Which 80mm Zeiss Lens is the best, from these three ?

[goncaloproenca]

Hi there,

I've pretty much narrowed down 3 bodies and each body comes as a package with a specific version of the 80mm Zeiss 2.8 lens . Now, which one is the best / most recent ?

I believe that , according to my research ( bear in my that my research on the V system started 4-5 days ago... ) this one seems to me being the oldest hence less desirable one :

After a small price jump we have this one , which seems less old than the previous ( and actually seems to be the body / lens combo that I will buy ) :

Last but not least, on the very brink of my budget is this one ( actually is a tad off ) but seems to be the newest ( or newer... ) of these three :

The "bang on" price is in the second version, its a 500CM . On the bad side of things, we have the latest one in the series, which is a 501CM ; I know ( and checked with the dealer ) that the 501CM does come with a improved finder but we are talking 699£ vs 999£ . Apart from the finder and minor body difference ( GDS, etc ) , is the lens difference ( from the second to the third ) justifies the price difference ?

By the way, the first of them all, its a 501C, the lens seems the oldest of all three , being the price in the middle ( 799£ ).

But the difference of a 501C vs 500CM ( to what I've read and I did a lot ! ) a 500CM seems perfectly fine for me.. so the difference here is the lens and funny enough the 500CM + lens combo here seems the best overall ( price wise )

 

[wbulte]

Obviously it is old -> new going from top -> bottom.

Is the bottom lens a CF or a CB?

Wilko

 

[terrydent]

Bottom lens must be a CB as there is no F setting. Or maybe a CFI?

Terry

 

[polypal]

The 501C and the 500CM have lenses with the same optical design.
They give exactly the same IQ.

The 501CM has the six element CB lens.
That lens is marginally less good than the other seven element designs.

The advantage of the 501CM kit is a more recent body and film back.

If the price is not an obstacle I would recommend to buy the 501CM kit.
To get e real improvement over these 80 mm lenses you could opt for a 100 mm Planar lens.

 

[polypal]

Bottom lens must be a CB as there is no F setting. Or maybe a CFI?

Terry

Terry,

The CFi lens also has the F mode, it does not have databus.

 

[Birger]

80mm vs 100mm

Hi polipal
Can you explain the IQ difference between the 80mm and the 100 mm planar?

 

[polypal]

The 100 mm Planar has virtually zero distortion and much better resolution than the 80 mm Planar lens.

You can find more information here: http://www.zeiss.de/photo