11-11-2010, 05:59 PM
After coming into a bit of cash I gave in and got the Zeiss 50mm f/2 Macro (ZE). You may recall I was deciding which 50mm lens to get in [url="http://forum.photozone.de/index.php?/topic/308-which-50mm-ish-lens/"]this[/url] thread.
It arrived yesterday so I've been spending time on and off comparing it against the cheap Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. I haven't given up the FD f/1.2 mount conversion which is still in slow progress.
Anyway, my conclusions are a little surprising... tests were done on 450D and 7D.
Sharpness: Zeiss has a visible advantage over Canon wide open, evening out around f/5.6 where the Canon takes over before hitting the diffraction zone.
Bokeh: If you put aside the difference due to the number of aperture blades, they are almost the same. I can't see a significant difference between them in a side by side comparison other than the outer ring highlight might be slightly stronger on the Canon. LoCA wise, possibly the Zeiss is fractionally worse at the same aperture setting. I managed to provoke purple fringing in field testing (sunlight reflected off water).
Colour: I can't see any difference between them side by side.
Exposure: The Zeiss might pass slightly less light but it is very slight if even there. I didn't examine this closely.
Flare: The Zeiss is quite prone to veiling glare, and flare to a lesser extent. I didn't compare the Canon here.
Focus assist: this was way off on the 7D, with the true focus point often being much closer to the camera than desired. I eventually used a micro-adjust setting of +16 to offset this. Counter-intuitively, this problem was worse at longer focal distances than close up, and was particularly bad beyond 5m or so. This only really manifests itself with the lens used quite open, as the bigger DoF stopped down to f/4 - f/8 or so is enough to bring it into focus.
Astigmatism: I think this is what I'm seeing on the Canon, as it doesn't focus point sources in the frame corner to a sharp point, forming a line changing direction either side of focus. The Zeiss doesn't suffer from this forming a spot.
Overall, where the two overlap in function, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II is pretty close to the Zeiss unless you really pixel peep. Of course the Zeiss does focus closer for more magnification without the need of extension tubes or whatever. That is likely a region I'll be using and why I short listed this lens in the first place. Still, for more normal uses I was hoping for more difference.
It arrived yesterday so I've been spending time on and off comparing it against the cheap Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. I haven't given up the FD f/1.2 mount conversion which is still in slow progress.
Anyway, my conclusions are a little surprising... tests were done on 450D and 7D.
Sharpness: Zeiss has a visible advantage over Canon wide open, evening out around f/5.6 where the Canon takes over before hitting the diffraction zone.
Bokeh: If you put aside the difference due to the number of aperture blades, they are almost the same. I can't see a significant difference between them in a side by side comparison other than the outer ring highlight might be slightly stronger on the Canon. LoCA wise, possibly the Zeiss is fractionally worse at the same aperture setting. I managed to provoke purple fringing in field testing (sunlight reflected off water).
Colour: I can't see any difference between them side by side.
Exposure: The Zeiss might pass slightly less light but it is very slight if even there. I didn't examine this closely.
Flare: The Zeiss is quite prone to veiling glare, and flare to a lesser extent. I didn't compare the Canon here.
Focus assist: this was way off on the 7D, with the true focus point often being much closer to the camera than desired. I eventually used a micro-adjust setting of +16 to offset this. Counter-intuitively, this problem was worse at longer focal distances than close up, and was particularly bad beyond 5m or so. This only really manifests itself with the lens used quite open, as the bigger DoF stopped down to f/4 - f/8 or so is enough to bring it into focus.
Astigmatism: I think this is what I'm seeing on the Canon, as it doesn't focus point sources in the frame corner to a sharp point, forming a line changing direction either side of focus. The Zeiss doesn't suffer from this forming a spot.
Overall, where the two overlap in function, the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II is pretty close to the Zeiss unless you really pixel peep. Of course the Zeiss does focus closer for more magnification without the need of extension tubes or whatever. That is likely a region I'll be using and why I short listed this lens in the first place. Still, for more normal uses I was hoping for more difference.
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://snowporing.deviantart.com/">dA</a> Canon 7D2, 7D, 5D2, 600D, 450D, 300D IR modified, 1D, EF-S 10-18, 15-85, EF 35/2, 85/1.8, 135/2, 70-300L, 100-400L, MP-E65, Zeiss 2/50, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300/2.8, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Olympus E-P1, Panasonic 20/1.7, Sony HX9V, Fuji X100.