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Does anyone use the Zeiss Sonnar T 85/2.8 lens?

G

Guest

Does anyone use the sonnar T* 85mm 2.8 lens ? iI am going to buy an Aria body shortly and i wish to purchase the above lens but have been unable to find much information about it ,as to to its picture quality are the images good at 2.8 etc.. it seems a lens little used by people.
A salesman has tried to put me off and told me to go for the 85mm 1,4 as he says it is a better lens i know its faster but it is alot heavier.
Thanks for your help.Have G1 plus 45mm at the moment want to go back to an slr..
Marcus
 
i'm also thinking of buying the same lens for my Aria.I have a G2 and a 90mm sonnar.It's a good lens and the 85mm sonnar is meant to be the SLR version.Don't know any more i use the 90mm only on rare occasions,i prefer 45 for general purposes.I want to buy,when the money allows,a G1.
Mann
 
Thanks David for your reply.Alot of people seem to like the 45mm both on the G cameras and slr.
I will be selling my g1 to finance the aria.
Is the aria as good as the reviews say it is ?
I wish to get back into manual photography and the aria seems to have it all small size functions etc..
Marcus
 
Have no qualms about buying the 85/2.8. It's a fine lens at all apertures. I owned one for many years, and was always extremely pleased with it.
 
Well i have always thought about selling my Aria, but everytime i use it i say "Na,this is a gem of a camera!".I made a mistake by buying an R8,beautiful desing but heavy and probably would get stollen if doing street photography. The Aria is anonymous,you can take it anywhere.People rave about the R8 screen saying it is so bright,but the Aria is just as bright.BTW,i was thinking of selling my Aria to buy a Minolta Dynax 7,but i'm keeping it.Aren't we camera people funny!
David
 
hi,

I can tell you just good things about the 85/2.8. I used the older AE design, which is the same optical design as the current model, but slightly more metal.

I used to have it together with my 25/2.8 as my preferred combination. You basically need nothing else.

As a perfect match I would recommend you either the Aria (see also my review in this Forum under the topic contax caneras/aria) or the S2/S2b. I have not written a review about the S2, but it is a great manual-only camera.

If you are also thinking about the N1-system, I can tell you that the zoom N25-85 in position 85 is better than the 85/2.8 FFL. This is due to the much older design date of the FFL from the eighties..

dirk
 
> The Sonnar 85/2.8 is an excellent lens. I used both the AE and MM versions. It was one of my most used lenses. It is very good even wide open at f2.8. I eventually bought a MM 85/1.4 Planar which is a superb lens but much heavier, larger and more expensive. I do like to take portraits with the lens at f2 but if you don't need the wider apertures, I would go for the 85/2.8. The size and weight would make a nice package with the Aria. I've used mine quite a bit with some of the older more compact bodies like the 139 and 159. Aside from being more portable, the smaller lighter lens also looks a lot less intimidating to some subjects if you are looking for candids.
 
Thanks to all of you for your comments and thoughts,I appreciate your answers and it looks like the aria and 85mm 2.8mm will be the setup I purchase .Will let you know .
Marcus
 
... before buying you might look also at the review of the aria for the pro and cons in the contax cameras section and the short overview with pro and cons in "which contax camera system for your needs"...

anyway it is nice to welcome you soon as a contax owner
happy.gif


dirk
 
Hello,

I'm new to this forum and just found thsi thread.

I, myself, was always interested in this lens. I have a 50/35/25 and the 85 mm focal length just goes well with it.

I decided against it and got something else

Tokina AT-X Macro 90 mm 1:2.5

I hope I don't get bashed for enterign a third party lens as a suggestion. This lens is available on the used market and is simply outstanding. I did a lens test with this lens, and it is as good as the 50/1.4 Planar - simply outstanding.

It offers a little bit larger aperture (no big deal) and allows much closer focusing (obviously), which is great for filling the frame completely with the head when doing portraits - also wiht children.

It's a lens I wouldn't want to miss anymore and also shares the same filter size (55 mm) as the other lenses I own.

Just my $0.02

Roland
 
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