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Zeiss ZF 50mm f/2 Makro-Planar T*

MTF Chart

The 50mm f/2 Makro-Planar is enjoyable to shoot wide open, but stop down to f/4 to boosts the contrast to world-class levels. Otherwise, stop down only for the increased depth of field and/or to mitigate the risk of focusing errors.

MTF at f/5.6 is simply amazing, but with a drop-off towards the corners, due to rearward field curvature. Stop down to f/8 to perk up the far corners.

Your author has tested at lesat ten different 50mm designs from five brands, showing that that the 50/2 Makro-Planar is awfully hard to beat. One might ponder the benefits of an Otus-grade f/2 model for even higher performance, but in a smaller form factor than the 55/1.4 APO-Distagon.

Zeiss does not supply an f/2.8 MTF chart, but field shots suggest that aperture f/2.8 increase micro contrast to near peak levels not much off from f/4. Use of f/5.6 will help even out the slight undulation in MTF seen at f/4 (not shown), which is a field curvature. Actual performance at f/4 is probably at or near 80% across most of the field but just not exactly in a geometric plane, so the MTF shows it being slightly lower than the reality of a 3D subject.

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Aperture series 2,5.6 available in full article
Zeiss ZF 50mm f/2 Makro-Planar @ f/4, image ratio 1:10

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