Zeiss 85mm f/1.4 ZE Planar T* Lens Review

[Daniel Browning]

Do you have samples, or know where I can see samples, of bokeh such as you describe, ie, an undercorrected lens producing more pleasing, or at least very different, bokeh from "well corrected" one?

I don't have samples, but you might have some luck with a few google or flickr searches. Well corrected SA gives out of focus specular highlights that are even in intensity throughout the range and look great. Overcorrected SA which gives bokeh a bright edge, with a harsh look to backgrounds. Undercorrected SA causes the edge to fade out, which is the pleasing quality that lens designers will trade resolution and contrast to attain. The worst SA is when it's a complex curve.

My idea of good bokeh is what is produced by canon lenses that are held in high regard in this aspect: ie, 100mm macro or 70-200 f/2.8 IS. I'm assuming these are not undercorrected, so maybe I've never seen really good bokeh.

I think those have very good bokeh, I sure the 100mm macro is well corrected, but I don't know about the 70-200. (I have f/4 and it is definitely not undercorrected. The bokeh is still great, of course.) The 200mm f/2 IS is undercorrected, for example.

Of course the problem with the 5D II is that in video mode, one can't judge focus accurately enough for it to matter how good the focus ring is. At least I can't.

It's tough. I'm able to focus very well in locked off shots with 10X magnification, but in dynamic scenes or handheld it's much harder to get critical focus. I think I can do well enough for at least 720p though.