Contax Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 user reviews

On a canon 40d is stunning.

I have 2 of these lenses, I was so pleased I bought another just to keep.

Using on a Canon 350D with an adaptor everything over 50ft is in focus if left on infinity. It is wonderful, useable at full bore, professional results by f2.8 and fully up to speed by f4. I sold my Canon f1.8 EF as it did not come anywhere near this lens in every department.
The Planar gives detail in the shadows and in the highlights as well.

About 15 years ago, Popular Photography magazine did a test on all the 50mm F:1.4 then-current SLR primes. As usual, they talked up the Nikon, but sheepishly admitted that the Contax was the sharpest. They published data and showed a small section for each lens where this lens showed up as obviously the best. At this point in my life, I've used a lot of different 50mm lenses and it is certainly the sharpest that I've ever used. The now-defunct Kodachrome ISO 25 and the current Fuji Velvia ISO50 are the films that show off its best attributes.