135 BLOG - LENS COMPARISON #2
Entry #32: Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar ZE vs Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH
WHY I LOVE MY LEICA 50MM SUMMILUX ASPH
DUE DILIGENCE
Last summer we took an unplanned vacation to Alaska when Princess Cruises ran a good promo. This was our second time to Alaska, so we knew the weather could either way. I decided to buy a used Canon 1Ds Mark III just in case the weather turned for the worse. As it turned out the the 1Ds Mark III was a good decision. The original plan was to buy the 1Ds Mark III for the trip, and then promptly sell it afterwards. Get in and get out quick.
As plans usually go - mostly talk and little action. The Canon 1Ds Mark III was NOT sold, instead it has been here ever since getting some use here and there. To make complicate matters, the last six months has been a non-stop Leica M and Zeiss ZE shopping spree. All this is great for accumulating miles on the credit card, but there is a point where enough is enough. So, the last couple months have been spent sorting through the equipment and deciding what stays and what goes. The Leica kit has slowly been working itself out and currently consists of a 28mm Elmarit ASPH, 50mm Summilux ASPH and 75 Summicron ASPH. The Canon kit is very slim right now, consisting of a 24-105L, 70-200/4 L IS and Zeiss 100mm F2 ZE.
About a month ago I realized the Leica 50mm Summilux-M ASPH had not been compared to the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 ZE. There were some pleasing images taken with 50mm Planar on various photography forums, so I bought a new 50mm Planar ZE. This is article is NOT a Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar review, so to keep things moving - focus is very smooth with a light action. Build quality is solid. Fit and finish are excellent. In terms of the lens build, etc., there is nothing to complain about. On the Canon 1Ds Mark III the 50mm Planar is a fairly petite and could pass for walk-around usage. Thus far - a big thumbs-up for the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar ZE.
On whim earlier this morning I decided to compare the Zeiss 50mm and Leica 50mm for their bokeh and wide open performance. The outcome was so apparent that there really was not much point investing any more time.
Friday, April 30, 2010
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B&H PHOTO
Both images were processed in Phase One’s C1 raw editor with the default settings for each camera. Images were then exported to Photoshop for sizing and JPEG compression. Initially both images were taken handheld - one shot with each camera. However, the first 1Ds Mark III image looked front focused, so for the 100% crop a second picture was taken, this time using a tripod and live-view to ensure the best possible results from the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar ZE. All the images were taken within a couple minutes of one and another.
For me the outcome is clear cut. There are millions disclaimers here and neither lens is necessarily going to be the better lens all the time. I am sure there would be times when the Zeiss could deliver a more pleasing rendering, but... Anyway, the most important for most people is probably the simple fact that the Leica 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M ASPH costs 5X more than the Zeiss 50mm Planar F1.4 ZE. Whether the price difference is justifiable is your decision.
Not posted here was a similar test with the Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZE. In a similar set-up the Leica Summilux was sharper up to around F2.8. At F5.6-F8 the Zeiss clearly won for landscape images. The catch-22 with the Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZE is its significantly larger size. For my purposes the lens was too big, and when shooting indoors without a flash, the F2 aperture speed was too slow and the 1Ds Mark III routinely needed ISO 3200 to get decent shutter speeds.
As for the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 ZE, if you are in the market for a Zeiss 50mm - get the 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZE. It is larger, but an excellent lens. Of course, you could always buy a Leica M9 and 50mm Summilux-M ASPH :)