| Latest Review Posted | Carl Zeiss Planar ZK T* 85mm F1.4
I am offering a different perspective on this "cult" lens after using it with a 24M Sony NEX7, and compare the reuslting images to Pentax A*85/1.4 & Zeiss Marko 100/2.
Focusing this lens with the NEX7 viewfinders totally eliminated the "focus shift" problem because the image in the viewfinder is at the actual shooting f-stop, unlike the always wide open mode in SLR. Similar to LV on Pentax camera, the NEX has a "Peak Focus" feature which can enlarge a selected area for fine focusing even in manual mode, up to 11X.
At 24M pixel, the Zeiss Marko 100/2 outperforms this lens in all aspects, proving again this is more a fast portrait lens with cult status. Many Canon 5DII & Nikon D800 users agree that they were surprised to find out this lens is not "sharp" after viewing the images at >24M.
Lastly, this lens prove Pentax make world class optics. I was hard pressed to distinguish between images taken with an A*85/1.4 and this lens. Yes, the images from this lens have an excellent 3D effect when the lighting is perfect, otherwise, the IQ of the smaller & lighter A*85/1.4 is just as pleasing. |
