Zeiss ZF 50mm f/1.4

Adding to your 50mm FX frame lens choices the Zeiss 50 f1.4 Planar provides a very nice wide aperture prime. These are manual focus lenses, although D300 and up cameras will sense the lenses aperture in A mode and adjust exposure accordingly.
Why go through the trouble of manually focusing? Well first of all at 50mm length it’s not much trouble. But more importantly, you get the exceptional Zeiss sharpness, color, and high microcontrast that’s made these lenses arguably the best prime lenses in the world.

Roger’s Take: An excellent lens. It’s manual focus only, but don’t let that intimidate you. The results are well worth any extra effort you think you have to put in! At 50mm its not particularly difficult to do and if focus is critical Live View handles things well. In terms of absolute sharpness, the 50mm Makro f2 is a bit sharper, but if you need the aperture the f1.4 is very good.

If you’re interested in finding good reviews of the various ZF lenses, with in-depth analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, we recommend spending a few dollars and getting Lloyd Chambers online review of the ZF lineup.

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