EXAKTA MOUNT CARL ZEISS JENA BIOTAR 58MM F2 Vs Sony Ziess Fe 55 1.8

I know this probably sounds crazy, but I m really getting into Manual focus vintage lenses. I have the AF Ziess 55 1.8, would it be crazy to pick up a EXAKTA MOUNT CARL ZEISS JENA BIOTAR 58MM F2 ? or is the newer lens that much better?

Don't have either, but some people will probably tell you that the 55 1.8 is "very sharp but too clinical", and the vintage lens has "character".

I do have nearly only manual lenses.
I own the Canon FD 50mm f/1.2L which is quality wise near modern lenses, and the Hexanon 57mm f/1.2, Minolta 58mm f/1.2, Zeiss Contax 50mm f/1.4 and other lenses.
So no real need for the Biotar 58mm.
And I do not own it.

But I the Russian and Chinese clones of it, several pieces.
Why?
Because of the special character
It has some over corrected sperhical aberration, and with cateye bokeh this gives a nice special swirl effect.
Nothing for every picture, but for some special ones it is great!

ZoneV wrote in post #18551647
I do have nearly only manual lenses.
I own the Canon FD 50mm f/1.2L which is quality wise near modern lenses, and the Hexanon 57mm f/1.2, Minolta 58mm f/1.2, Zeiss Contax 50mm f/1.4 and other lenses.
So no real need for the Biotar 58mm.
And I do not own it.

But I the Russian and Chinese clones of it, several pieces.
Why?
Because of the special character
It has some over corrected sperhical aberration, and with cateye bokeh this gives a nice special swirl effect.
Nothing for every picture, but for some special ones it is great!

I totally agree, just got the Nikkor 50 1'4 manual focus, have the Helio 44-2 ( LOVE the bokeh) and just ordered the Vivitar 70-150 3.8 for around $20 , the adapters cost more than the lenses lol, but i m really hooked on the vintage glass, they are so compact and very sharp with focus peaking!! its a no brainer for me for travel. Also have the Canon Fd 28 2.8, so yes i m addicted lol.

ducatiwv wrote in post #18550980
I know this probably sounds crazy, but I m really getting into Manual focus vintage lenses. I have the AF Ziess 55 1.8, would it be crazy to pick up a EXAKTA MOUNT CARL ZEISS JENA BIOTAR 58MM F2 ? or is the newer lens that much better?

I have both the Zeiss 55 as well as the Zeiss Biotar 58 F2, my copy is the M42 "Red T " version. I'm not a big fan or Exacta mount lenses, I have a Meyer Trioplan 100 in that mount and I just don't like the way it locks onto the adapter.
In respect to the two lens, they really are completely dfferent beasts, the Zeiss 55 is a modern lens design that is extemely sharp and optically well corrected with the benifits of small size and AF. The Biotar is really quite sharp given its vintage, it's also very well built, some of the origional version are made of brass with large number of aperture blades ( I7 ). The Biotar is really a character lens that produces centrally sharp images with wonderful bokeh especially wide open.

Some of the old Zeiss lenses are quite sharp and produce a bokeh which one either likes or doesn't like. I have several old vintage lenses and one that I am specially fond of on my A6500 is the ancient Carl Zeiss 135mm f/4.5 Triopar which is well over 60 years old and cost me the grand sum of thirty U.S. Dollars.

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