Canon FD 1.4 vs Contax mount Zeiss 50mm f 1.4

manjeet singh

Active member
How the images would compare.
I am getting FD for 70$ n zeiss for around 275$ here in India.
Was wondering if its worth spending extra money on the zeiss.
What would be the difference in terms of contrast, bokeh, colors, sharpness, CA when wide open etc?
Will the 50mm zeiss gel well with other FD lenses?
Please post images/videos if possible!
 
I have the FD 1.4 and the Contax Zeiss 1.7, which is as good if not better than the 1.4, and would say that the difference is very subtle and it is in no way worth the extra money to buy the Zeiss for HD video.

With 50mm lenses, more than any other, they are all good. They are all good enough. Differences, improvements from one lens to the next are very subtle, and in these two lenses, both are truly excellent, seriously good lenses.

Colour balance is superb with both.
Canon's Super Spectra Coating and Zeiss's T* coatings are both superb.
Sharpness is excellent with both. The Zeiss is a tad sharper, but you'd need to take 23Mp stills with a 5D Mk2 and blow it up big to benefit - HD will not reveal it at all.
Build quality is very good, but not truly excellent with both.
Contrast is higher on the Zeiss, but it's not necessarily an advantage.
CA is minimal with both lenses, even wide open.

I hope that helps.
 
I have the FD 1.4 and the Contax Zeiss 1.7, which is as good if not better than the 1.4, and would say that the difference is very subtle and it is in no way worth the extra money to buy the Zeiss for HD video.

With 50mm lenses, more than any other, they are all good. They are all good enough. Differences, improvements from one lens to the next are very subtle, and in these two lenses, both are truly excellent, seriously good lenses.

Colour balance is superb with both.
Canon's Super Spectra Coating and Zeiss's T* coatings are both superb.
Sharpness is excellent with both. The Zeiss is a tad sharper, but you'd need to take 23Mp stills with a 5D Mk2 and blow it up big to benefit - HD will not reveal it at all.
Build quality is very good, but not truly excellent with both.
Contrast is higher on the Zeiss, but it's not necessarily an advantage.
CA is minimal with both lenses, even wide open.

I hope that helps.

Thanks Lucas, it helped in making a decision!
 
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