm lenses, images are very a bit too soft when shot wide open, but this improves as it is stopped down as you can see in my paperclip test below. I saw the my most favorable results when reaching f/4 to f/5.6 as shown in myColor & Contrastimage above and in my portrait image further down underSharpness. In my image above, you can see how the foreground and and background have a nice blur, allowing you to focus on the bright colors in focus.
The focus should be on the middle square metal paperclip, which is very soft here.
Wide open there just isn’t enough contrast for this paperclip to quite stand out yet.
ISO 640. Shot at f/1.4 at 1/500 sec.
At f/1.8, the fog is lifted and the test paperclip becomes more visible.
ISO 640. Shot at f/1.8 at 1/400 sec.
By f/2.2, you can finally start to see the individual paperclip in question as more
contrast is introduced giving the image more depth.
ISO 640. Shot at f/2.2 at 1/320 sec.
Getting to f/2.8, the paperclip is more defined by contrast – much sharper.
ISO 640. Shot at f/2.8 at 1/250 sec.
Finally, by f/3.2, the paperclip is crystal clear.
ISO 640. Shot at f/3.2 at 1/200 sec.
Sharpness
The close range focus is .45 meters (1.5 feet) which makes macro and closeup photography a bit difficult and left up to other members of the Zeiss family, like the Zeiss 100mm – which I will cover in another review. I found that sharpness in this lens was best when used at f/4.5 and stopped down from there.
Even while shooting a scratched up mirror, I was still able to capture a sharp image from a little over 3 feet away.
ISO 200. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/250 sec.
As with the portrait above, I was pretty impressed with the camera’s sharpness when shooting outdoor portraiture. In the images below, my focus was on the left eye, which came in pretty sharp – especially for focusing through his polarized sunglasses to capture the eye!
I was impressed that while I focused on the eye, a good amount of his face was sharp
as well, and the background managed to have a nice blur in the process.
ISO 200. Shot at f/9 at 1/320 sec.
Even through his tinted sunglasses, I was able to capture a sharp eye and lashes,
as well as a natural light catchlight and the detail of scratches in his sunglasses to boot!
ISO 200. Shot at f/9 at 1/320 sec.
While I felt the need to stand back to get sharper images in light, in low-light situations, I found that I needed to get closer to get the sharpness and contrast I desired.
From 3 feet away, I had trouble focusing to get this scene sharp while wanting to
bring out only on the coals, leaving the rest of the surroundings dark.
ISO. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/40 sec.
As I came in closer at about 1.5 feet from the furnace, the image has much more clarity.
ISO. Shot at f/5.6 at 1/40 sec.
Like nearly all 50mm lenses, images with the Zeiss 50mm appear softer at wider apertures. Scenes and objects become sharper and more in focus the more the lens is stopped down, as exhibited below.
This image isn’t terrible, but nothing was really sharp here.
ISO 800. Shot at f/1.4 at 1/250 sec.
Watch as the middle cork becomes clearer to read and you begin to be able to see the pores of the cork.
ISO 800. Shot at f/2.5 at 1/160 sec.
The objects become more definite here. You can see the cork pores and the lettering is clear and precise.
ISO 800. Shot at f/3.2 at 1/100 sec.
And now for the fine print…
Chromatic Aberrations
Compared to other lenses on the market, the Zeiss does have some fringing in higher contrast areas when shooting wide open, but using a lens hood helps to reduce CA substantially.
Flare
I also failed to see any lens flare in my images and I shot outside all day without a lens hood. I know there are folks that claim a slight lens flare in extreme conditions, but that is easily remedied with a lens hood.
Distortion
I did not notice any distortion my images, but I have heard of very slight distortion in this lens that is negligible.
Vignetting
One great feature of using this lens that I did not find was vignetting – at all. With some of the other 50mm lenses I’ve used thus far, there’s always been a very slight hint of vignetting that I’ve had to remove with Lightroom, but it was non-existent for me with this lens.
Who It’s For and Recommended Uses
This lens is a beauty for low-light and landscape/cityscape photography, but I honestly wouldn’t say it’s the absolute best portrait lens I’ve ever used, though many others might disagree. I actually prefer theRokinon 50mm f/1.4 lensover the Zeiss 50mm for shooting portraiture for its tack sharp clarity and spot-on color, with a much shorter focus throw, but everyone has their own preference for their favorite 50mm based on its overall intended use. It’s definitely a dream lens for videographers because of the long focus throw and the softness that the aperture is capable of providing. I would 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 and just practice: you have to learn to walk before you run! Focusing with this 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:
Recommended:
58mm Filters (UV, CPL, ND)
A good tripod or monopod
Conclusion and Recommendation
I think every lens has a place in a certain someone’s camera bag and that they can be the perfect tool for particular cults of people. For this lens, it requires scenes or subjects that can allow for those extra few seconds of time to focus. Being a travel/street photographer turned “people” photographer requires me to have a lens where I can focus very quickly. While I enjoyed taking theZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Lensout for a test drive and obtained many wonderful images with it, for my personal use, I will probably stick with a prime where I can focus much quicker since my subjects tend to always be on the move. That being said, should I ever branch into landscape/nature photography, increase my interest in low-light/night photography or shoot video regularly, I might revisit this lens because it did produce some nice results. I look forward to checking out other lenses in the Zeiss family – primarily the 85mm and 100mm – so be on the lookout for my upcoming reviews on those. TheZeiss 50mm T1.4 Planar ZF.2 Lensis available atAdorama. Also available inCanon EFand M42 mounts.
