Carl Zeis

Has anyone own or have played with one of their Planar T* lenses?

Planar T* 1,4/85 looks quite interesting, wondering how it would compare to what Pentax has to offer...

Zeiss lenses are of exemplary quality and I'd be happy with one just as much as I'd be happy with a Pentax one.

Sadly, the price of any of them is way too much....

Planar T* 1,4/85 is €919 (£835) and if you look here link a second-hand A* 85mm f/1.4 went for £920
Price seems pretty okay to me if they preform the same.
Build quality would be great with both of them no doubt.

Stefan, just because the Zeiss costs no more than an extremely expensive old Pentax lens doesn't mean the price is OK.

Both are very expensive.

But I suppose the best usually is.

G

I know George but there is very little in between them and handling would no doubt be good with both of them.

Still trying to find good photos of the two lenses that are comparable, already put the T*85 against the FA77 and well I didn't come far.
Bokeh was slightly better with the T*85 but the FA77 also had a lot to offer and some aspects of the photo where overall more pleasing with the FA77.

*sighs* it's so hard

There does seem to be a shortage of reasonably priced prime glass in the 85mm-100mm ish focal length. The only one I've been able to afford is the FA 28-90mm zoom, which is an incredibly good lens for the price but obviously not up to prime standards.

135mm primes seem fairly plentiful, and I'll be looking for one of them when I next have some spare cash. A near 200mm lens (on digital) at f3.5 for about £50? Yes please!

There are some (F)A* 85mm f/1.4 but they are quite pricey, maybe worth their value but simply too much money that I want to give out for a lens.

So it's between the T*85 and the FA77 now, the DA70 is also a good lens but not fast enough.
Like said there is nothing in between the lenses so time to test them out in the shop.... now only need to find one that stock them both

The FA* 85mm is considered the finest optic Pentax have made along with the 31mm Limited by a great number of people, hence why second hand they fetch stellar money, I know I have been looking......
This is why Pentax brought out the 55mm DA* F1.4 which gives the effective field of view of 85mm on the K20D and K-7 (any thing up to the K10D is 82.5mm - slightly bigger sensor see) But it is not an 85mm. If I want an 85mm, I will buy an 85mm, not a 55mm (already have one of those, a 55mm F1.8 M)
However, there is that other lens which runs both the 85mm and 31mm extremely close optically, and that is the 77mm F1.8 Limited. Personally, unless an 85mm FA* suddenly appears at the same price as the 77mm, I will continue to save for the 77mm.
The Zeiss? Well it will be a stunner optically, whether it is better than the 77mm is a question, but does have that extra speed. However, the one thing that puts me off is that it is manual only, and if you are going to spend serious money on a lens, I want AF too.

Another thing (sorry about the additional thread)
Depending on your shooting requirements, if you do a lot of portrait work (like I do) and need top quality optics in a range of 75-200mm, then the other option is the DA* 50-135mm. It is really like having the 77mm, 85mm 105mm, 135mm primes all in one. So unless you need the fast speed of F1.4-F1.8, then it is worth a punt. However, Even I have the need for my 50mm F1.4 for portraits from time to time (well a lot at work recently). So maybe I have talked myself out of my suggestion......

Iain, thank you for all hat information but not all was needed, at least not for me but I'm sure someone will find it helpful.

The DA*55 indeed has a the same angle of view as a 85mm lens on film but it does not act as one.
Here this is a comparison I wrote link

I already have a DA*50-135 and bought that mainly for the portrait purpose.
Now Like you said I'm looking for something faster.
50mm I find personally too wide on an APS-C sensor, with the DA*50-135 I always move around in the mid range of the lens hence the reason why looking around that focal length.

Zeis is fully manual but with f/1.8 the DOF is to small to trust the AF sensor with so that's one thing that doesn't concern me but you are right to expect AF at that price.

Just went to the local shop here and the difference between the FA77 and the T*85 is €20 so basicly nothing.
Next week I'll go to a shop that has the Nikon mount of the Carl Zeis lens and give it a spin, they might also have a FA77 to try out.

Will let you know how it went and I'll take a SD card with me

It's interesting that the FA* 85mm has attained a legendary status that has so far eluded the 77mm.

I wonder how much this is due to a genuine and discernible difference in quality, and how much to the fact that very few people own both, and of those who do, most acquired the 85mm first. They had perhaps imbued it with almost supernatural powers, and were unwilling to consider that anything else could possibly be better. Or even as good.

The 31mm, on the other hand, was not introduced in the shadow of such a colossus as the 85mm, and indeed has no serious competitor (though I concede the 35mm is a lovely lens in its own right). It (the 31mm) quickly acquired similar status to the 85mm.

I own both the 31mm and the 77mm (but not, sadly, the 85mm). I use the 31mm more, but that is because it is a more general purpose lens. When I do use the 77mm (almost always for portraits), I don't feel that it is in any way inferior to the 31mm.

By the way, I take little interest in measurements of resolution, etc.. Good lenses have attributes that can't be measured objectively, and there is little point in trying.

What I'd like to see is a "blind tasting" of some real pictures of the same scene taken by both the 77mm and the 85mm, and then it would be interesting to see which were preferred by experienced photographers. I suspect that the 77mm would emerge the winner, if for no other reason than that Pentax would not have released it unless they thought it was an improvement.

G

From what I've seen George the 85mm lens from Pentax, I would say that the bokeh (true meaning of the word!) has a softer edge then the FA77, other then that they both have their appeal which make none superior or even generally better in my view, besides the bokeh that is...

Very true George, so here is a question for you.

What do you think about handling the FA77 manually?
My thoughts are that the T*85 would handle better manually since it's bigger and 100% develop to be used like that but like said that are only thoughts.

Please if use(d) a FA77 then feel free to answer that as well.

Stefan, also take a look at the Zeiss 100mm Makro Planar. Hopefully you will also be able to try one. I have seen some astounding results with this lens.

Also for a much, much cheaper option, take a look at the Samyang/Vivitar/Falcon 85mm F1.4's at around £200. They are at their sharpest at a wide aperture & actually get worse stopped down. But that's ok as you have the Pentax 100mm which will be hard to best when you want to stop down.

Bob I've look at that lens and did you know it isn't even a true macro but a 1:2
Stunning lens though from what I've seen.

The shop had 5 Carl Zeiss lenses so it could be they also had that one so will give it a try as well just for the fun.