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Comparison: Zeiss Normals vs Nikon 50/1.4G (D800E, Poinsettia and Pumpkins)
55/1.4 APO-Distagon tested here was a prototype lens, but performance would not be expected to change with production lenses.
This comparison is free-form, with various considerations:
- Focusing is not a 100% thing: there is no guarantee that each lens was focused to perfection, even using Live View magnified with a loupe as was done.
- All of the lenses have some focus shift, so that peak performance stopped down to f/2.8 - f/4 - f/5.6 is not reached where focused.
- Bokeh changes with aperture and associated focus shift; it is best to examine a series and not focus too intently on any one aperture.
- Lighting was cold (blue) and was changing slowly as dusk approached.
- Although the camera was fixed, the focal length varies between lenses and so also the plane of sharpness cuts through the scene differently.
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Diglloyd Guide to Zeiss offers comprehensive integrated coverage of Zeiss DSLR lenses for Canon and Nikon. Nearly a decade in the making, it covers everything you need to know for every lens in the ZF.2, ZE, Milvus and Otus lines. Guide to Mirrorless and Zeiss ZM rangefinder lenses in Guide to Leica.
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- Aperture series from wide open through stopped down, showing the full range of lens performance and bokeh.
- Optical quality analysis of field curvature, focus shift, sharpness, flare, distortion, and performance in the field.
Want a preview? Click on any page below to see an excerpt. And see Lloyd’s articles for Lenspire.Zeiss.com.