Zeiss - old school Trinity - almost complete.

Zeiss - old school manual focus. You'd think by now we'd (I'd) be waaay beyond that but, I've become rather attached to the image quality from the Zeiss glass I've used.

And my Trinity(*) is almost complete.

All 3 of them are from the "classic" series. I'm so terribly thankful the Milvus series came out to push the classic series down in price

35 f/2 - Great general purpose lens, often gives me the Zeiss 3D look. Has been the lone Zeiss in my kit for a few years.

100 f/2 - Just received yesterday. Baby is this thing sharp. Bokeh is smooth without being boring and flat.

50 f/1.4 - To be delivered on Friday. Yes, I know it is low contrast (soft) wide open, but just look at that bokeh! Very unique. This will be my 3rd one and I'm looking forward to the cool looking images I'll get with it.


Side benefit - The lenses are smaller in diameter than typical Canon AF lenses so my Domke F6 shoulder bag will do a better job of carrying them.


(*) Since these 3 lenses are not also 1, Tritheism would be a better word, perhaps just Trio. But for the sake of historic POTN consistency, we can stick with Trinity

Congrats !
I much prefer Zeiss lenses to their Canon counterparts, whenever I don't need AF.
I would definitely go for the 50/2 Makro instead of the 50/1.4.
The 100/2 Makro is also amazing, but longitudinal CA can be nasty.
Personal favorites: 21/2.8 and 135/2 APO.

I considered the 21/2.8, 50/2 MP and 135/2. I have the wonderful EF 16-35 f/4L and figured it was better than the 21/2.8 because it went wider. I had the 50/2 MP at one point and it is great but I really like the odd bokeh from the soft f/1.4 lens. I chose the 100 MP over the 135 due to cost and a preference for the wider focal length.

The 100/2 is amazing. I came very close to getting one.

There was a used 85/1.4 Planar (NOT Otis) in the used case, which I had no intention to buy, but a friend wanted a portrait lens. So I put it on my camera and took a few images with it in the store. I kept returning to these "test shots" and finally acquired one of my own (the one in the used case had been sold).

The 85/1.4 has the same "issue" wide open as you describe for the 50/1.4. I'm currently resisting going to look at images. I really don't need another lens in that focal length .

I was very nervous to look at images when the Otis 85mm came out claiming to be the "no compromise" lens. I was happy with my planar and didn't want to desire an upgrade. One day I gave in and looked at all the images I could find. Technically it is a better lens but, happily for me, I didn't like the rendering as much.

And I began to notice that many of the newer Zeiss designs are sacrificing the rendering for other qualities, I suppose.

F2Bthere wrote in post #18167968
And I began to notice that many of the newer Zeiss designs are sacrificing the rendering for other qualities, I suppose.

The character of a lens is given by its technical imperfections. Newer lenses are technically better, so they have less character.

F2Bthere wrote in post #18167968
The 85/1.4 has the same "issue" wide open as you describe for the 50/1.4. I was very nervous to look at images when the Otis 85mm came out claiming to be the "no compromise" lens. Technically it is a better lens but, happily for me, I didn't like the rendering as much.

And I began to notice that many of the newer Zeiss designs are sacrificing the rendering for other qualities, I suppose.

CheshireCat wrote in post #18167980
The character of a lens is given by its technical imperfections. Newer lenses are technically better, so they have less character.

This and This.

Everyone loves (except for the AF) the Sigma Art lenses and the prior generation Sigma 50 f/1.4 and 85 f/1.4. I've had both of the latter. Compared the 50 f/1.4 to the Zeiss 50/2 MP and Canon 50 f/1.4. The Sigma was great but it rendered background so smooth as to create a rather flat and dare I say, somewhat boring image. Very sharp, great colors, final image was somehow lacking.

With Zeiss classic planar lenses I just get more character. And zero AF issues

My 50/1.4 Planar arrived yesterday. First test shots with it show it to be sharper wide open than I remember my prior copies. By f/2 the sharpness and contrast, at least in the center is looking pretty good. Very promising so far.