Zeiss?

I'm trying to find the best 50 prime, and I'm interested in the Zeiss 1.4 but there is a noticeable dearth of reviews and the reviews that are out there seem to hint at overpriced and overrated ... yet the example pictures posted are usually stunning (of course, this means nothing) ... what, if anything, would make this lens any better or worse than any Canon/Nikon/Sigma 50mm? I'm really into the look of these old school lenses (the voigtlander's also look amazing) but there seems to be a mystique that shrouds these lenses ... what am I missing? Some are old and cheap but really hard to find, some are super expensive but poorly reviewed (if at all) ... I'm looking for the best, most magical 50mm for under $700 ... should I be looking for these brands or am I wasting my time?

...very many magical legacy 50mm were made and highly valued in
the past;

some candidates:
SMC Takumar 50/1.4,
Nikkor AIS 50/1.4,
Nikon AIS 50/1.8E pancake,
Nikkor AIS 55/1.2,
Contax Planar 50/1.4 T*,
Zeiss Planar HFT 50/1.4,
Porst 55/1.2 MC,
Rokkor-X 55/1.2 (a bit tough to convert to EF, but doable),
and many others

quite a bit of research you'd need to do,
but if you love them it will be fun,
jpr2
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~
street candids (non-interactive):
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157609618638319/
music and dance:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157600341265280/
wildlife, macro, B&W, and 'interactive' street:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157600341377106/
Comments and critique are always welcome!
~

maybe it would be helpful for me to say that i'll be using a 5D ... how easy is it to adapt these legacy lenses and what is the trade off? any loss of image quality? would it make more sense to just get a new 50? i've been looking at the sigma 1.4 and it looks great (i like heavy solid lenses) but it seems to have issues focussing. so if focussing is out of the equation, well, that's why ive decided to look into the legacy option but i'm really not sure what benefits they provide over newer lenses ... if they're so good and so cheap, why doesnt everyone buy them?

Jos one of the reasons is that even though the Eos system allows for a great variety of interchangeable lenses, ( the canon has a large opening so can be stepped down) iwith these alternative lenses you most often lose the AF. This is why they are often not used. If you do not mind manual focusing then they can be a great alternative.
Fred Mirander has many great threads about alternative gear.

...esp. if you'd equip it with the precision matte focusing
screen (possibly with some good focusing aids - a microprism
ring/spot, or split-prism) - 5D gives the best of two worlds:
MF legendary legacy lenses, and a bright FF OVF,

jpr2
--
~
street candids (non-interactive):
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157609618638319/
music and dance:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157600341265280/
wildlife, macro, B&W, and 'interactive' street:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/qmusaget/sets/72157600341377106/
Comments and critique are always welcome!
~

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=33965087

Did you loose the first thread?
Were you looking for more 50/1.4 specific reviews? ???

Due to the lack of availability, high cost, MF, and until recently required adapter and stop down metering, they haven't been very popular. Thus there are few reviews as well. You will find quite a lot just by using Google: "Zeiss ZE lens review"
Mike K

Hey Mike, yeah I wanted to re-title it, as the first one was hard to read. And I do want more 50 1.4 specific feedback, but I've decided I just need to rent the thing to see if I like it. I realize that SO much of this stuff is subjective, and from the pics I've seen around, the ZE lenses just really suit my style. The bokeh is so unique, a little distracting at first but I've come to actually prefer it to anything else I see from comparable lenses. It has a lot of character, I guess. Any idea how the bokeh would compare between the ZE 50 and 35? Anyone?

Go to the Fred Miranda Forum on Alternative Gear and Lenses. Use a search for Zeiss, and you will come up with quite a few recent threads.

I find this forum not that keen on the alternative lenses.
Mike K

Great image is usually the result of great photography vision, rarely on the tool. All the legendary photographers in the history book use camera and lens less quality and ability than what we have today. All the parameters (DR, resolving power, contrast......) are for the description of tools, not on the final artwork, which usually render nothing relate to the tools.

Zeiss is a good company, with proven technology and result, and I am not too interested to find out whether their lens is in one way or anther better or worse than the other lenses. What's matter to me, which I think the most important feature is manual control, and fine focusing mechanism, which has its use in many areas of phtography, and of course, the AF version lens from the other camera maker has its use that Zeiss is short of.

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Regards, K
http://www.studiosota.com
http://khun-k.blogspot.com/
http://cruising-xinjiang.blogspot.com/

My logic is: there are people make their living by photography, they create fantastic images while careless on camera + lens, they just use them. And there are people making their living by testing leses, well, often they have their point and statistic terms. But I rather to believe in those photographer who just pick up their camera (either latest or from previous generations) and lenses whether old and new, to produce good images.
--
Regards, K
http://www.studiosota.com
http://khun-k.blogspot.com/
http://cruising-xinjiang.blogspot.com/