New. C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM

This is what Zeiss says about the ZM 50/2.0:

"Undoubtedly, the new high performance standard in M-system lenses. It is based on the famous Carl Zeiss Planar® lens design concept, a symmetrical combination of 6 optical elements in 4 groups. So count on exceptionally high resolving power, evenly distributed performance over the entire frame, and superb control over flare and ghosting."

This is what Zeiss says about the new ZM 50/1.5:

"It is fast, very resistant to flaring and unusually compact – therefore the “C” in the lens name. With its well controlled distortion, the lens produces a very accurate representation of objects."

If I were to believe advertising copy I would have to say that Zeiss thinks the ZM 50/2.0 is the better lens.

Ted
 
Ad copy is ad copy is bird cage liner :)

If it has a Sonnar look, I know I'd prefer it to the Planar. From the information on the web site and at the link Sonnar2 provides, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that it will. It won't be a clinical scalpel like most modern lenses though and that alone is a Very Good Thing.

So I guess now I need to figure out how to raise the coins for it and one of the Biogons (28 or 35... :bang: )

William
 
Sonnar2 said:
..better than the C/V Nokton 1.5/50? :D
Click to expand...

You can expect the Sonnar to have better construction and probably higher resistance to flare. It will also be much more collectible ;)

But the Nokton is "better" if you use an LTM body or have a smaller budget.
 
The release of a modern day Sonnar 1.5 is proof of what a niche market this has become. They are smart to target people who are interested in more than just the clinical perfection of modern equipment. To me a new Sonnar with a bit more flare resistance is all I ever needed...to hell with the rest. Shoot a portrait with a Contax Sonnar 1.5 at f2.8 and you will be drooling over the combination of extreme clarity and smooth contrast rendition.

This will really hit the used Summilux M market hard. I never warmed up to the flat rendition of mine and the amount of distortion and astigmatism was too much for me. The Sonnar, based on the MTF and the performance of the older Sonnars will have none of that.

Best wishes
 
A new 50/1.5 Sonnar almost makes me want to buy an M-mount camera (note the almost). As it stands, I would not buy a new film camera, but if ZI ever releases a digital RF, I'm in.
 
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About the price and release date of this lens. Here is e-mail directly from Zeiss:
---
"Dear Mr. Suominen,

Thank you very much for your enthusiastic comments about the Sonnar 1.5/50.

The series production of the lens will be started before Photokina, and the
retail price will be just slightly higher than that of the Planar 2/50.

Best regards

Dr. Hubert Nasse
Senior Scientist
Carl Zeiss AG
Geschäftsbereich Photoobjektive, Labor"
 
tfelton said:
A simple question: is the proposed new ZM 50/1.5 better than the current ZM 50/2.0? If it is, Zeiss does not say so in their specs.

Ted
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Well I scaled and overlaid MTFs from Zeiss' PDFs of the two lenses. It looks like the ZM Planar outperforms the C Sonnar both wide open and at f/4, and the indications are that new lens would be noticeably softer at these wider apertures in most enlargements, so there would seem to be a tradeoff of quality for speed. By f/4 the C Sonnar does look pretty good, but not great like the Planar. The new design's main advantage would seem to be for shallow DOF isolation and low light use wide open. The C Sonnar would seem to be a much more specialized lens than the Planar. It does look like a better lens than a used Summilux 50mm (pre ASPH) would be.

I'm not sure it would make sense for me to change from the Planar to the C Sonnar, since I don't usually use a 50mm, and for f/1.4 I have great 35mm and 85mm lenses already. If I didn't have the Planar already I might have gone for it.
 
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Is ultimate sharpness realy that desireable?

The attached crop is 600x600 pixel from a Canon D60 with a Sigma 17-35/2.8-4 EX DG HSM at 17mm and f4.5. Handheld with flash at 1/10th and ISO400 large jpeg.
 
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On paper I'm sure the Planar beats the Sonnar from a technical standpoint with regards to optics. However, asthetically the Sonnar may be more pleasing to some in it's OOF rendition due to additional uncorrected abberations that are better controlled in the slower Planar design. Zeiss indirectly admits this by limiting minimum focus to 0.9 m and it's at close focus where abberations are most prominent.
 
SDK said:
Well I scaled and overlaid MTFs from Zeiss' PDFs of the two lenses. It looks like the ZM Planar outperforms the C Sonnar wide open

The new design's main advantage would seem to be for shallow DOF isolation and low light use wide open.
Click to expand...

You were of course comparing one lens at f/1.5 with the other lens at f/2.

I think that the main advantage of the "new" design is that it's a Sonnar, which is why people will want it IMO.
 
SDK said:
The C Sonnar would seem to be a much more specialized lens than the Planar. It does look like a better lens than a used Summilux 50mm (pre ASPH) would be.
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I wonder how this new lens would compare against the CV 50/1.5?
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Oh... I zoomed through this thread too fast. I see this was already asked. Sorry.
 
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List price seems to be same as for 25/2.8, 105000. Did they change it?

What about lens shades?

/Håkan
 
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