:
I did a quick comparison of various 50mm lenses, including a recent one, considered as one of the very best for a full frame camera, the Sony Zeiss 55mm F1.8 (ok ok it's NOT a 50mm, but close
Zeiss 50mm F1.7 MM
Zeiss 50mm F1.4 MM
Zeiss 35-70mm F3.4 MM
If we talk only about sharpness, wide open or closed a bit, the recent lens is clearly ahead. But when you close enough, it's a different story. By F5.6, and especially at F8, it's getting difficult to make the difference between them. Center, border or corner. They all seem equal in the center, it's really hard to make a difference. On the border, the F1.8 has a clear advantage wide open, the F1.4 seems very slightly better than the F1.7 around F4/5.6, and by F8, they are similar, with the zoom beating them and getting close to the 55mm.
In the corner, the 55mm starts ahead again, but the F1.7 is even better than the 55mm at F8. The F1.4 is a bit behind, and the zoom is sitting next to the 55mm.
So to summarize : the F1.7 deserves its reputation of sharpness : it can kinda equal the very recent 55mm around F8 ! The F1.4 is a bit soft wide open, but really gets better when closing, still a great value for the money, and a closer minimal focus distance. Finally, if you do mostly landscape photos, the famous little 35-70mm is really impressive. At F8, it would be hard to make a difference with any prime, except on other criteria like distortion of course. But its corner to corner sharpness is stunning. I didn't compare it with other primes at 35 and 70mm, but it seems to be very good, especially at 35mm. Pair it with the 100-300mm and the 21mm F2.8, and you have a stunning set for landscape images ! A full bag of primes with just 3 lenses.
(test made with just one sample, so the results could vary a bit with other copies...)
And just like that, a photo from the 100-300mm :
Also just for fun, the owner gave me a 1997 Camera Catalog that listed prices for all the Contax Lenses from then (probably very similar to the one Nick used for his 2015 guide).
MM Lens Prices:
[/url]SCAN0037 by Tony Yang, on Flickr[/IMG]
AE Lens Prices:
[/url]SCAN0038 by Tony Yang, on Flickr[/IMG]
The second to last column lists the average price of a used lens. The last column is the original asking price for a new lens. (i.e the 21mm f/2.8 had a used price of 75,000 yen and a new price of 198,000 yen)
If you're curious about how much those prices would be in dollars. The conversion rate in 1997 was still roughly the same as it is today (1 USD = ~ 117 yen).
Interestingly enough, it looks like in 1997, the cost of the 35-135mm and 100-300mm zooms were even more expensive than the 21mm f/2.8
Greets, Nick and the followers.
Whilst it is not C/Y lens, where's else the best place on Earth to ask for rare Zeiss lens data?
So guys, have you ever heard of this late 1970-s Zeiss Oberkochen lens?
It is Oberkochen Opton Vario-So (Sonnar) 22-110mm f2 T2.7 zoom lens.
Here I made the datasheet for this rare Vario-So (Sonnar), taken from NIKFI Lens Test Book of 1978th:
Oberkochen Opton Vario-So 22-110mm f2 zoom lens data: resolution, vignetting, spectral transmission, image shift, CA, astigmatism and main optical data.
Greets, Nick and the followers.
Whilst it is not C/Y lens, where's else the best place on Earth to ask for rare Zeiss lens data?
So guys, have you ever heard of this late 1970-s Zeiss Oberkochen lens?
It is Oberkochen Opton Vario-So (Sonnar) 22-110mm f2 T2.7 zoom lens.
Here I made the datasheet for this rare Vario-So (Sonnar), taken from NIKFI Lens Test Book of 1978th:
Oberkochen Opton Vario-So 22-110mm f2 zoom lens data: resolution, vignetting, spectral transmission, image shift, CA, astigmatism and main optical data.
