Canon 85 1.2 Mk II vs Zeiss Contax (60 Years) 85mm 1.2

Just wondering (if $ were not an issue), has anyone done a head-to-head comparison of the relative performances of

these two lenses? I have read almost nothing but exceptional praise for the Canon lens, barring the wide open

peripheral CA, and given that it has full electronic compatibility with the EOS bodies, it would obviously result in

more 'keepers'. But manual focus etc aside, is the performance of one any better than the other in anyone's opinion

who has experience with these lenses? Just intrigued.....

I guess not too many people have 5K or so to blow on both of these. The Zeiss 85/1.4 is phenomenal. Same resolution at f1.4 to f2 as any other 85/1.8 lens but close it to f2.8 and it destroys even my Nikon 200/2 which is the sharpest lens I have ever had at f2.

 

 

My concern with an f1.2 lens is it's ability to render out-of-focus areas softly wide open. Often over corrected lenses can run into problems here. I have a funny feeling that is why the Zeiss 85/1.4 that I had was designed to be so soft wide open when compared to closing it two stops.

Cheers for that John. Yes, I'm one of those that doesn't have 5 grand to blow so I think the Canon will probably do just fine. The Contax was more about lust :-) Will do a bit of further reading on the Z1.4 though, following what you have told me. Thanks.

According to the MTFs published by Zeiss, the 85/1.2 is as sharp as the 85/1.4 wide open. Both lenses however get

significantly sharper when stopped down to f5.6 - so the question is, do you really need that "super bokeh" and are

willing to sacrifice some sharpness for it? I myself eventually bought the Zeiss 85/2.8 - this one is much sharper

wide open, compared to either 85/1.4 or 85/1.2 and when stopped down to f5.6 still beats the 85/1.4 and equals the

85/1.2 lens! In addition it is very small and quite inexpensive. A true gem in my "collection" of Zeiss lenses! When I

need more bokeh (foreground-background seperation), I usually reach for the Zeiss 100/2.0 which has some of the

most beautiful bokeh ever.