The Unloved and the Unrivalled

Canon 24mm f1.4 L v Zeiss Contax 21mm f2.8 Distagon

Performance at f11 (Zone A)

Canon 24mm f1.4 L at f11 (centre)	Zeiss Contax 21mm f11 (centre)
4.75 points	5 points

Diffraction is now smoothing out differences in resolution, though the Zeiss rendering style and marginally greater accutance delivers a more attractive capture once again.

Performance at f11 (Zone B: Left Side)

Canon 24mm f1.4 L at f11 (mid-frame)	Zeiss Contax 21mm f11 (mid-frame)
4.75 points	5 points

Performance at f11 (Zone C)

Canon 24mm f1.4 L at f11 (extreme corner)	Zeiss Contax 21mm f11 (extreme corner)
5 points	5 points

Having praised the Zeiss so highly, it should be noted that the Canon 24mm L does extremely well even to hold its own in direct competition - but unquestionably it does. At f11 and f16, many wide angles (zooms and primes) deliver acceptable results, but none quite as fine as this pair.