Thoughts on the Zeiss 85mm Planar in ZF mount Kingston Lacy House

20090827-_DSC3651 Kingston Lacy House
Originally uploaded by ClifB

A single Zeiss lens is a recent addition to my lens collection and I have been keen to try it out.

I chose the 85mm as it is a classic portrait lens on both FX and DX sensor cameras and very fast at F1.4. It will fill a gap in my lens lineup as I have nothing else that fast that approximates the 85mm focal length.

For anyone who has seen these lenses the build quality is sublime...it feels hewn from a solid lump of metal and the mechanical action of the focus and aperture rings is smooth and well damped like you can't imagine.

The Zeiss SLR lenses are quirky beasts and very definitely a niche product. They are manual focus and you set the aperture on an old-fashioned ring rather than the camera body. In fact there is no electronic communication between the lens and camera. They will only work properly with the Nikon pro-grade bodies, where you input non-CPU lens data into the setup menu, thus enabling the camera to know the focal length, aperture etc and be able to meter correctly.

The first thing you notice on most images taken with the lens is the contrast rendition, which is like nothing else I have used. On very detailed subjects, such as a wrinkly face or building like Kingston Lacy House, the image "zings". Its as if a a black wash has been applied and has dried in all the nooks and crannies...it makes elements of the image stand out in an almost 3D way. This is apparently a characteristic of the whole Zeiss line-up of lenses.

The bokeh is generally excellent too. One or two test shots at F1.4 had a slightly busy bokeh, but others and all those stopped down a bit were excellent.

Colours are nicely saturated but neutral.

As with most very fast primes, the lens is slightly soft wide open and lacks a bit of contrast. Having said that the centre of the frame has a nice sweet spot of sharpness that is very usable and great for portraits. This is especially so as the lens has a slightly dreamy quality wide open, almost as if a soft focus filter has been put on...some may love it, others not. From at least F2 its sharp and contrasty. Its so sharp it bites.


Other quirks...well it has a poor close focus distance of 1 metre, which is a bit limiting for close ups of flowers etc and technical tests tend to suggest the lens doesn't perform as well close up anyway. Because there is no AF its essentially hopeless for moving subjects, at least at wide apertures.

So far it seems an awesome lens when used within its performance envelope, which is obviously more limited than many other lenses. This means it lacks the all-round versatility of a more normal lens, but that is also its appeal. Its a tool you pick up when you know it makes sense and then it will deliver like no other. It also makes you think about your photography and take your time..... the manual focus is a joy and it means you take far fewer shots!

I'm looking forward to really exploring its potential as a portrait lens. Updates to follow and keen to hear from any other users!