Classic Planar ZE T* 50mm f/1.4 Standard Camera Lens for Canon EF-Mount SLR DSLR Cameras, Black

This is probably the best 50mm lens I have yet used so far and I've used/owned the Canon 50 f/1.8, Canon 50 f/1.2L and Sigma 50 f/1.4. I must say that the quality and build of this lens is top notch. The all metal lens and lens hood feels like a piece of art. The focus ring is smooth and you're able to make minor turns with this barrel with ease (unlike the other lens) and the infinity focus is where it should be, at the very end and not a half millimeter or so from the end (once again like the lenses). But I must say that I am pretty disappointed in the plastic/cheap lens cap (front and back). The front lens cap isn't all that great and tends to fall out if you don't make sure that it's in. The color that this lens produces is just magical. I'm sure you'll read this at other places but it's comparable to the Leica version. Now, I'm not saying that they're exactly the same, but this lens definitely gives you that Leica look and feel in how the lens captures color. CA is minimal and focus is razor sharp. Granted once you get into the f/2.0 or higher, it's unbeatable. Now there are reasons why I decided to buy this and sell all of my other 50mm lenses. Comparing with the Canon 50 f/1.8, though a great, less expensive lens, the color reproduction wasn't quite what I was looking for. With the Canon 50 f/1.2L, even though it's an awesome lens, for it's price, I was hoping for more sharpness without having to dial up the f-stops too high. Also, because I'd become accustomed to autofocus in general and manual focus on that lens is mediocre at best, the focusing on the 50L was just way too slow. I found I was able to focus faster manually with the Zeiss lens than with the Canon 50L, especially in low light situations. Yes, I will miss the extra stop on the L lens but considering that it's so slow in focusing (and I've missed many opportunities). And the Sigma 50, is a good lens, and a beefy one at that too, but I just had way too much to deal with especially since it was front focusing. I did have to mail in the lens for new ones 3 times and the one I ended up keeping had the least amount of front focusing issue, but over time, the lens started to front focus more and more often and severely. This is priced pretty much in the middle of all these lenses. Being almost 2x cheaper than the Canon 50L, it's an amazing deal. Size wise, the Canon 50L is probably the largest and heaviest lens and the Sigma 50 comes very close to it as well. This is definitely a lot more compact than those two but larger than the Canon 50 f/1.8 Word of caution though, you probably already know that this is a manual focus lens, I would highly recommend switching out your focusing screen to the the Eg-S version. It's about $40 dollars and it takes less than 20 seconds to switch it out from you camera. Once you switch them out, to focus, since the lens is made to communicate with the camera, either choose your focus point on the camera or just use all, press the shutter button halfway and focus until you see/hear the red beep in your viewfinder. It'll take practice but you'll learn to focus faster and appreciate the lens even more. I must say, I've own(ed) several L series lenses and was a diehard Canon L guy but this Zeiss lens and a few others that I've tried out have made me a convert. Another absolutely amazing lens by Zeiss is the 21mm. Probably the best wide angle lens, hands down. This lens will most likely rarely come off of my 5DM2.

This is a Lensmaker prime lens. But it is not for everyone. If your main concerns in photography are sharpness and ease of use then just look elsewhere, you are not ready for this lens. Don't get me wrong, this lens is really sharp (even at 1.4) But it is designed to honor a basic Optics rule: the focus plane is one and just one. If you get the focus wrong (as most beginners do) you'll think the lens is not worth the price. But why is this lens so special? Well, focus to out-of-focus transitions are just magic! Scene depth rendition with this lens will make you think the photo was shot with a larger format camera, even if you use this lens on APS-C !! Lens build quality is very nice. This lens will easily outlast any digital (plastic) camera body. Focusing is a great experience too (if you don't fear manual focusing). The focus ring allows to place focus with precision just where you want it. Image color and saturation are awesome. You can easily get the perfect picture on camera (no need to post processing) even when the light is not that amazing. Bokeh is also very good but it has it's character: it is not always creamy bland background blur (depending on how much luminance contrast you've got in the background) Bokeh manifests itself like no other 50mm lens, in a good way. What's the catch? well, the lens is somewhat expensive for a manual 'old' lens (but you will not mind the price once you feel the build quality and see the image rendition) and focusing will challenge your skills, even if you think you are used to manual focusing other lenses. But the effort is indeed worth!

It's a good price, but this is a gray market item. The language of the warranty, instruction manual, and all accomanying literature was in an Asian language, I believe Japanese. If I find redeemable qualities or service, I will consider changing my review. Revision 4/27/2014: The dealer has good turnaround time in responding to my emails. Unfortunately, the information that DavisMAX is providing is proving to be false. If you are concerned about protection under the warranty, you should know that DavisMAX is not an authorized seller of Zeiss lens. Therefore, the warranty shouldn't work. Here is information about the Zeiss warranty as I have copied and pasted it from the Zeiss Terms and Conditions which you agree to when you register your lens through their website: • The Product must be bought from an authorized Carl Zeiss Dealer. You will find a list of the authorized Carl Zeiss Dealers under: http://www.zeiss.com/photo • The Warranty is only valid in the country where the Product was purchased. If you purchased the Product via the Internet, the Warranty is only valid in the country where your Carl Zeiss Dealer from whom you purchased the Product is located. I've contacted Zeiss, and a representative has confirmed with me that DavisMAX is not an authorized seller of this lens. The warranty, he wrote, would be void. He gave me a list of authorized dealers which I will put here: http://www.zeiss.com/camera-lenses/en_de/website/dealer_search/dealer_search_photo.html?address=&x=5&y=3 Ultimately, the choice is yours. If you feel like saving $100 and don't think you will end up using the warranty service or aren't phased with the fact that this is not a US model, buy it through DavisMAX, AnotherDealSite, or whatever this company decides to call itself (its name changed since my purchase of it which was less than a week ago). After all, the lens barrel is completely metal, or so was advertised to me when I interacted with a Zeiss official at a trade show. If you are concerned about gray market items and want more peace of mind with the manufacturer's 2-year warranty (with an option to extend the service an additional 3 years), then buy it from somewhere else.

