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Carl Zeiss

Lens Review: Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM comparison to the legendary Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2 lens for the Contax 645 system

Throughout the history of modern photography, there are few lenses that have garnered almost universal praise from photographers – a tough bunch to get to agree on anything gear related. One of those lenses is the Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2 for the Contax 645 medium format system. A quick Google search will return many reviews in praise of the Planar and its unique and beautiful rendering that came to define the look of wedding photography in particular. I’ve used the lens on and off over the past 10 years to shoot everything from live music to portraits and weddings, and there is no denying the special character it produces.

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Phase Detect Autofocus with Carl Zeiss Contax G lenses on the Sony a7R II

***UPDATE*** On October 7th,2015 TechArt released v2.1.0 of the firmware described in this post that remedies many if not all of the problems with the initial release. Read on for my original review. I have made edits throughout the text to reflect the new version.

On August 29th, TechArt, maker of the Golden Eagle Contax G to Sony E adapter quietly updated their firmware to support the Sony a7R II. Originally the adapter did not work with the new camera so I contacted the folks over at TechArt hoping against hope that they would soon have a solution. An individual named Lau wrote me back, assuring that an update would be released before the end of August. True to their word, on 8/29 the new firmware v2.0.0, popped up in the TechArt Update app for iOS (download here for iOS and Android). But they didn’t just fix what was broken, they also added support for the 399 fast phase detect sensors on the a7R II!

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