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AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D vs. Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF—a complete comparison

Introduction

Carl Zeiss "ZF" line of lenses was introduced in January 2006. The lenses feature manual focusing and are designed to be used on Nikon F mount cameras. The original ZF lenses come with the features that the users of the classic Nikon SLR cameras expect to have: Nikon F bayonet, automatic close–down aperture, the same rotation direction of focus and aperture ring, second aperture scale to enable optical readout of the aperture in the viewfinder and AI coupling fork. The lenses, however, do not have any electronics and thus there is no electronic communication with the camera. In practice this means that one has to input lens data (focal length and maximum aperture) in the camera and set aperture on the lens.

In November 2009 the original ZF line was upgraded to ZF.2. The updated lenses no longer have the pre–AI coupling fork, due to which light metering cannot be used on older Nikon cameras (F, F2, Nikkormat, etc.). Very importantly, however, they boast electronic interface thus allowing full support of automatic exposure modes and inclusion of lens–related data in EXIF. At the same time, ZF.2 lenses have a mechanical lock on the aperture ring to lock the aperture ring at the smallest aperture setting. There is no difference between ZF and ZF.2 lenses in terms of optics. As of spring 2010, the ZF.2 line includes the following lenses: Distagon T* 3.5/18, Distagon T* 2.8/21, Distagon T* 2.8/25 (available in June 2010), Distagon T* 2/28, Distagon T* 2/35, Planar T* 1.4/50, Makro–Planar T* 2/50, Planar T* 1.4/85 and Makro–Planar T* 2/100.

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF was one of the first two ZF series lenses that became available to photographers in early 2006. AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D, on the other hand, was announced in the end of 1995 and to this date remains in Nikon's lens lineup as its fastest medium telephoto lens.

The lenses were tested on a 12MP Nikon D700 camera. FX (full–frame 35mm) format cameras of higher resolution will put a further emphasis on some of the performance deficiencies reported in the review. At the same time, light fall–off, distortion and corner sharpness will be less problematic when the lenses are used on DX format cameras.

Build quality, manual focusing and handling

When considered of and by itself, the Nikkor is very sturdily built. However, compared with the Zeiss, which has an all metal lens barrel and is built like the proverbial tank, the Nikkor falls into a less rugged category. The Nikkor is slightly larger than the Zeiss yet it is a little lighter, which gives the impression that the Zeiss is a more dense, tougher object.

Focusing ring operation is perfectly smooth and buttery on the Zeiss, while on the Nikkor it is somewhat loose (but then again, I suppose very few people would use the lens in manual focus). Aperture ring operation, on the other hand, is fluid yet firm on the Zeiss (in 1/2 stops) and somewhat rough on the Nikkor (in full stops).

When mounted on a pro–caliber camera such as the Nikon D700, both lenses balance very well. The Nikkor, however, has an edge in handling as its focusing ring fits in your hand more naturally when the lens is mounted on the camera.

Sharpness

It is understandable why most photographers usually put more emphasis on sharpness than on other optical performance factors—while such aberrations as distortion, light fall–off, etc. will be seen only in some images and, at least partially, can be dealt with in post processing, soft corners will be visible in most, if not all, photographs and cannot be remedied after the fact. Thus, let us first see how the lenses perform in the department of sharpness.

Both lenses were manually focused at infinity and the in–focus indicator in the viewfinder confirmed correct focus. The images below are crops from the original test shots shown at 100% magnification; no sharpening was applied to any of them.

 

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D

 

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF

 

f/1.4,
centre

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D centre sharpness at f/1.4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF centre sharpness at f/1.4  

f/1.4,
corner

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D corner sharpness at f/1.4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF corner sharpness at f/1.4  

Wide open, performance of the Zeiss is first rate. Although there is a minor loss of contrast, the lens is plentifully sharp in the centre and shows only slight softness in the corners. Given how a fast lens of this focal length is normally used at this aperture, the latter is mostly irrelevant.

Performance of the Nikkor at f/1.4, on the other hand, is somewhat bizarre and not what one would expect: it is very soft in the centre, which is consistent with my impressions from doing real–life photography with the lens, and quite a bit sharper in the corners (here, it actually is slightly sharper than the Zeiss). At first I thought that something must have been wrong with the test setup; I, however, double checked everything and repeated the test four times with the same results. It also occurred to me that this might be a focus problem but the lens' performance at f/8 does not seem to suggest so; also, if this is a focus problem and the lens can perform better in the centre, I would expect it to perform worse in the corners as its field obviously is not as flat as that of the Zeiss. Finally, it might be that I simply have a lemon sample, which I (or you when buying the lens) have no way of verifying.