Ich bin wirklich glücklich, dass ich mir dieses Objektiv gekauft habe! Da ich schon immer ein Fan von Festbrennweiten war, habe ich ein Objektiv gesucht, mit dem ich, für meinen Geschmack, die bestmöglichen Ergebnisse erreichen kann! Im Bereich 50mm habe ich so ziemlich alles an Objektiven (keine Zooms) getestet, was man sich für unter 2000€ kaufen kann. Das Zeiss ist dabei als eindeutiger Gewinner aus dem Rennen gegangen :) Schon beim auspacken merkt man, was für ein qualitativ Hochwertiges Objektiv hier gebaut wurde. Nichts wackelt, nichts klappert und der Fokus-Ring geht wirklich butterweich. Meine anderen Nikon-Objektive fühlten sich dann auf einmal wie "Plastikbomber" an :) Das der Autofokus fehlt, würde ich auf keinen Fall als negativ ansehen! Ich fokussiere gerne manuell, da ich mir generell gerne Zeit beim fotografieren lasse. So weiß ich wenigstens, dass der Fokus genau so sitzt, wie ich es möchte. Und nicht so, wie der Autofokus glaub, dass ich es gerne hätte ;) Das Objektiv ist bei mir an einer D610. Mit dem großen Sucher klappt das fokussieren super! Bei Blende 1.4 muss man natürlich schon mal genauer hinschauen, aber mit ein bisschen Übung klappt auch das! Wie man in diversen Tests lesen kann, wirken die Bilder mit Blende 1.4 etwas "soft", "weich", oder auch "verträumt". Ich persönlich finde auch dies nicht negativ und nutze es z.B. bei Portraits entsprechend als Gestaltungsmittel! Wenn man diesen Look mag, dann ist man über das Ergebnis wirklich begeistert! Auch die Schärfe bei Blende 1.4 ist super, die Schärfeebene ist nur eben entsprechend sehr klein. Deshalb sollte man bei Offenblende nicht unbedingt an der Naheinstellgrenze fotografiere ;) Die Bilder vom Zeiss haben den typischen "Zeiss-Look" und sehen natürlich entsprechend gut aus! Schärfe, Farben und das Bokeh sind einfach traumhaft! Ich habe mit dem Zeiss sogar schon auf einem Konzert Fotos gemacht! Der Ausschuss ist mit MF dann vielleicht ein bisschen höher als mit AF, aber auch dies klappt wirklich sehr gut, wenn man ein bisschen Übung hat! Bleibt nur zu sagen, klare Kaufempfehlung, wenn man kein Problem mit MF hat! Das Zeiss bieten einfach den gewissen "WOW-Effekt". Ich merke immer wieder, wie Freunde und Familie staunen, weil die Fotos einfach wirklich, richtig gut aussehen! :)

Ürün kutusunda eksik (lense ait kitapçık) ve yanlış belgelerle (başka bir lense ait kalite, garanti belgeleri, kitapçık) birlikte kurşun kalemle notlar yazılmış bir kağıt parçası vardı. Gelen lens "sıfır" bir lense göre tozluydu. Belli ki lens kutusu daha önce açılmış, ürün kurcalanmış. Bu pandemi döneminde Amazon'un sunduğu tek çözüm ise kargo şubesine gidip ürünü iade etmek. İki kez sıkıntıya sokuluyor müşteri. Ne anlamı kaldı çevrimiçi alışverişin?

Absolutely one of the best quality lens on the market today. I love it. However,I do wish it had an auto focus feature but no Zeiss lenses do

Zeiss : le mal aimé. Peu de photographes se précipitent sur les fameuses optiques du fabricant allemand. Fameuses, estimées, mais pourtant pas très populaires. Les défauts ? Pas d'autofocus... trop cher... pas assez hype ? Non, sérieusement, ceux qui se dirigent vers des focales fixes savent très bien ce qu'ils viennent chercher. Disons le tout de suite : la qualité optique des objectifs Zeiss est vraiment remarquable. La qualité du piqué, du contraste et des couleurs est vraiment inimitable. La particularité des zf.2 est qu'il y a une bague pour le contrôle de l'ouverture. Ce détail est apprécié par certains pros de la vidéo qui préfèrent ces modèles là aux ZE pour Canon. Quitte à utiliser des adaptateurs comme Fotodiox ou Metabones. Sur ce 50mm, la course de la bague de mise au point est assez longue. C'est très précis et l'objectif est évidemment destiné aux photos posées plutôt qu'au reportage et à l'action. Pour une focale plus versatile et une mise au point plus rapide, il faut préférer le 35mm f/2. L'ouverture maximale f/1.4 est très avantageuse et courante sur un 50mm, mais il faut préciser ici que la qualité d'image est très bonne, même à pleine ouverture. Très peu de vignettage, les performances restent au top. Je n'ai que de bons résultats avec ce bijou. Je conseille aux photographes avertis qui ne connaissent pas Zeiss de les essayer. Vous serez vite accros !

El objetivo está muy bien, construcción solida, boke estupendo y muy buen desenfoque pero le falta la nitidez que tiene el CZ Macro planar 50mm 2.0.