I'm always seeing people talk of Zeiss glass, and assumed it always came at an exotic price. This lens is placed right between the two 85 f1.4 offerings from Nikon, at $1283. I understand its a manual focus lens, but optically is it superior to the competition? I guess I expected a much higher price. I was talking to a photographer at a wedding last Fall and he was shooting video on a 5D. He said the Zeiss 85 f1.4 on it cost $3000....is there another lens he may have been referring to that I'm not thinking of?
Marty McBride wrote: I'm always seeing people talk of Zeiss glass, and assumed it always came at an exotic price. This lens is placed right between the two 85 f1.4 offerings from Nikon, at $1283. I understand its a manual focus lens, but optically is it superior to the competition? I guess I expected a much higher price. I was talking to a photographer at a wedding last Fall and he was shooting video on a 5D. He said the Zeiss 85 f1.4 on it cost $3000....is there another lens he may have been referring to that I'm not thinking of?
far superior! I almost bought one but for the price and manual focus
No it was actually an 85 f1.4 I mounted it on my D300s and took a few indoor low light shots, that were blurry due to subject movement....It was a Nikon mount he was using on his Canon 5D
I got to thinking about the lens and looked it up, but couldn't find it listed anywhere near $3000. So I'm assuming he was wrong about the price.
Part of the reason I shoot SONY is AF Zeiss glass I get to use on that mount. Although for redundancy via my D800 I recently got Nikon's equivalent of the SONY ZEISS 24-70/2.8, I have to say at the end of the day the practical difference is not THAT great, except in extreme conditions one tends to avoid. Then again it could also be said at the end of the day the practical difference between a VW Bug and an Aston Martin is not THAT great either, except in extreme conditions one tends to avoid.
London Fog
Posts: 5,003
London, England, United Kingdom
I have to wonder why the wedding photographer was shooting video on a 5D with this lens, what possible benefit could it give him, given the limitations of 1080p?
I personally believe in the signature look of Zeiss T star lenses, the 85 1.4 included. As mentioned however, I don't think its price is justified when the Rokinon 85 1.4 can be had for so much less (unless you are looking at the Sony Zeiss which at least has AF and far superior build). The Zeiss 135 1.8 however, is unmatched IMO. Unbelievable 3D look and micro-contrast..
In my opinion, the Zeiss 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.4 can't compete with the Nikkor 50mm f1.4G and 85mm f1.4G. The Nikkor is better lens optically and functionally.
Instead of the 1.4G, I would recommend the 50mm f1.8G and the 85mm f1.8G unless you absolutely need the f1.4.
Compared to the Nikon versions, but Zeiss users report slightly better sharpness, and slightly busier bokeh.
However, the fact that it is a manual focus lens means that it usually has less breathing and a more accurate and responsive focus dial, making it much better for pulling or following focus manually. This makes it better for video.
The cine lenses have even less breathing, and even more accurate (and longer) focus scales. They're also often written sideways on the lens barrel, which makes them much easier to operate when the camera is on a tripod or other large rig.
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