Hi,
"the much-maligned C/Y 85/1.4"
That's interesting, as all I've heard for this lense is praise, and I'm not quite sure why one would malign it. Just from an MTF standpoint, it's one of the highest scoring lenses on photodo (it's the highest of all the Contax lenses listed), and from personal experience, it's one of the best lenses out there. It's got an amazingly flat MTF, even at 1.4 it really is very good, better than the 50/1.4 and the 35/1.4 at 1.4.
I'd say the 85/1.4 is the best "technical" lense amongst the similar lenses I have (high sharpness and color saturation, in the top for bokeh/tonality), and the Leica 75/1.4 is the best "artsy" lense (great tonality, sharp enough), the Canon is just fast and mushy, but great bokeh ;-). I have the 90/2.8, but that simply isn't in the same peer group in my opinion. The Hasselblad 110/2 is in the same "peer" group and (for 6x6) is a cross between the Leica 75/1.4 and the Contax 85/1.4.
I'd bet anyone who thinks this lense is soft in any enlargement up to (and possibly beyond) 8x10 at 1.4 is seeing camera shake (or incorrect focus), as one would use 1.4 in low shutter speed situations, and focusing is very critical at 1.4.
Regards,
Austin