Carl Zeiss Makro-Planar T* 60mm f/2.8 (C/Y)

Put this next to the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 of the same period and the difference shows up before you stop down. The two split along temperament. The Nikkor leans clinical and flat-field, optimized hard for reproduction work and copy stands. The Makro-Planar 60mm gives you that and something the Nikon does not: micro-contrast that snaps subjects off the background even at close distance, plus a smoother transition out of the focal plane. One looks like a scan, controlled and even. The other looks like a photograph.

Optically it is a Planar, the symmetric double-Gauss layout Zeiss built its reputation on, recomputed for close focus rather than just rebadged from the standard 50mm. Wide open at f/2.8 it is already sharp in the center with the gentle field curvature these designs carry, so flat-field copy work wants f/5.6 to f/8 where corners catch up and the whole frame goes razor flat. Color is the cool, neutral Zeiss signature. Contrast is high without crushing shadows, and the T* coating keeps flare and veiling under control when a light source creeps into the frame. Bokeh is clean rather than characterful. Out-of-focus highlights stay round and quiet, which is exactly what you want behind a watch dial or a flower, less what bokeh hunters chase.

Here is where it pulls ahead of the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8. It focuses all the way to life size, 1:1, with no accessories, while the Nikkor stops at half life size, 1:2, and needs an extension tube or the dedicated ring to fill the frame with a bug. That unaided 1:1 reach is the honest advantage, and it is one the Nikkor does not match. This optic out-reaches the other at the close end.

The crowd here is product and still-life shooters, reproduction photographers, and a fair number of portrait people who discovered that a sharp 60mm Planar on a Contax body makes a flattering short-tele headshot once you back off the macro range. It doubles as a walk-around normal-ish lens better than most dedicated macros. That versatility, plus the C/Y mount adapting cleanly to mirrorless, is why these still move at a healthy used price against the Nikkor, which trades cheaper because everyone made one.

One metering note for the close end. As you rack toward 1:1 the effective aperture drops and your meter reading no longer matches the light hitting the film, the classic bellows-extension problem. Zone Light Meter computes the bellows factor for you, so dial in your focused magnification and meter the corrected exposure rather than guessing a stop and bracketing. On a Contax body the 55mm filter thread takes standard ND and polarizers without vignetting, useful when you are shooting reflective product surfaces.