OVERVIEW

Last week I purchased a new Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZF to test as a “walk around” lens for the Canon 1Ds Mark III. Opening the box and handling the lens for the first time, the Zeiss 50mm Makro-Planar felt solid and well built. Overall the build quality is equal or better than most of the Contax RTS lenses (now discontinued). Nothing rattles or sounds loose when the lens is shaken. The entire outside assembly appears to be metal; there are no signs of plastic on the barrel, mount or bayonet. All the markings are engraved and painted, so white and red lettering should last for many years. The black paint on the barrel and included lens hood has a slight texture.

The 50mm Makro-Planar weighs 1.1 pounds and the mass is evenly distributed, resulting in good balance on the Canon 1Ds Mark III. The 50mm ZF is slightly shorter than the Contax 100mm F2 Planar (image to the left). Both lenses have a 67mm thread and the 50mm ZF works fine with a Contax 67-86 Ring and Contax #4 Metal Hood. I prefer the old metal Contax hoods because of their convenient push on metal caps which are convenient when pulling the camera in and out of a camera bag all day long.

The 50mm Makro-Planar ZF is noticeably longer than the original Contax 50mm Planars and Canon 50mm F1.4 USM, so it is not stealthy, indiscrete lens. The polished silver mount for the lens hood is nice - no paint will rub off when the hood is attached and removed. But again, the silver does stand out which may or may not be a good thing. Though, the silver gives the 50mm Makro a bit of bling.

The lens has 9 aperture blades which maintain a fairly round opening up to F5.6. By F8 the 9 sided polygon is pretty clear. Maximum aperture is F22. The aperture marking are in full stops; the aperture ring steps in 1/2 stop increments (more on this later). The lens includes a hood and the usual Zeiss documentation - including a signed inspection card. A lens pouch is NOT included. The Zeiss 50mm Makro is backed with a 2-year USA warranty.

MANUAL FOCUS

The focus ring is smooth and light to the touch with a nicely dampened feel. The HappyPageHK Nikon/Canon adapter also appears well-made. Some adapters have an over-sized hole cut for the spring-loaded locking pin on the Canon mount. Since the hole in the adapter flange over-sized, as a lens is focused the adapter may rotate slightly on the Canon mount. This movement produces a knocking sensation when the hole side wall of hole strikes the Canon locking pin. In the case of the HappyPageHK Nikon/EOS adapter and 50mm Makro-Planar ZF, I am NOT experiencing any rotational play. If you would like to read more about adapters, click here.

The focus ring travels about 300 degrees to go from infinity to the minimum focus distance. Macro lenses typically have very long focus throws, thus allowing for subtle focus changes. As such, macros are not known as fast focusing lenses. Since I will be using the 50mm Makro-Planar for walk around pictures, this is a draw back. When the Zeiss 50mm Makro-Planar is focused to its maximum extension, the 50mm telescopes ~1.25 inches.

THE APERTURE RING

Normally I do not write detailed descriptions about a lens’ physical attributes, but the 50mm Makro has some quirks when it comes to the aperture ring. First, the aperture ring sits too close to the camera body. When mounted to the Canon 1Ds Mark III

the aperture ring is only ~5/16 from the camera body. Furthermore, the ring recessed and sits in a valley, so finding the ring and getting a grip on it is difficult. On top of that, the ring is skinny too. It seems Zeiss engineers want your left hand under the lens with the thumb and index finger making a “U” shape - the thumb at 3:00 and the index finger at 9:00. This is very unnatural for me. Usually my thumb is at 6:00 and index finger at 12:00. Shifting the finger position 90 degree counter clockwise is uncomfortable. The image to the left shows the aperture ring sitting in a recessed valley.

On my Contax lenses the aperture rings move smoothly and step gracefully across the stops. The 50mm Makro is very abrupt and the stops have considerable resistance. The 3:00 and 9:00 position on the aperture ring have raised grooves. Those grooves are needed because it takes a death-claw-scissors-grip to turn the aperture. Maintaining focus while stopping down is not easy.  (continue)