 

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D

 

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF

 

f/8,
centre

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D centre sharpness at f/8   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF centre sharpness at f/8  

f/8,
corner

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D corner sharpness at f/8   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF corner sharpness at f/8  

When stopped down, the Zeiss is still a tiny bit sharper than the Nikkor in the centre and noticeably sharper in the corners. To sum up, the Zeiss is a clearly better performer in terms of sharpness.

Vignetting

All test shots below were taken at the same EV (exposure value) in manual mode; both lenses were focused at infinity. The same white balance value was set in Adobe Camera Raw for all images; the particular settings (colour temperature and tint) were chosen to make the Nikkor shots neutral.

 

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D

 

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF

 

f/1.4

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D light fall-off at f/1.4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF light fall-off at f/1.4  

f/2

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D light fall-off at f/2   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF light fall-off at f/2  

f/2.8

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D light fall-off at f/2.8   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF light fall-off at f/2.8  

f/4

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D light fall-off at f/4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF light fall-off at f/4  

f/5.6

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D light fall-off at f/5.6   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF light fall-off at f/5.6  

As can be clearly seen from the shots above, the Zeiss has noticeably less vignetting—it is mostly gone by f/2.8, while in case of the Nikkor the aberration is still visible at f/4 and, if you want to be fastidious, f/5.6.

This test also demonstrates two other interesting points. First, the Zeiss is approximately 1/3 stops faster than the Nikkor (remember, aperture is about geometry, not actual light transmission): when the Zeiss is mounted on the camera, metering the same evenly lit subject under the same controlled lighting at the same aperture in aperture priority mode using spot metering suggests shutter speed that is 1/3 stops faster than when the Nikkor is used; this result is consistent with my observations from when using the lenses side by side in other situations, too. Second, the Zeiss has a noticeably warmer rendition, which, again, is consistent with my impressions from real–life photography. The latter point will be particularly important if you use film cameras.

Distortion

Both lenses produce very, very slight barrel distortion of roughly the same degree. It has a simple signature and can only be seen in tests deliberately designed to show the aberration; it will not be visible in most real–life photographs. In short, both the Nikkor and the Zeiss perform very well in this respect.

Chromatic aberration

At wide apertures both contenders can produce atrocious amounts of chromatic aberration around high contrast edges. It does not happen often but when it does it is right there in your face and difficult to remove in post processing. When the lenses are stopped down, though, colour fringing is generally not an issue. Below is the worst example of the aberration that I have seen. Again, however, you will not be seeing this all the time.

 

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D

 

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF

 

f/1.4

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D colour fringing at f/1.4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF colour fringing at f/1.4  

f/11

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D colour fringing at f/11   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF colour fringing at f/11  

Flare

There is not much to report in this department—I have not noticed any problems with flare in case of either lens, which is not too bad at all given that both optics have fairly large front elements. When you do encounter flare, it is normally minimal in both degree and amount. Besides, both lenses have dedicated lens hoods that can be used if you want to play it completely safe.

Bokeh

Bokeh is one of the crucial performance factors of a fast, medium telephoto lens and both lenses perform admirably in this respect. In fact, bokeh is the only reason why I would get one of the contenders instead of the AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D, which is a fine lens by all means but, unfortunately, does not produce pleasant out–of–focus backgrounds at wide apertures.

 

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D

 

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF

 

f/1.4

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D bokeh at f/1.4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF bokeh at f/1.4  

f/2

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D bokeh at f/2   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF bokeh at f/2  

f/2.8

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D bokeh at f/2.8   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF bokeh at f/2.8  

f/4

AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D bokeh at f/4   Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/85 ZF bokeh at f/4  

Bokeh is already smooth and buttery (yes, it looks similar to how operation of the focusing ring of the Zeiss feels) at f/1.4 and gets better as you stop the lenses down. If it is not obvious from the test shots above, here is a real–life photograph that was taken with the Nikkor at f/1.4:

 
AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D bokeh at f/1.4
 

Final thoughts

I fully expected both contenders to perform more or less equally well yet to my great surprise discovered that, optically, the Zeiss is a better lens. Thus, the choice for potential buyers boils down to the optical performance vs. autofocus issue—if what you are after is the ultimate image quality, get the Zeiss; if, however, you must have autofocus and optical performance is of secondary consideration, then get the Nikkor.