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Zenit Zenitar 85mm f/1.4 on Fujifilm GFX 50S II
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 07, 2023 4:40 pm    Post subject: Zenit Zenitar 85mm f/1.4 on Fujifilm GFX 50S II Reply with quote

The optical design of the 85mm f/1.4 Zenitar dates back to a lens released in the 80s in limited quantities and available in K-Mount only, AFAIK. This lens has been available again brand new in a newly designed outer shell for some years now. I have one of the very first batches, brought by a friend when he was visiting Russia some years ago. I had to once dissemble it because a mount modification had gone bad so I know that the complete optics are being moved for focus as one single block, like an adapted enlarger lens.

I somehow had the feeling that it would perform nicely on the GFX sensor. I once had swaped its native F-mount to a self made MD-mount, so I just bought an appropriate adapter for that one.

The Zenitar has its share of spherical aberrations wide open and performance near infinity at f/1.4 is horrible. However, it shows absolutely no hard vignetting, has a very even light falloff and a very interesting rendering, especially at portrait distances, which I like a lot.

Some sample images from a recent walk in the neighborhood. All OOC JPGs this time. Because of the sill hard light around afternoon, all shot with a high quality polarizer. If you see a slight decentering of the vignetting, that's due to the image stabilizer.

Solid performance at f/2:


Detail at f/2.8:


Increase of detail from f/1.4 over f/2.8 to f/2.8:




Light falloff at infinity for f/1.4, f/2 and f/8:




Will it flare? Oh yes, it will: the 80s called, they want their multicoating back (full sun in the image will reduce contrast and increase flair even more, a lot more!)


Performance at f/8 again:


Thanks for watching!


PostPosted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you!


PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2023 11:36 am    Post subject: Re: Zenit Zenitar 85mm f/1.4 on Fujifilm GFX 50S II Reply with quote

Christian S. wrote:
The optical design of the 85mm f/1.4 Zenitar dates back to a lens released in the 80s in limited quantities and available in K-Mount only, AFAIK. This lens has been available again brand new in a newly designed outer shell for some years now. I have one of the very first batches, brought by a friend when he was visiting Russia some years ago. I had to once dissemble it because a mount modification had gone bad so I know that the complete optics are being moved for focus as one single block, like an adapted enlarger lens.

I somehow had the feeling that it would perform nicely on the GFX sensor. I once had swaped its native F-mount to a self made MD-mount, so I just bought an appropriate adapter for that one.

The Zenitar has its share of spherical aberrations wide open and performance near infinity at f/1.4 is horrible. However, it shows absolutely no hard vignetting, has a very even light falloff and a very interesting rendering, especially at portrait distances, which I like a lot.

Some sample images from a recent walk in the neighborhood. All OOC JPGs this time. Because of the sill hard light around afternoon, all shot with a high quality polarizer. If you see a slight decentering of the vignetting, that's due to the image stabilizer.

Solid performance at f/2:


Detail at f/2.8:


Increase of detail from f/1.4 over f/2.8 to f/2.8:




Light falloff at infinity for f/1.4, f/2 and f/8:




Will it flare? Oh yes, it will: the 80s called, they want their multicoating back (full sun in the image will reduce contrast and increase flair even more, a lot more!)


Performance at f/8 again:


Thanks for watching!


I have this lens in the N mount for Nikon, and I like it very much. Yes, corners at f1.4 leave something to be desired, but center performance is good even wide open and I very much like the rendering and bokeh. These on Sony A7R2 and R4





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PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like 1 Like 1


PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice indeed 👍


PostPosted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

@kymarto these are very nice samples, indeed. I didn't do much close-up work with this lens yet, but your pictures motivate me to do so. Thanks for posting.


PostPosted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Christian S. wrote:
@kymarto these are very nice samples, indeed. I didn't do much close-up work with this lens yet, but your pictures motivate me to do so. Thanks for posting.


Fully agree - always a joy to view your shots, Toby!