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MTF For 35/1.4 Distagon
The 35mm f/1.4 Distagon has several key characteristics which are reflected in its MTF chart. The charts are shown further below. MTF charts from the Zeiss data sheet for the 35/1.4 Distagon, used with permission of Carl Zeiss, Inc.
Contrast
Wide open, contrast for coarse structures is excellent, with 85% contrast for coarse structures, and about 70% contrast for medium structures. This makes an important contribution to the over gestalt of the imagery.
Wide-open, micro contrast (fine detail) is high for f/1.4 (but relatively low compared to stopped down), but also unusually consistent from center to corners (many f/1.4 lenses drop off sharply to the corners). The consistency almost certainly contributes to an overall effect which is likely to be pleasing to the eye for not calling attention to off-center aberrations, or effective aperture differences (e.g., effective ~f/2+ at the edges and corners).
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MTF for Zeiss ZF 35mm f/1.4 Distagon @ f/1.4
10, 20, 40 line pairs per millimeter